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:

• 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.

• Next we’ll invite them to our comments section to post their thoughts and questions for the Times journalist who wrote the pieces.

• 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.

• 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.

And, of course, this feature and the related Times articles we choose will be free — just like everything else on our site.

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.