'We're more than' just the announcement team
Meet Jake Chau, Colorado high school journalist of the year
Jake Chau never envisioned himself in the newsroom.
“I don’t remember signing up for [the class], and I didn’t really know anybody,” he said. “I thought about dropping, but I told myself, ‘Let me just stick with it a little bit’ because my counselor couldn’t schedule a time to talk about my schedule for a few weeks.”
Fast forward a few weeks, and Chau fell in love with multimedia journalism after only his first assignment about a TikTok trend for Grandview TV at Grandview High School in Aurora, Colorado.
Video production had always interested him, and journalism gave that interest purpose. He has been at it since.
By his senior year, he was editor-in-chief of a 40-person newsroom.
In this Q&A, Chau reflects on his experience as a multimedia journalist and a leader as he wrapped up his high school career.
His responses have been edited for flow and concision.
How did you get into journalism, and which early stories made you realize it was something you wanted to stick with?
I had some video-making experience. I had always been interested in making videos and production. This kind of gave a purpose to that.
My first story was about the devious licks trend, where people were stealing things in the bathrooms and vandalizing the school.
One of the editors said, “Why don’t you work with me to have a story?” It was interesting and relevant to students.
That story was really about learning how to use the systems and a camera for journalism purposes. It was different from what I was used to, but it taught me a lot and instilled that interest in storytelling and wanting to shed light on things.
But the favorite story I told was my sophomore year: the boys’ soccer season recap. They were coming off a state title and had high expectations, but they failed to meet those.
Telling the stories of the players and dynamics was powerful. One of the players lost his grandpa, and in the next game, he scored a goal and had a little celebration. That really instilled the love for journalism.
What’s your process for developing a story, and how do you help younger staff do the same?
When I'm thinking about an idea, I think about something that I'm interested in and want to know more about.
As editor-in-chief, I always tell my staff, “You are your target audience.” Tell a story you want to tell. That helps you get through it, because telling a story is a lot of hard work — it takes time and effort, and you'll get burnt out if you're not passionate.
If I'm my target audience and people like me are my target audience, and I'm interested in it, then other people will be interested in it too.
I organize and do some research: Who do I want to interview? What's their story? What's their background? What do I need to know about them? What can I know about them that's already available — on social media, MaxPreps, other sources — and what don't I know?
Then I fill in those gaps. I schedule interviews, get them done, sit down and edit, and the story kind of comes to life. I’ll do revisions if I feel like it’s not in a good spot, but the most important part is sitting down and doing research.
As for mentoring, our class combines Broadcast 1 and Broadcast 2, so this semester we had 40 kids on staff.
Many of the Broadcast 1 students lacked experience. Maybe they're like me — they didn’t want to take the class, but they stuck with it. Maybe they don’t love it the way I do.
So it’s about honing in on that passion and asking: What do you care about at Grandview? What do you care about in your community? What are you involved in? What stories do you want to tell?
Our section editors work with them directly, and I debrief with those editors. I’d help if I need to step in. But a lot of it comes down to spending time with people and showing that you care about them.
Have you dealt with any newsroom challenges, and what’s one piece of advice you’d give to new editors?
Of course. I think every newsroom does. It's about managing the dynamics — sometimes they're your friends, or people you really respect who are doing hard work, but not necessarily doing the right work.
It’s hard to say that and sit down with someone you see as a friend and say, “This behavior or this situation is unacceptable. Let’s sort it out.”
I don’t want to jump to conclusions as a leader. I want to know the full story and come to an agreement where we’re not being dramatic or creating tension.
When we named our new section editors, I wrote a letter to them.
The biggest advice I gave — especially to underclassmen stepping into associate editor roles — was: take the extra time. Give your 100%, but if you can spend an extra hour just being curious about a story, learning how Premiere Pro works, understanding grammar, or how to write better, it’ll go a long way.
What’s gotten me to this level, winning Journalist of the Year, was the amount of work I put in. The more time you give, the better you get. That’s what makes the difference.
What stood out to you while building your portfolio, and what part are you most proud of?
What I’m most proud of is my Law and Ethics category.
Last November, we wanted to cover the local congressional election. We decided as a staff that instead of focusing on the presidential race, we’d look more locally at candidates who were supposed to represent our district. These people were more accessible and relevant to us.
But our school district’s legal team said no. They told us we couldn’t do the story.
My advisor is also the advocacy coordinator, and he said that was unacceptable. We contacted the Student Press Law Center, and they gave us great advice.
We were in constant communication, and it was a big moment. I felt like it separated me from other student journalists who may not have faced something like that.
Our district told us we weren’t allowed to “campaign” for a candidate, and they were worried that bringing candidates in — even just to hear their perspectives — would seem like endorsement.
We brought in John Fabricatore, the Republican candidate, because he was more accessible. Jason Crow, the Democratic incumbent, was in D.C. and harder to schedule.
The school assumed we would show this during our homeroom announcements, but that wasn’t true. It was going to be a separate feature.
A lot of our admin just saw us as the announcements team, but we’re more than that. We’re the voice of Grandview.
We pushed back, explained the intent of our coverage, and eventually resolved the issue. It was a miscommunication, but it reminded us — and hopefully them — that we are a legitimate press organization.
What’s next for you, and what would you say to other student journalists?
I’m going to the University of Colorado Boulder to study journalism.
Another big part of our program at Grandview was livestreaming sports. We did full broadcasts — play-by-play, graphics, score bugs — we tried to make it as professional as possible. I want to keep doing that at the next level.
Student journalism is so important. Doing this in high school has been a privilege. It’s brought me so much joy and shaped so much of who I am.
Being recognized nationally with the JEA Journalist of the Year Award was a huge honor. I’m grateful for all of it — for the people I’ve worked with, the stories I’ve told, and what it’s taught me.
Journalism has given me a strong sense of storytelling and truth, and I believe that’s essential to any democracy.
Getting to practice that in high school? That’s really special.
📧 Leanne Yoon is the founder of High School Press Central. Contact her at hspresscentral@gmail.com. For more information, please refer to hspresscentral.com. Chatwan Mongkol curated the section below.
Story Spotlight:
📻 A new report shows over half of public media organizations partner with college students to produce local journalism, with many acting as “teaching hospitals” and reaching diverse communities across the country.
🗞️ The Daily Titan at California State University, Fullerton usually distributes its print edition around the city. Now that’s banned. A student journalist saw this as “an attack on press freedom.”
🚨 In San Francisco, two student journalists covering June ICE protests for UC Berkeley’s The Daily Californian were detained even though they were wearing marked press credentials.
🏛️ Members of the New Voices Pennsylvania coalition traveled to the state capitol building to push for student press freedom.
🗽 NYC student journalists on the year that was: “It’s not really giving democracy.”
Featured Opportunities:
Applications for the Equitable Cities Reporting Fellowship for early-career journalists in Philadelphia close July 18.
Retraction Watch is hiring a remote intern for the fall. Deadline’s July 18.
High schoolers: Apply to the 2025 NextGen Civic Leadership Academy, a global virtual summit where students can explore civic issues, including media. Deadline’s July 20.
The Warner Bros. Discovery Access Writers Program is open for applications until July 30.
ProPublica is hiring five student journalists for its 2025-26 Emerging Reporters program. Apply before Aug. 18.
FOX 5 is offering a hands-on 6-month training program for college graduates. It’s based in NYC.
GBH’s fall 2025 internships from September to December are live.
The Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism is constantly recruiting reporting interns for its spring, summer and fall intern cohorts.
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