The World Journalism Institute (WJI) exists to recruit, equip and encourage, journalists who are Christians. WJI holds courses, conferences, workshops and seminars throughout the year: They are usually held in New York City, Austin, Texas and Asheville, North Carolina, but have also taken place in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and other cities the organisation deems to be media centers. WJI offers internships with the World News Group and at secular publications to its most promising students. From 1999 to March, 2013, some 461 students went through WJI courses.
Contents
WJI was formed in 1999 following discussions between World magazine staffers and board members Joel Belz, Marvin Olasky, Nick Eicher and Robert Case II. Its original mission statement emphasized what it calls the practice of biblical journalism in both Christian and secular venues: “We teach students to apply a biblical grid through which to view the world theater of God’s handiwork, and then we show them how to report that divine handiwork in an engaging manner to the reading public.”
Program
Case is director of WJI and Olasky is its dean. Journalists from secular publications, such as Russ Pulliam of the Indianapolis News and John McCandlish Phillips of The New York Times, have taught at WJI, and scholars such as Vishal Mangalwadi, R. Albert Mohler, Jr., and Nancy Pearcey have taught worldview components.
The current curriculum includes courses taught by Pulliam and World News Group editors Olasky, Eicher, Mindy Belz and Jamie Dean. WJI typically offers a summer course for current college students and recent graduates, and a mid-career course for people whoare already established in their professions but wish to write occasionally for World News Group publications.
Internships
The institute offers multi-month internships to its most promising graduates.
Monographs
WJI monographs on the intersection of Christianity and journalism include talks given by Carl F.H. Henry, David Aikman, Larry Woiwode, Bryan Chapell, and others.