BUDDING JOURNALISTS: These young participants in a recent journalism workshop at Labyrinth Books, led by Riverside Elementary School teacher Gita Varadarajan, learned how to do “on the scene” interviews and turn them into news stories. 

By Anne Levin

Alongside the local newspapers and magazines available for perusal at local cafes and businesses, a new publication is available. The eight-page newspaper is the work of 10 young participants in the recent summer journalism camp held by author and Riverside Elementary School teacher Gita Varadarajan, for aspiring writers aged 8-10.

The workshop was held inside Labyrinth Books from June 29-July 3. But the children spent a lot of time “in the field,” on Princeton’s streets and in local businesses, learning how to approach subjects, carry out interviews, and turn them into prose — with impressive results.

“In a world full of corporate, soulless businesses that strictly prioritize profit and money, step into jaZams and take a step back into your childhood,” reads a story about the local toy store by Sharaddha Dharma and Robert Jones.

An article by Cole Blanter-Wang and Julia Ritter about the clothing store Orvana, reads, “Orvana customers aren’t only there for the experience. This includes a one-on-one with the owner and getting immersed in a world of delicately woven fabrics and rich culture.”

Varadarajan has held previous workshops focused on fiction and novels. After coming up with the idea for a week devoted to journalism, she approached the owners of Labyrinth, jaZams, Orvana, and Small World Coffee about being interviewed by the children. All were eager to participate. Two former students of Varadarajan, one of whom is studying journalism in college, helped guide the students throughout the week.

“The first part was learning how to ask a good question, and the art of interviewing,” said Varadarajan, who has never been a reporter but knows how it’s done. “The whole point is that if they know their work will reach an authentic audience, the sense of agency is much higher. I wanted to give them the opportunity to experience the whole process.”

To ensure that their questions would be informed and relevant, the children did research on the four businesses before venturing off to do live interviews.

“We talked about asking open-ended questions that would involve follow-up,” said Varadarajan. “Most importantly, we talked about how you need to be curious and learn about the people you are interviewing.”

The students also got a chance to interview members of the public, on the streets, about their shopping habits. “I told them they shouldn’t be offended by people who say they just don’t have the time,” said Varadarajan. “But most people were willing to talk to them.”

“My favorite thing about journalism camp was how we interviewed people in the streets,” camper Kaira Doshi is quoted in an article about the week by intern Marina Yazbek. “Journalism is not just interviewing people, but knowing perspectives, knowing opinions, and learning things about people, learning which opinions are more common.”

Joanne Farrugia of jaZams, Virginia Harabin of Labyrinth Books, Jessica Durrie of Small World Coffee, and Alka Mattoo of Orvana were the subjects of interviews by the students, in groups of two or three.

“In the following two days, the students wrote individual articles for each small business, applying what they learned about headline writing, leads, inverted pyramid structure, and the editing process to their work,” Yazbek wrote. “By Friday morning, they had a completed printed product to distribute around town.”

On the final day of the workshop, Varadarajan asked the children to write an article on a specific case, with no support from her or the interns. “They picked it up and wrote very quick profiles,” she said. “It was fun to see that they had learned, and were able to apply what they learned. We printed out the papers and they delivered them to the local businesses.”

Next month, Varadarajan plans to hold a journaling workshop with a friend from Columbia University, again for kids aged 8-12. “It’s about the art of slowing down,” she said. “We’ll journal in cafes, the canal, in local parks. Every environment is different. At the end of the week, I hope they will be inspired to continue. Because that’s what’s needed in this fast-paced world.”