Please note, OIDJ will not host a summer 2024 program, but we do plan to return for the summer of 2025.

The Oklahoma Institute for Diversity in Journalism offers an annual summer workshop for promising high school students. The program’s goal is to expose youth to careers in the world of daily journalism. OIDJ’s mission is to provide opportunities for students who would otherwise lack access to journalism training or who face other barriers to pursuing careers in journalism.

The program is funded by several organizations including the Dow Jones News Fund, the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, the Oklahoman, the Norman Transcript, and the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at OU.

Started in 2004, OIDJ was first held at the University of Central Oklahoma and eventually moved to OU. Each day has a mix of lectures about different aspects of journalism, visits to professional outlets such as The Oklahoman, the Norman Transcript and KGOU, and time to work on assignments. Students in the institute will learn a variety of skills needed to be well rounded in journalism, such as photography, video and writing of blogs, profiles and news stories. However, the students will also learn about life at OU with tours of Gaylord and the campus.

  • Selected students will be given free room and board in a residence hall on the University of Oklahoma campus.
  • Supervision of their stay will be provided at all times by peer counselors and OU staff members.
  • Participants will attend training sessions throughout the day and evening in the state-of-the-art facilities of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
  • Participants will research, report, write, video and edit stories on a variety of topics and news events.
  • Instructors will come from a variety of educational institutions and professional media organizations.