
About MOSAIC Programs
Mosaic aims to provide the news in our community; teach journalism skills to youth from underserved areas and groups; and train and broaden the ranks of professional journalists. Mosaic works to amplify the voices of student journalists and fill the gap in news relevant to young people and residents of under-covered areas of greater San Jose. Our mission has become more urgent as local media capacity has eroded.
For three decades, the Mosaic Journalism Program in San Jose has focused on training teens in journalism skills and empowering them to write about and photograph the issues important to them. Mosaic offers four programs:
Summer Workshop
Our intensive two-week summer workshop is held at San Jose State University. It is free to students. The session includes lessons in reporting, interviewing, writing, photography, videography and podcasting — and most important, learning by doing. Students pitch story and multimedia ideas and work on them, coached by journalism professionals. They produce a 12-page broadsheet paper and post stories and multimedia on our website, the Mercury News’ web page and KALW public radio website. Read published articles here.
Internship
Our paid fall and spring internships enable our alumni to build their journalistic skills while covering the news.
Boot Camps
We provide short, free training sessions for the staff of high school and college newspapers.
Teacher Support
Mosaic staff offers mentoring, curriculum and material support to high school and community college journalism instructors.
Mosaic alumni have gone on to work for the nation's top newspapers, online sites and other news outlets. Others have established successful professional careers in the public, private and non-profit sectors, aided by the skills and self-direction they gained during Mosaic’s workshops and internships.