CHICAGO, IL- Sisters in Cinema, a Chicago-based 501 (c)3 recently in the news for breaking ground on their new Media Arts Center, is proud to announce the return of their Sisters in Cinema Newsroom Program, and this time, they're going multimedia!
The six-week program is scheduled to return on Tuesday, April 13, 2021, and is currently looking for six to ten young women and gender non-conformers, age 15-18, who live on Chicago's South Side to participate. While the application is open to all, priority will be given to residents of South Shore.
While their fall program/pilot program focused on the basic foundations of journalism, their spring session will teach and prepare participants how to write and report for social media and learn how to be adaptable communicators who can transition fluidly from one medium to the next. Here are some of the skills our participants will learn:
How to write and report for different platforms such as: social media, websites, newspapers, magazines, etc.
How to create and maintain a professional presence on social media.
How to overall use social media to enhance their reporting, build their personal brand, and drive traffic to their stories.
Why Social Media? Multiple reasons. Social media has not only changed the way we communicate, but it has also changed the way we report and consume news. Twitter. Facebook. Instagram. Tik Tok. Snapchat. These are some of the social media tools altering how journalists do their jobs and how people consume news today. This program prepares participants to evaluate and use social media and mobile devices as professional journalists. By the end of the course, our participants will have the fundamental social media skills that news organizations seek from today's journalists.
The program, taught by Natalie Frazier, a filmmaker, writer, and community member from the West Side of Chicago, will use a broad-based approach, including theory and practical experience, and will meet primarily via Zoom from 4 PM to 6 PM for six-weeks on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In addition, there will be optional Wednesday study halls, where participants will be able to invite friends to hang out and get work done. The program will begin on April 13, 2021, with the last class scheduled to meet in person in a socially distanced setting on May 20, 2021. A stipend of $250 will be paid to participants upon successful completion of all 12 sessions.
Applications can be found online at www. Sistersincinema.com and are due on or before 11:59 PM on March 20, 2021. The top ten candidates will be contacted to schedule a Zoom interview by March 24, 2021. Applicants will be notified on or before April 02, 2021, if accepted into the program. Those interested can visit www. Sistersincinema.com to learn more about the program or attend the virtual Newsroom information session on Saturday, March 6, 2021, at 10:00 AM.
Sisters in Cinema Newsroom officially launched on November 4, 2020, and was covered by Chicago's own Block Club Chicago and WGN-TV, and is a part of a robust slate of programming at Sisters in Cinema that will find a home at our Media Arts Center. Support to Sisters in Cinema means the continuation of exposing Black Youth on the South Side to media-making opportunities through the Newsroom program. Contributions to Sisters in Cinema programming and Media Arts Center can be made by visiting sistersincinema.com .
About Sisters in Cinema
Sisters in Cinema was founded in 1997 as an online resource for and about African American women media makers. Today we are a Chicago based 501(c)3 non-profit with an inclusive mission to center and celebrate Black girls, women, and gender non-conforming media makers, providing programs designed to educate, raise visibility, and support and serve our communities.
We envision a world where all Black girls, women and gender non-conforming media makers and storytellers have equal opportunities to create and thrive.
