Invite a journalist covering pressing global issues to your class
WHY SCHEDULE A VISIT? | HOW DO I SCHEDULE? | FAQ | SUGGESTED SPEAKERS
The Pulitzer Center offers free, virtual journalist visits to K–12 students and educators to increase critical understanding of our five focus areas: Climate and Environment, Global Health, Human Rights, Information and Artificial Intelligence, and Peace and Conflict.
Virtual visits are interactive, online presentations with journalists who have received Pulitzer Center reporting grants. They introduce students and teachers to the issues explored in journalists’ reporting projects, describe the reporting process, and ignite a discussion on how the issues and solutions explored in global news stories connect to students’ lives and communities.
WHY SCHEDULE A VISIT?
Virtual journalist visits are a great way to help students...
- Connect classroom learning goals with current events
- Explore how journalists apply research, writing, critical thinking, multimedia, empathy, and other skills
- Prepare and ask questions of an expert
- Get excited about using news and exercising media literacy to learn about the world
- And much more!
STUDENT AND TEACHER TESTIMONIALS
"The conversation was powerful and as many students commented 'down to earth' to the point that they felt like journalism and media was no longer this disconnected entity that impacts their lives but something they can be a part of if they wish or at the very least, find ways to engage with it on a critical level."
Sarah Lawrence, elementary teacher in Chicago, IL
Elementary school student, Chicago, IL
“I really enjoyed the fact that we got to talk to a real journalist and hear what she has to say about these problems, specifically the migrant crisis. I learned about the migrant crisis but what really stuck out is how I could help. Mariah Woefel said that we could donate clothing like socks, hats, gloves, etc. I want to contribute and help and now I know how I can help thanks to the meeting with Mariah.”
Middle school teacher, Bloomfield Hills, MI
“The experience of connecting with professional journalists is invaluable to young students as it models for them the application of the skills they learn about in the classroom. Further, it is vital we honor journalists and their craft, especially because of the times we live in."
High school student, Oakland, CA
“I learned how journalism can bring to light many things that may have been forgotten or forcefully erased.”
High school teacher, St. Louis, MO
“The opportunity to hear about these stories and take a deeper dive is so enriching for students. It fosters empathy and gets students to look critically and more deeply at a specific topic. My students always enjoy learning from the Pulitzer journalists. It is something I look forward to each year!”
High school student, Durham, NC
“I really enjoyed getting more insight about how the process of speaking to an underreported story worked and thought it was especially enjoyable because of how interactive/discussion-based everything was."
HOW DO I SCHEDULE A VIRTUAL VISIT FOR MY CLASS?
- Click on the form below to tell us about your class, goals, preferred visit topics or themes, and meeting times. Please allow for at least two weeks between your request and the first preferred date for your virtual journalist visit.
- After receiving your request, a Pulitzer Center staff member will contact you to suggest potential guest speakers and determine your top choices. Due to journalist availability, we cannot always guarantee a specific journalist, but will work with you to identify a strong speaker for your class.
- Once a journalist is confirmed for the virtual visit, we will follow up to confirm the visit platform and share pre-visit resources for students.
Use the form below to request a visit, and a member of our education team will be in touch with you shortly!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is the Pulitzer Center? Who are the journalists with whom you work?
The Pulitzer Center is a nonprofit journalism and education organization in Washington, D.C. As a grant-making journalism and education organization, we partner with individual journalists and news organizations to support in-depth, high-impact reporting. We offer a variety of grants to support reporting projects on underreported stories.
After Pulitzer Center grantees publish their projects, we can invite them into classrooms to share their work with K-12 students. Explore a sample list of grantees here.
What should I expect during the visit? How long are virtual visits?
Virtual visits are up to an hour long, though they can be shorter, depending on your class times, and we recommend at least 40 minutes. The virtual visit includes time for journalists to discuss their background, share their reporting, and engage in a Q&A with students.
We strive for virtual visits to feel conversational and we encourage students to participate with questions and comments. A Pulitzer Center staff member also joins these visits to facilitate and share an introduction to media literacy and underreported stories.
Is there a cost associated with these virtual visits?
The virtual journalist visit program is free to K-12 schools. However, we ask that teachers have all students complete two surveys, and that the teacher completes an evaluation as well.
While we do pay an honorarium to each journalist per class engagement, our hope is that we are bringing a service to K-12 schools, education programs, and youth carceral facilities that might not otherwise have the resources to invite guest speakers.
Some schools generously offer to cover the cost of these visits if they are able to support them in their budgets. In those cases, we will process an invoice after the event and pay the journalists directly.
This program is made possible by our incredible community of donors and foundations. To support this work or to learn more about donating to the Pulitzer Center, click here!
How should my students prepare for the virtual visit beforehand?
Based on your speaker, we might encourage you to share the journalist’s biography and project page, or other bespoke resources, ahead of time. Another great way for students to prepare is brainstorming questions in advance.
Ahead of your visit, we also send pre-visit surveys for students to complete. Following their time with the journalist, we will send a post-visit survey to see what they learned!
How can my students stay engaged with global issues after the virtual visit?
After your visit, we ask that all students and educators complete a post-visit survey to share takeaways and feedback.
We invite you to explore some of our other programs, such as:
• Annual student writing contests and workshops
• Standards-aligned lesson plans on various global issues
• The Journalist’s Toolbox, video resources, and lessons on journalism skills
Please join our weekly K-12 education newsletter to stay up to date on programs, resources, and events!
What if I have multiple classes or sections?
Depending on scheduling and request volume, it may or may not be possible to accommodate multiple sessions (maximum of three visits per semester). We thank you for your understanding as we aim to provide many schools with the opportunity to meet with journalists.
We have seen many educator partners successfully combine multiple classes for one meeting time, or record a meeting to share with other students afterward.
What meeting platforms do you use?
Virtual visits allow classrooms to connect with journalists around the world and across time zones. We organize our virtual visits through online platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams, and we will coordinate logistics with you. Students can either join from their own devices or from within one classroom as a group.
I work with learners in carceral facilities/adult learners/students in an after-school program. Can I still request a visit?
Yes! We support virtual visits with K-12 classrooms and school libraries, programs for incarcerated youths and adults, and after-school programs for students. We have also previously supported high school equivalency adult education and English language learner programs. We invite you to share more about your learning community in the request form.
NOTE: If you work with college and university students, please contact [email protected] for more information about this separate process.
Can I request a visit in other languages?
Most virtual visits are conducted in English, but we have also supported several visits in Spanish, including for native speakers and non-native learners of Spanish. For every virtual visit, we also ask if your students require any accommodations, including for language and pacing. In Zoom meetings, for example, we can enable live transcription.
I teach at a school outside the U.S. Can I still request a visit?
While the majority of schools we work with are within the United States, we also support schools around the globe! For the synchronous virtual visit program, we are able to coordinate virtual visits that fall within 9:00am-6:30pm Eastern Standard Time (last visits starting at 5:30pm EST).
For asynchronous resources that you can access any time, we recommend:
• Webinars On-Demand, with over 100 recorded journalist presentations
• The Journalist’s Toolbox, video resources, and lessons on journalism skills
• Standards-aligned lesson plans on various global issues
SUGGESTED SPEAKERS
All virtual journalist visits are free and available year-round.
Journalists by Focus Area
CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT
Meet Journalists Focused on Climate and Environment in Africa
Meet Journalists Focused on Climate and Environment in Africa
INFORMATION & ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Meet Journalists Focused on Artificial Intelligence
Journalists by Heritage Months
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER
Virtual Journalist Visit Opportunities for Hispanic Heritage Month
Journalists can share stories from Latin America and Latinx communities, and discuss how their own identities inform their work.
NOVEMBER
Virtual Journalist Visit Opportunities for Native American Heritage Month
Journalists can share stories about Native American communities, and discuss issues affecting Native people.
FEBRUARY
Virtual Journalist Visit Opportunities for Black History Month
Journalists can share stories about Black communities, identity, and racial justice and discuss contemporary issues affecting Black individuals and the diaspora.
MARCH
Virtual Journalist Visit Opportunities for Women’s History Month
During Women's History Month, we’re featuring journalists who have covered the unique challenges women and girls face around the world, gender equality, and stories of empowerment.
APRIL
Virtual Journalist Visit Opportunities for Arab American Heritage Month
Journalists can share stories about Arab Americans and global issues within the Arab world and the diaspora, or discuss how their own identities inform their work.
MAY
Virtual Journalist Visit Opportunities for Mental Health Awareness Month
Journalists can share stories about mental health challenges around the world, as well as how they tend to their own mental health when telling difficult stories, and how students can develop a healthy relationship with the news.
MAY
Virtual Journalist Visit Opportunities for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Journalists can share stories about Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans within the U.S. and across the diaspora or discuss how their own identities inform their work.
JUNE
Virtual Journalist Visit Opportunities for LGBTQIA+ Pride Month
Journalists can share stories about issues affecting LGBTQIA+ people around the world and stories of empowerment.
JULY
Celebrate Disability Pride Month with Pulitzer Center Reporting
We encourage educators to amplify stories of triumphs and systemic challenges, and to take time to better understand disability allyship while elevating disabled educators and the work that they do.
OUR VALUES
The Pulitzer Center has a bold vision: to be the venue for the world’s most innovative and consequential reporting, with journalism as the key element for mobilizing society through audience engagement strategies.
We believe that people and communities who actively engage with systemic challenges will find solutions together. By supporting journalists as they conduct in-depth investigations, produce compelling stories, and engage diverse audiences, we create a ripple effect of world-changing impact.
GET INVOLVED
The Pulitzer Center's K–12 education programs and resources cultivate a more curious, informed, empathetic, and engaged public by connecting teachers and students with underreported global news stories and the journalists who cover them.
