Los Angeles Times Launches HS Insider

Students Engage with their Communities through Journalism

50 High Schools, 16 Activities, 100,000 Students and More to Come

LOS ANGELES – December 11, 2014 – The Los Angeles Times has launched HS Insider, a platform for Southern California high school students to tell their own stories about the high school experience. HS Insider debuts with student journalists representing 50 public, private and charter schools, with more than 100,000 students from Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura Counties. The journalists will contribute their stories, videos and photos on topics ranging from sports and academics to student life.

“We see an opportunity to connect our community with stories told by and for students,” said LA Times Publisher Austin Beutner. “HS Insider was created as a forum for young journalists to develop their skills and share their experiences. As with the recent successful launch of the California section, The Times is investing in the community in which we live.”

HS Insider will feature the best of each week’s posts from participating schools around the region. Students can learn more and follow their schools on HS Insider’s blog network at latimes.com/hsinsider or by following @hsinsider on Twitter. Each school will also have its own individual blog with a unique URL.

HS Insider furthers The Times’ commitment to developing future journalists. Since 1984, The Times’ Metpro program has helped recent college graduates or journalists with limited professional experience launch careers and boosted diversity in the newsroom. Hundreds of participants have been provided with the training and support necessary to put them on a track to careers in journalism.

“HS Insider gives us a new way to work with student journalists early in their development,” said Times Editor Davan Maharaj. “We’ve been impressed by the creativity, talent and skills these students display in their work.”

The USC Annenberg School of Journalism will work with the Los Angeles Times on its HS Insider efforts and, in addition to the training provided by The Times editorial staff, will host the students for seminars.

Willow Bay, Director of the School of Journalism, said, “We are delighted to be a part of the HS Insider initiative. The goal of the program – to provide young people with hands-on experience telling stories about their own lives – is a natural and powerful extension of the work we do at USC Annenberg to build the next generation of journalists and communicators.”

HS Insider is presented by launch advertiser Discount Tire Centers.

“Discount Tire Centers is proud to be a part of the Los Angeles Times’ new initiative,” said company president Sergio Andonian. “We seized the chance to present HS Insider, appreciating an excellent opportunity to underscore our brand’s commitment to local communities and support Southern California students at a pivotal stage in their lives.”