Ingress
Curious what it’s like to be a journalist?
The New York Times Learning Network launches “Ask a Journalist,” a new monthly series (dated August 20, 2025) designed especially for teens. Each installment invites young readers to explore journalism firsthand—asking questions, uncovering how reporters do their work, and demystifying what it means to tell stories in today’s media landscape. It’s a prime opportunity for educators and students alike to connect with the day-to-day craft of journalism and ignite thoughtful inquiry. This lesson plan i a copy from the New York Times.
Join us each month this school year to discuss a teen-friendly topic with a New York Times journalist who covers it. Post your thoughts, ask questions or suggest ideas, and the reporters will reply! The New York Times
Note: Join us starting Sept. 1 for our Ask a Journalist about A.I. with Kashmir Hill.
In the fall of 2024 we introduced a new feature in which teenagers from anywhere in the world could have conversations with New York Times journalists.
Over the course of the school year, they spoke about TikTok with Sapna Maheshwari, who covers business news; about reporting on the president with Zolan Kanno-Youngs, a White House correspondent; about animal behavior with Emily Anthes, a science reporter; about school brawls filmed on cellphones with Natasha Singer, a technology reporter; and much more.
This year, we’re relaunching the feature with a new name: Ask a Journalist. The basic premise, however, remains the same:
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Every month we’ll choose a topic that is relevant to the lives of teens, and encourage students to read and discuss one or more free Times articles about it.
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Next we’ll invite them to our comments section to post their thoughts and questions for the Times journalist who wrote the pieces.
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Our journalist will then write back to students over the course of a week, and those students will receive an email telling them that the journalist has responded.
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At the end of the month, we’ll invite teenagers to reflect on what they’ve learned and call out some favorite student responses.
Why are we doing this? More than half of all teenagers now get their news from social media, and are therefore becoming more removed from the professionals on the ground who are covering current events, interviewing sources, fact-checking, photographing and editing. And with mis- and disinformation, generative artificial intelligence and distrust in traditional media all on the rise, we believe it is more crucial than ever to help young people understand how journalism works and why it is important.
How a Typical Monthly Cycle Will Work
Weeks 1-2: Students explore the topic on their own and then post their comments and questions for the journalist.
On the first day of each month, The Learning Network will publish a link to a fresh conversation forum. Students will spend the first two weeks exploring the topic and the related articles and, we hope, discussing the topic as a class.
Then students will post responses in our comments section, including their reactions to the pieces they read, their thoughts about the topic and its relationship to their lives, their responses to the comments of other students, and, of course, their questions for the journalist.
Students should post their responses by the middle of the month — on or around the 15th. (We will post an exact date in each forum to help teachers and students remember.)
Week 3: The journalist responds
Over the course of the third week, the journalist will reply to some students in the comments section, and those students will receive an email alerting them to that reply.
During that time, we will also post a final reflection question for students.
Week 4: Students return to the conversation, read the replies, respond if they like and reflect on the conversation as a whole.
During the last week of the month, students should check back in to read the reporter’s responses to their own and others’ thoughts, to continue the conversation with other students and to respond to our final reflection question.
By the last day of the month, Learning Network staff will call out some of our favorite student comments that reflect on the conversation as a whole.
Fall Semester Calendar of Topics
September (begins Sept. 1): How A.I. is changing our world, with Kashmir Hill
October (begins Oct. 1): Understanding Gen Z trends, with Jessica Grose
December (begins Dec. 1): Uncovering what’s special about your hometown, with a Times photojournalist
We’ll announce the spring semester calendar in December.
How Students Can Participate
Students who are age 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to register for a free New York Times account and participate in this activity. Here is a brief video showing how to do that. Teachers can post on behalf of students who are too young to register for their own Times account.
All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
