On this episode of The Journalism Salute, we're joined by Anita Pinto and Aron Dervishaj. Anita is a speech therapist the advisor to the student newspaper at Urban Assembly Gateway School for Technology in Manhattan at which she started a journalism club. Aron is a student who will be entering 11th grade in the fall. He's been writing for the student newspaper, The Gateway Times (and he plays hockey too, as evidenced by the picture above).
If you are a regular listener, you've hopefully heard our previous interview with Anita and her monthly updates.
In this interview, we recapped the school year with Anita and got Aron's perspective on what it's like to be a student journalist with no prior journalism experience. We went through two of Aron's stories and discussed how he got them. We also got some thoughts from Anita on ideas for next year, which will be the third year of the newspaper club.
Thanks to Press Pass NYC, a wonderful organization helping advisors start student newspapers in New York City high schools, for connecting us with Anita.
Excerpts below are added for length and clarity. For the full interview, listen to the episode.
How big is the newspaper club and how often do you publish?
Anita: So we are a relatively new student newspaper. We just finished Year two for us. We are affiliated with Press Pass NYC. They are non-for-profit that helps create and, empower student newspapers because we have so few of them in New York City public schools, surprisingly. Our club is actively around 15 people, give or take. I'm quite proud to say we're about 15. Last year and this year, we've published two times, one time in the fall and one time in the spring. So far that's worked for us, but maybe we could increase it to three for next year.
One of the highlights for the year came right near the end, right?
Yeah. We needed some things to look forward to and have fun with for the end of the year.
We went to go visit Democracy Now! watch them film, meet with the host Amy, who was just absolutely amazing. So the kids had a wonderful experience. We really enjoyed it.
Aron, what was it that got you interested in being a journalist?
Aron: It was during lunch times where I would just wander around the hallways. And there was a Newspaper Club meeting that was happening while I was wandering. And a teacher was like, "You should go poke in there and see if you like it." And I guess I liked it.
What's your initial response to it been?
Aron: I feel like I understand journalists more now. At first it's just like, "Oh, that's somebody that writes, and they don't really have the best opinions, and they just write for the money." But I've seen this process now that journalists do, and it can be grueling sometimes, and it can be fun at other times.
Anita, what would you saying about watching Aron and seeing his strengths as a journalist?
Anita: In terms of his journalism skills, I love that he is able to leave his comfort zone and experiment a little bit, and he's not afraid of challenges. He's open to all kinds of different beats and he's curious, so he has all the underpinnings of a great journalist.
What about the other kids?
Anita: I think we have a whole spectrum of kids Some are new this year and some, like Aaron, have been with us since the very beginning. And I would say that for the kids who have been with us since the very beginning, it's been so amazing to watch their evolution.
What kind of goals do you set for the students?
Anita: I'll always emphasize the underpinnings above the actual writing. We're a club, you know, we're a club, we're not a class. You're here because you have the interest, and the passion, and the drive. And I all I ask of you is to be honest, to show up, to be a good communicator, to show effort. As long as you can do all those things, the writing is the second part. I don't think we necessarily have the best and strongest writers, but we have kids that really care and are very passionate about the community, and sharing things in the community, and we kind of meet each other in the middle.
Aron, what's the best part of doing the work that you've done journalism-wise?
Aron: The best part of it was growing as a writer. Growing as a writer was an amazing thing, 'cause I had always struggled as a writer in middle school, and then, ninth grade I noticed an elevation as I joined the newspaper club. And then this year, I see more elevation as I'm staying in the newspaper club.
What's the hardest part?
Aron: Deadlines. As a student as well, I have to remember to do, this assignment, that assignment, this assignment, that assignment, and then you realize that that club that you signed up for also has an assignment that has its own deadline.
What's something, whether it be a skill or something else, that you've learned from your advisor in the last year that's particularly valuable to how you do your work?
Anita: I learned to get to understand people more. We meet often. We meet very often. I didn't know them at first, and getting to see them so often, just hearing all of their ideas and everything gave me ideas, and also just broadened my understanding of how people think and act
Anita, what's in the plans for next year's newspaper?
When we talk about bringing journalism back to kids, we have to also understand that how people consume journalism has changed, and rather than fight against it, we have to run with it. Our kids love video, so I have to more video. We have a graphic design team at school, more graphics and social media. We have not done that yet. That's a big one, so just extending, keeping what we already have and extending it into a way that's more engaging for students.
E-mail me at [email protected] if you have any thoughts on the podcast. I’d love to hear from you.
In 2025 we had a new episode each week and featured more than 60 guests. I don’t know that we were the most diverse journalist interviews podcast out there, but we certainly tried to be.
We look forward to bringing you more journalist interviews in 2026 but we can use your help. Tell a friend, a relative, a colleague about us and let them know that our episodes are worth their time.
A reminder to professors and teachers
You can find episode guides that you can use if you wish to integrate the podcast within your classroom. There are more than 50 available. Each one has suggested questions for discussion and activities a class can do.
I’m also happy to help you find an episode that would be appropriate for what you’re teaching. Reach out to me at [email protected].
Additionally, I’ve curated some of the 2025 episodes into groups. If you’re teaching a class or unit in any of these subjects:
- Investigative Journalism
- Feature Writing
- Covering government policy
- Social justice, immigration, and identity
- Local News
Check out the sets of episode guides that would be useful to you. I don’t have a good term for them, so I’m borrowing from Bluesky and calling them “Starter Packs” - sets of 5-8 episodes in each category that may be useful in your classroom.