Youth Radio (YR Media)
Youth Radio is an Oakland, California nonprofit that trains young people ages 14-24 as journalists, podcast producers, and media makers, pairing them with professional editors to produce real published audio and media work. Relaunched in 2026 after a hiatus, the program requires no prior experience and centers youth voice on current events and culture.
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Mosaic Journalism Workshop
Mosaic is a free youth journalism training program based at San Jose State University serving greater San Jose area high school and community college students. It runs an intensive two-week summer workshop covering reporting, writing, photography, videography, and podcasting, plus paid fall/spring internships and boot camps for student newspaper staff.
KALW Teen Podcasting Institute
KALW public radio's Teen Podcasting Institute is a paid summer fellowship where San Francisco Bay Area high school students learn reporting, interviewing, scriptwriting, and audio production to create episodes of 'tbh: by, about, and for teenagers,' a podcast broadcast on KALW. Fellows attend in-person workshops at KALW's San Francisco studio four days a week over six weeks and receive a stipend.
CalMatters Youth Journalism Initiative
CalMatters' Youth Journalism Initiative prepares California middle and high school students for journalism careers through in-person workshops, teacher training, and student opportunities like the JCal Student Reporter Summer Camp, which pairs a small cohort of California high schoolers with professional reporters for mentorship, legislator interviews, reporting projects, and newsroom field trips. The initiative, based at the nonprofit Sacramento newsroom CalMatters, also runs occasional video contests with cash prizes.
Richmond Pulse Youth Voices
A Richmond, California community journalism program that trains young people in multimedia reporting and storytelling as youth reporters for the local outlet Richmond Pulse, with participants paid for their published work.
Student Television Network (STN) Convention & Contests
STN is a national student media organization supporting high school broadcast journalism, film, and media students through an annual convention and a slate of named competitions including Broadcast Excellence, Film Excellence, STN Challenge, and Story of the Year. Students and advisers attend live conventions (2027 in Long Beach) with contests, workshops, and awards recognizing top student broadcasters and filmmakers.
California Student Media Festival
The California Student Media Festival is a nonprofit statewide competition open to any California PreK-12 student (public, private, charter, extracurricular, or homeschool) to submit original work in Film/Video, Animation, Photography, Audio (music or podcasting), or Interactive Media, judged in a Secondary (grades 9-12) division. Finalists are celebrated at an annual awards ceremony, with 2026 entries accepted January 19-March 31 and the ceremony held in May.