Late in November about 700 high school journalists from across the state will gather for the 58th annual Writers and Photographers Clinic at the University of Utah.

The Salt Lake Tribune sponsors this gathering, and two universities -- the University of Utah and Brigham Young University - --- underwrite the event.

Professional news people lead workshops on interviewing, writing for the Web, taking photographs, designing pages, writing headlines, presenting multimedia and other skills involved in gathering and delivering the news.

The youngsters also learn from each other as they move from class to class.

The Tribune has been involved in the planning and execution for more than a decade, as has Jim Fisher, a University of Utah associate professor in the Department of Communication.

He is a believer in this workshop.

"Although it's hard to measure the effects of the clinics on students, many come to the university and to other journalism programs with solid attitudes toward reporting they adopted in the clinics and at their schools. We have seen a growth in readers' understanding of our profession, and we have noticed many former clinic students' bylines," he said.

That's no small effort.

Maybe one out of 100 high school journalism students takes up news gathering as a profession, but finding and encouraging that one is worth the effort it takes to talk professionals and professors into running the workshops.

For decades, school principals have faced the challenge of roping in some teacher to run the school paper and also teach other classes. I met one woman in the western part of the Salt Lake Valley who trained in library science, but was stuck with the school newspaper.

Some principals view student newspapers as a nuisance and try to keep a firm hand on the content, but some principals have learned to trust the advisers and editors and let them find the news that young people will care about.

Fisher also values the benefit of the workshop to teachers:

"The effects of the clinic on high school advisers is just as important as the training we provide their students.

"Many teachers are assigned journalism classes as an afterthought; they feel untrained and poorly equipped to do the job. But after a WPC we get feedback that they are more confident and much more networked with others who have taken the same challenges over the years."

There are students who wind up in journalism classes because there are no other electives open. The benefit to these students, Fisher says, is simple:

"The students who attend our clinics are remarkably better equipped to judge news and information, as well as find and publish it. They are better students, but more importantly they are better citizens. They doubt everything."

That ability to be skeptical without becoming cynical is not an easy one to master, but it is an essential skill in a democracy where every citizen is guaranteed five freedoms in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, the right to assemble and the right to redress of grievances.

Navigating those freedoms is something we address at every one of these workshops.

Reader Advocate's number is 801-257-8782. Write to Reader Advocate, The Salt Lake Tribune, P.O. Box 867, Salt Lake City, Utah 84110. E-mail: reader.advocate@sltrib.com.