OLYMPIA – More than 250 Washington young people will learn about reporting, editing and photography at the WSU Extension 4-H Know Your Government Conference Feb. 19-22.
“Our youth delegates will learn how to recognize bias in the news and how to distinguish truth from spin,” said Jan Klein, WSU Extension 4-H adolescent leadership specialist. “They’ll discover the importance of researching a topic to fully develop a story and that it’s good to question the authenticity of who is making the news or who is delivering it.”
Lawmakers will join the teen delegates at a legislative dinner Feb. 21.
The conference, started in 1978, is a hands-on educational opportunity for ages 14-18. More than 87,000 youth participate in 4-H programs statewide in areas including science, leadership, service learning, the arts and technology.
Teens will conduct interviews, write news stories and produce a broadcast videos. Story topics will include Internet privacy, year-round school, undocumented youth attending college, and teen violence due to increased brutality in video games.
Kim Schmanke will address the delegates Feb. 19. She brings more than 12 years of political and communications experience to her role as communication manager for the state Department of Ecology’s southwest region, which spans 12 counties.
Brad Shannon, political editor for the Olympian newspaper, will speak about working out of the Capitol bureau. As a journalist for nearly 30 years, he has covered city government, courts and public education.
Learn more about the conference by visiting http://4h.wsu.edu/conferences/KYG/.