About ISSJ Project

The International Society of Student Journalists (ISSJ) was born as part of my undergraduate thesis. After studying student media outlets world-wide I concluded International cooperation among journalism students and student media can promote the creation of student news outlets and the protection of student journalism against censorship.

Activities

To fulfill its mission of assisting student journalists worldwide, ISSJ would develop the following projects:

Information Database: A collection of information resources on journalism, freedom of press and speech, censorship, journalism ethics, student journalism and international press and speech laws and conventions.

International Network: A network where students from countries worldwide can share information, ideas and experiences on student journalism, free speech and press, as well as discuss international and domestic political and social issues.

News outlet creation and development: With the help of universities and journalism educators, ISSJ would help students create or improve their news outlets.

Aid in case of censorship: As members of an international network, students can denounce and expose acts of censorship to their news outlets. ISSJ would also provide support and legal assistance whenever possible.

International Student News Agency: Student journalists would be able to publish their best work in the ISSJ web page. The collection of their work would form an international student news agency that would offer its audience students’ perspectives on local and international issues.

Prospective members and affiliates

Students

Students are certainly the most important members for ISSJ. ISSJ is designed to be an organization formed by students to serve students. They will take part of crucial decisions in the organization and will be greatly involved in the development of ISSJ activities. Any student interested in journalism or who works at a student news outlet can join the organization.

Educators

Journalism and media educators would form a support basis for ISSJ student members. Educators can design projects to create and develop student media as well as to improve journalism education worldwide. They can also assist students when dealing with censorship and content control of their news outlets.

Nonprofit Organizations

International nonprofit organizations that defend free press and speech can help ISSJ develop their projects by spreading its mission with their donors and other international journalism institutes and organizations. Since ISSJ is a new organization, other nonprofits can give its founders advice and assistance on management, strategic and communication planning and fund-raising.

Universities

The support of universities is essential for ISSJ. Universities are the ideal places to host student conventions, journalism workshops and discussion forums. ISSJ would reach students and develop projects mainly through universities. ISSJ founders hope one day a university would provide the organization a place in campus to establish its headquarters.

Journalists and news outlets

ISSJ would help students become better-prepared and ethical journalists. In the long run, corporate news outlets would benefit from ISSJ’s actions. ISSJ would look for the support of journalists and news outlets to provide resources for its projects and expose them through their media.

What does ISSJ need to become an organization?

Members: We ask students to join the organization by adding their name and contact information to our member list. Students are the basis of ISSJ. Their ideas, concerns and initiatives will form the organization’s projects. ISSJ will offer them a chance to create their media, meet students from other countries and create a large international network that could improve and develop student journalism worldwide.

Board of directors: We invite journalism educators, journalists and nonprofit experts to form ISSJ board of directors. They would be in charge of recruiting student members, developing projects and look for support from other organizations.The board would create the necessary bylaws and documents to register ISSJ as a membership nonprofit organization.

Registration as a nonprofit organization: ISSJ needs members and a board of directors to be registered as a nonprofit organization and have tax-exemption status in the U.S. or Canada. Once it’s properly registered, ISSJ would be able to look for funds and start bigger projects.

Financial support: Unfortunately, like any other organization ISSJ needs money to start its activities. At this early stage, the organization needs financial support to spread its mission among organizations, universities and student news outlets worldwide.

Download the complete proposal

Contact information

For comments or questions about  ISSJ project send an e-mail to: student.journalists@gmail.com

I can also send you a copy of my thesis to understand the proposal in detail.

Thank you for visiting ISSJ project blog,

Monica Cruz Rosas