BU Journalism Program Expands Student Newsroom Initiative

Boston University's (BU) College of Communication is giving communities across Massachusetts an opportunity to receive local news coverage while providing BU students with career-preparation experiences.

Conceived by BU instructor and former Boston Globe editor Brian McGrory, The Newsroom model has expanded across five courses, with 64 student journalists and 31 community news partners. They have eclipsed 300 published stories.

According to a BU news story, the program pairs BU students with independent outlets to deliver professionally edited, community-focused content to media outlets. Students are guided by instructors McGrory and Steve Greenlee, with editors like Scott Farwell, to help manage workloads. The program emphasizes hands-on practice, rigorous editing, and beat development, with students creating reporting beats in their communities and proposing stories beyond initial assignments.

When The Newsroom launched for the initial spring/summer 2025 production cycle, the program produced 193 stories by 33 students across 15 outlets, validating The Newsroom as a sustainable win-win-win for students, independent outlets, and BU's journalism program.

Charlie Johnson, a Brookline.News contributor in The Newsroom, is a BU alum who leveraged his experience with The Newsroom to amass several clips that he is using to apply for positions at community newspapers across the country. 

While at BU, Johnson covered a local demolition story revealing improper permits and asbestos at a Jamaica Plain property that raised broader policy questions about the town's building department. That experience, he said, fueled his love for community journalism.

McGrory said the partnerships created between BU and area news organizations have allowed students to gain professional journalism experience while allowing news outlets to provide more coverage for their communities. According to BU, outlets such as the Beacon Hill Times, Jamaica Plain Gazette, New Bedford Light, and the Waltham Times have benefited from student contributions.