The newsroom as a classroom.

I like to joke that I got my undergraduate degree from the student newspaper, not the university. Simply put: journalism is learned best by doing journalism.

Students learning the craft do so best through real reporting for real audiences, with real consequences. My role as a coach, adviser and editor is to prepare them for those assignments, support them in producing their best possible work, and help them grow through critique and repetition.

Student newsrooms are places to learn leadership, judgment, collaboration and resilience — not just reporting skills. They are also places to confront the real-world pressures — financial, ethical and institutional — facing the media business in the 21st century. Experimentation is critical. Students should be able to try new products, formats and approaches in a laboratory that encourages both growth and sustainability.

The goal isn’t simply to produce the best journalism today. It’s to develop journalists capable of producing great journalism long after they leave campus.