Youth Arts Journalism Initiative 

Welcome to the application for the ninth cohort of the Youth Arts Journalism Initiative (YAJI). If you are a high schooler attending a New Haven, Hamden or West Haven public school and have an interest in journalism, read on. Applications are open Friday, March 27-Monday, April 27, 2026. 

The mission of the Youth Arts Journalism Initiative (YAJI) is to introduce high schoolers to grassroots journalism through The Arts Paper, the daily publication of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven. Students independently research, report, draft, and publish articles covering arts, culture, and community in New Haven and the greater New Haven region. Many YAJI alumni stay on as freelance reporters after the program ends. If you want to get a feeling for some of that reporting, you can read their work here. 

The next semester starts June 29-July 3 (following the end of the NHPS, WHPS and HPS academic years) with a week-long "intensive” followed by seven weeks of pitch meetings, group writing/reporting time at the New Haven Free Public Library and 1:1 professional mentorship. We ask students to produce between one and four publishable articles over the course of the program.

Student pay starts at $100 per article. In addition, all students receive a $400 stipend for participating in the program. The Arts Council of Greater New Haven disburses half of the stipend after the week-long intensive, and the second half after attendance in and completion of the program

The 2026 summer intensive will be held in person Monday through Friday June 29 through July 3 at the Ives Main Branch of the New Haven Free Public Library, 133 Elm Street in New Haven, and the Arts Council of Greater New Haven, 70 Audubon Street in New Haven. 

Your commitment to the program includes:

• Weekly sessions with program mentors, teaching artists & visiting journalists
• Developing story ideas
• Conducting interviews on the phone and in person 
• Writing publishable articles
• Ten hours a week to work on articles independently
  
  

NOTE: Participation in YAJI is a significant time commitment. If you cannot commit at least 10 hours a week to conducting interviews, writing independently and working with mentors to edit and revise your articles, this program may not be for you (and that's ok!). In the past, students have underestimated this time commitment and struggled to complete the program. 

Important dates to remember:

March 27, 2026: Applications open
April 27, 2026: Applications due
May 4, 2026: Applicants notified
May 15, 2026: Applicants accept or decline entry to the program. Waitlist regrets by May 18.
Program begins: June 29, 2026 (note: we usually start earlier, but NHPS ends later this year due to four snow days!)    
Program ends: August 21, 2026

Participants who successfully complete the summer program may be invited to continue writing stories for The Arts Paper as a freelance writer.

For questions, email lucy@newhavenarts.org. Fill out the application below to apply.