Here, Ms. Gilliam provides some background on PMM and the important role it plays in guiding high school students about the importance of a democracy, free press and the First Amendment.

Why did you start Prime Movers Media?

I started focusing on high school journalism in 1997 when I discovered school newspapers were dead in the nation’s capital. I was writing a column for The Washington Post and was outraged. Not a single city high school had regularly published a paper. In many schools, computers were broken or missing.  All too often, cameras and copiers didn’t exist. Instructors with experience teaching journalism were few and journalism classes didn’t even make it to the elective subject list.  Bright youngsters rarely considered a career in journalism. When I shared that crisis with my editors at The Washington Post, the paper supported me in starting the Young Journalists Development Program. I left the program in good hands when I retired from the Post in June, 2003, and it exists to this day.

In September of the year I came to the George Washington University as a fellow, I established Prime Movers Media. I wanted to get other media companies to invest in scholastic journalism just like the Post had done. I knew Prime Movers Media could help attract urban students to careers in journalism and teach a diverse generation the values of democracy, a free press and the First Amendment. From our headquarters at GW’s School of Media and Public Affairs, we offer guidance and support to help media outlets reach out to public high schools.

What is Prime Movers?

We believe Prime Movers Media is the nation’s first intensive journalism mentorship program targeting urban schools. Many youth in underserved schools often lack the reading, writing, speaking, technological, critical thinking and citizenship building skills they need in order to become high-performing citizens. Working with veteran journalists and GW interns, Prime Movers Media provides media literacy through our program, one key to unlocking doors to opportunity for these young people.

The success of Prime Movers Media (PMM) in Washington led us to find funding to develop a program in 2006 in Philadelphia that partners with Temple University.

What Exactly Does Prime Movers Do?

We send veteran journalists, including members of the White House Correspondents’ Association, and college interns to mentor high school media students and help them create newspapers, Broadcast programs, video products. We also provide media literacy curricula. We have created Radio Curriculum that is used nationally and recently developed a four-course multimedia education curriculum for the Career and Technical Education Division of DC Public Schools.

What do you ask of the students who participate?

Through the program, Washington high school students produce newspapers, TV and radio reports and multimedia news websites featuring student-produced audiovisual packages. Since 2004, PMM has trained over 4,000 students in Washington, DC and Philadelphia and hundreds of professional journalists and college interns have participated in this unique intergenerational journalism mentoring program.

What lessons do you hope students bring to college or work experience?

•    Voice: As the students produce newspapers, TV, radio and multimedia websites, they learn writing, public speaking, reading comprehension and critical thinking skills.
•    Values: PMM’s media literacy training builds a professional work ethic, teamwork and collaboration skills plus knowledge of ethics and social responsibility.
•    Vision: While we encourage high school students to consider careers in the news media to increase diversity in the next generation of journalists, their training will give them the skills needed to succeed in college and other careers to one day give back to their communities.

Do you have any significant partnerships?

Prime Movers Media received remarkable recognition when the White House Correspondents’ Association, composed of the nation’s premier journalists, selected the program as a partner in 2010 and 2011. A video featuring the program was shown in 2011 and a second video aired on April 28 at the prestigious annual dinner attended by President Barack Obama. “We are delighted to be able to support a program that has already mentored thousands of budding journalists,” said Michael Scherer of Time Magazine, who heads the group’s scholarship committee. “This is precisely the sort of work that the WHCA was founded to support.”
Other significant partnerships include Widmeyer Communications, WJLA –TV (ABC7), National Public Radio, USA Today, American Society of News Editors, and The Washington Post Young Journalist Development Program.

How is the Program Funded?

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation provided the original funds for Prime Movers Media.  Since then we have been funded in part by corporate and foundation grants and DC Public Schools. We currently have 10 schools participating in the program, but only full funding for three of them. With an estimated cost of $30,000 per school annually to provide our intensive services, we continue to seek additional support.  Visit http://smpa.gwu.edu/pm and join us in this effort. Prime Movers Media is Where Great Stories Begin.

What’s your daring dream for the program’s future?

High school journalism is dead in nearly half of America’s high schools, according to the Journalism Education Association.  Of the 17,000 public high schools in the nation, 8,000 – or 40 percent –have no school news products or woefully inadequate ones, especially in urban and rural area. Even fewer have video, broadcast or radio programs. These students are deprived of the opportunity to learn about journalism and the unique practical learning opportunities it offers to improve many life skills. My vision is that the program expands to new school systems to provide urban high school students, journalists, college interns and high school teachers the opportunity to work with and learn from one another. I see Prime Movers teaching media literacy and inspiring urban high school students across the nation to pursue college and, for some, to follow their dreams of a media career.