Young Professionals Course 2025
WJI Young Pros
WORLD Journalism Institute’s Young Professionals course is a one-week multimedia journalism intensive for those in their twenties and thirties who want to expand their reporting skills and are exploring a calling in journalism.
The 18 applicants accepted to the course will learn to report the news with biblical objectivity through classroom instruction and boots-on-the-ground reporting for print, digital, audio, and video platforms.
Experienced journalists invested in training the next generation of reporters will instruct participants, edit their work line-by-line, and build relationships with them.
During the week, participants will deepen their understanding of the craft of telling a story and have the opportunity to expand their multimedia skills in:
broadcast for audio or video
feature writing
digital news writing
Participants don’t only gain practical reporting tools at WJI. They will also connect with a community of other journalists who are invested in their faith!
Location, Dates, and Accommodations
WJI Young Pros will be hosted in South Carolina in the summer of 2025. Dates for the course will be solidified by the end of January. Please email office@worldji.com if you would like to be notified when the details are in place.
Opportunities and Takeaways
WJI participants will have the opportunity to:
Report for multiple platforms including magazine, digital, and broadcast.
Learn how the Bible informs reporting and the craft of storytelling
Fellowship with a community of Christians seeking to use media for God’s glory
Develop a portfolio of publish-ready journalistic pieces in multiple mediums
Participants who produce excellent work during the course have their work published on WORLD News Group platforms including wng.org and The World and Everything In It.
Following the course, WJI students are eligible for a paid, four-to-eight-week internship with WORLD News Group and to become freelance writers for WORLD.
WJI is a prerequisite for anyone interested in writing for WORLD and is an opportunity to build relationships with editors and reporters and learn the ethos and journalistic ethics at WORLD.
Strong Candidates Display These Traits
We invite Christians who are seeking to engage their mission field and skills through reporting with a biblical worldview. Those early in their careers and college graduates who graduated before 2025 are eligible to apply. Ideal candidates will also:
Have a strong Christian faith grounded in Scripture
A desire to use their gifts
Display a curiosity about the world and a love for communicating
Be familiar with or interested in journalism or already pursuing it as a career
This intensive is designed to stretch participants of all skill levels. They will explore how their calling, skills, and interests align by completing practical field assignments on tight deadlines. Those eager to gain the confidence and skills necessary for a successful career in journalism are welcome to apply.
Please apply to the 2025 College Course if you are currently in college or graduate in May of 2025.
Cost
Accepted students receive a full scholarship that covers tuition, housing, and meals. Our mission is to develop and equip the next generation of journalists to hone their craft and report from a biblically objective worldview, and donors give generously to help us accomplish our mission! For that reason, we have a very intense application process. Students only need to pay their travel costs to and from North West Iowa. More travel details will be provided upon acceptance or request.
Application Process
The final deadline to apply is Friday, March 28, 2025.
Applicants will receive a confirmation that their application has been received within three business days and may be asked for a preliminary phone interview.
Invitations to RSVP will be extended to selected candidates two weeks following the early bird deadline and one week following the final deadline.
Applicants accepted to the course will also be notified of pre-course assignments and an equipment list.
Interested? APPLY NOW.
Please contact office@worldji.com if you have any questions, are curious about which course is best for you, or would like an update regarding your application.
WORLD News Group and WORLD Journalism Institute
WORLD’s mission is to share biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires. WJI helps WORLD accomplish its mission by training journalists who are ready to engage their calling by working for a small Christian publication, in mainstream media, a local newspaper, or in a different field altogether.
Read more about the history of WJI here.
Required Items
- Gmail account (we will be doing group editing and document sharing through Google Docs, so every student should have a basic understanding of Google Docs)
- Smartphone for taking photos and recording
Instructors: *may include but are not limited to the following journalists
Lee Pitts
As Washington Bureau Chief for WORLD magazine for more than five years, Lee's assignments sent him from Capitol Hill to the White House to the Supreme Court. But his reporting also has taken him beyond the Capital Beltway. Leading up to the 2010 elections, Lee embarked on a 10-day, 4,225 mile cross-country trip through competitive congressional districts in 16 states. In 2004-2005, as a reporter for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Lee embedded with a National Guard Regimental Combat unit in Iraq for nearly 7 months, going on humanitarian and combat missions. Before joining WORLD, Lee served as press secretary for U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander. Now in his fifteenth year in the media world, Lee earned a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and currently leads the journalism program at Dordt University.
WORLD Reporters and Editors
Experienced reporters and editors for WORLD News Group will lead instruction and offer line-by-line feedback on students' work during the course. They will teach students how to report with excellence for print, digital, audio, and video platforms.
Program Price
For those who are accepted to the program, donor-funded scholarships cover all costs including tuition, housing, and meals. A travel stipend is also available.
What are other alumni saying?
"I would definitely recommend WJI to Christian writers who want to tell great stories. You will have the opportunity to flex your media muscles and make some lifelong friends along the way. Your mind will be put to the test, but you will come out confident that you can write compelling stories."
The most important thing I learned at WJI was the importance of storytelling in all communication endeavors. Stories are not just for kids–its the best way to accurately communicate effectively, both in journalism and other communication opportunities.
My time at WJI has been transformative in both the career sense and the spiritual sense. I love how much we talked about the connection between journalism and Christianity. You can't divorce the two as a Christian who is a journalist
I loved the classes and found the seminar to be very helpful. I especially enjoyed being able to critique each other's writing and do the line by line editing together. The hands-on experience was unbeatable.
It was immensely helpful for me to be publicly edited and educated at the same time during the course.