Proposed

New Hampshire Journalism Mentors Project

Guidelines/Best Practices

Statement of Purpose:  

The New Hampshire Journalism Mentors Project seeks to pair students and educators with working and retired journalists to assist them advance their journalism careers and support high quality news coverage in the state.

Program Overview:

The New Hampshire Journalism Mentors Project seeks to create extended mentoring pairs with relationships spread over several months, such as a semester of study. The Mentors Project believes longer term relationships can best benefit the mentor and the mentee and by producing the broadest and longest lasting results.

Organization: 

The New Hampshire Journalism Mentors Project is sponsored by the New Hampshire Press Association and the Granite State News Collaborative. It is administered by a five-person board of directors consisting of two members from professional media, two college educators and the program director. These appointments are approved by a consensus vote of the sponsoring organizations

Mentorship periods:

The New Hampshire Journalism Mentors Project offers three mentorship windows a year: spring (Jan-May); summer (Jun-Aug); fall (Sep. - Dec.).

Roll of the Mentor:

The primary role of mentors is to make themselves available to listen and offer feedback to mentees based on their own professional and personal experiences. In sharing these insights,  mentors gain a chance to build their leadership skills, along with the personal reward of potentially shaping someone’s path to success. Our mentors also serve our student members by giving them a chance to tap into the advice, job search and networking guidance of a seasoned professional.

Mentors can assist mentees in many areas, including but not limited to: building self-esteem and confidence; finding sources and improving stories through writing coaching; sorting out ethical and legal questions, learning how to improve reporting techniques, providing tips on dealing with difficult sources, how to best use social media platforms and defining an appropriate career path.

Roll of the Mentee:

The primary role mentees is to take full advantage of the skills and experience of their mentors and to assist in defining and achieving their career goals. This means mentees are responsible for taking a leadership role in defining their relationship with mentors.

Who can be a mentor?:

A mentor can be any current or retired journalist with demonstrated skill sets beneficial to students seeking a journalistic career. Mentors must be willing to spend a reasonable amount of time working with mentees to establish their expectations for the mentorship and achieving those goals. A mentor is foremost a coach/teacher/guide to provide understanding, guidance and support. A mentor should be willing to pursue the kind of affiliation that continues after the official mentorship has ended.

Who can be a mentee?:

A mentee can be an educator, student or a student publication including newspapers, magazines, broadcast outlet, digital presence or blog. Foremost,  a mentee must have a clear understanding of why they want to be mentored as well as a clear understanding of their expectations for their mentor. In addition, a mentee must be able to articulate a clear set of knowledge goals for their mentorship.

Guidelines for mentors

Set Initial Expectations with the Mentee

Setting expectations is one of the most crucial steps for anyone in a mentoring relationship. The mentor and mentee must clearly outline their expectations for each other and the relationship. They must also agree on these expectations. This will help avoid role confusion and give the mentorship great potential for success.

Take a Genuine Interest in the Mentee.

While it’s important to understand a mentee’s role and career goals, it’s hard to form a successful relationship with someone that you don’t actually know. That is why mentors should spend time at the beginning of the relationship getting to know more about their mentee.

Learning more about the mentee decrease the challenge of making assumptions throughout the relationship.

Guide the Mentee’s Development.

It’s important  to understand how to point the mentee in the right direction and when to wait before giving advice. The mentee needs to take responsibility for their own learning. They also need to be autonomous when it comes to doing their part in the relationship. The mentor is there as a guide, but mentee must do the work themselves.

A good practice for this is to ask guiding questions to the mentee to help them discover the answer. Suggestions can be made, but it's important to avoid telling the mentee exactly what to do. Knowledge sharing from previous experience can help achieve this.

Share Previous Mistakes

It's important for people to learn from their own mistakes. However, mentors are in the unique position to share previous experiences with their mentee. This includes their own mistakes.

There is a good chance that the mentee will face the same challenges that the mentor has already overcome. By knowing about the mentor's experience, the mentee will have invaluable knowledge to take on the challenge before a mistake is made.

Celebrate Their Milestones

Along with setting expectations, the mentee should also set quantifiable goals. These goals will make it possible to track their improvement as a mentoring program participant. A good mentor takes the time to track the mentee’s progress and adjusts goals as need be.

Celebrating the progress is just as important as tracking it. The milestones should be celebrated. When a mentor takes the initiative to celebrate a mentee's milestones, they are able to strengthen the overall relationship.

Solve for the Long-Term

A formal mentoring relationship may last for just a few months, but what the mentee learns will be with them throughout their entire career. Mentors should always keep this in mind. Both parties should have their thoughts on the long-term and the goals should reflect that.

Also, a good mentor should make themselves available past the mentorship. Keep the relationship even when the program is over, and don’t hesitate to help out the former mentee.

Guidelines for mentees

Remember mentors are volunteers

As volunteers they are taking time out of their schedules to help you. Work to ensure your interactions are thought out in advance and conducted efficiently.  Ask mentors what days and times are best for them to interact with you. Conversing at the right time will likely mean mentors will have more time to interact and can do so in a more relaxed way.  

Take Responsibility for Your Learning

Mentors cannot do everything. They’re primary responsibility it to provide tools and guidance. You must be willing to take assistance and apply it your educational goals. Listen carefully and ask questions if there is something you do not fully understand.

Develop Trust

As with any relationship, trust is not automatic, it must be carefully cultivated. That means being open, honest and respectful with mentors. It is the responsibility of the mentors to do the same. Developing mutual respect in the initially stages of the mentorship is especially important because it establishes a sound foundation for moving forward and better ensure a successful mentorship.

Set Realistic Expectations with Your Mentor

A successful mentee sets goals and expectations at the beginning to base the mentorship on a solid foundation. If possible, these goals should have specific milestones and deliverables. Mentors have limits to their knowledge and abilities. Don’t get frustrated because they cannot help you with all your requests. If you need guidance beyond that which your mentor can give you, ask for their recommendations to help you find others who have the necessary skills.

Be Open About Your Needs and Provide Feedback to Your Mentor

Don’t be afraid to provide constructive feedback, positive and negative, during the mentorship. Don’t wait until the final evaluations. Be honest if you need something to change and let them know if you don’t understand something. As well, let them know what is working well. By doing this you create a mentorship that grows stronger with time.

Guidelines for mentor/mentee meetings

Initial meeting

After a mentor and mentee have been matched it is the responsibility of the mentor to make the initial contact to the mentee by the most convenient means available.

During that initial exchange of pleasantries, it’s recommended that an in-person meeting is scheduled where the mentor and mentee can review the information provided when they outlined their goals and expectations for the mentorship. They should also take time to review each others histories and interests to begin building a personal relationship.

That first meeting, whenever possible, should be in person at the school or news organization. It is acceptable for it occur at a public venue as well, but never at a private residence or venue.

This is also the time to set a schedule for future meetings and contacts.

Subsequent meetings

It is up to the mentor and mentee to determine when and what means they will remain in contact for the course of the mentorship.