#SJW11: Make a difference during Scholastic Journalism Week
Today is the first day to celebrate Scholastic Journalism Week
Your staff can celebrate by submitting a great story or broadcast that made a difference in your school or community or both. See below for more details. Let’s do this to document the great student journalism that is happening all over the country!
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Is there a story your student media outlet has published that has made a difference in your school or community? If so, we would like to consider your story for publication.
The Journalism Education Association’s Scholastic Press Rights Commission is looking for such stories to showcase. Is there a story student journalists at your school have written that has made an impact in your school or community? We would like to hear your story and share it to encourage other student journalists.
We want to show scholastic journalists can — and consistently do — develop stories which demonstrate professionalism, make a difference in the lives of peers, school and community and exemplify research, responsibility and courage. The Commission hopes this work can be an inspiration to students, advisers, parents, administrators, lawmakers and professional journalists.
We’re looking for student journalism in any of its forms — electronic media, newspapers, yearbooks, multimedia — from this year or previous years. The submission should reflect student-selected content of high journalistic quality that had an impact on the school or community.
Include with submission:
* Statement about how this story made a difference
* Electronic version of the story – can be doc, docx, PDF, JPG, PNG, MP3, M4V files.
* Submit package for consideration to jane.blystone@gmail.com by March 1.
* Include contact information for person submitting package.
I can be reached at the e-mail address above if you have questions or ideas, or if your would like to Skype contact me , my Skype name is jblystone.
#SJW11: Blog posts from advisers, pros on important topics
I teach an master’s level online course called Social Role of the Media which examines social responsibility of scholastic media. The course is based around the book Elements of Journalism and the 1947 Hutchins Commission’s call for media to maintain a “social role” as one of its main goals.
I require each of the students, who are scholastic media teachers, commercial journalists and those seeking teaching positions at the scholastic and collegiate levels, to post a blog each week related to course discussions.
Since their work reflects current issues and discussions, especially those important to Scholastic Journalism Week, I asked if I could post a link to their blogs, especially their latest discussion.
Here are links; check them out. Give them comments. I think you will find what they say enlightening:
Lori King http://lking17.blogspot.com
Kate Klonowski http://rollingsocial.blogspot.com/
Andrew Christopulos http://apcmedia-andrew.blogspot.com/
Judy Stringer http://judystringer.wordpress.com/
Trevor Ivan http://trevorivan.wordpress.com/
Chris Waugaman http://waug.tumblr.com
Marina Hendricks http://marinahendricks.blogspot.com/
Jeff Kocur http://whyweneedjournalists.blogspot.com/
Traci Hale Brown http://tracihalebrown.tumblr.com/
Dino Orsatti http://dino1105.wordpress.com/
Read More#sjw11: Tear down this wall…
Looming large in the news this past week has been the role the Internet played in Egyptian protests.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lauded the Internet’s role in the spread of democracy.
“For the United States, the choice is clear,” Clinton said. “On the spectrum of Internet freedom, we place ourselves on the side of openness. Now, we recognize that an open Internet comes with challenges. It calls for ground rules to protect against wrongdoing and harm. And Internet freedom raises tensions, like all freedoms do. But we believe the benefits far exceed the costs.”
Despite her comments Feb. 15 at George Washington University, perhaps the secretary does not examine the costs a group of U.S. citizens pay because many cannot exercise Internet use for educational revolution and growth, too.
Our high school students.
“Together, the freedoms of expression, assembly and association online comprise what I’ve called the freedom to connect,” Clinton said. “The United States supports this freedom for people everywhere, and we have called on other nations to do the same. Because we want people to have the chance to exercise this freedom. We also support expanding the number of people who have access to the internet.”
As we support protesters around the world as they fight for freedom, we should also help our students protest against overly restrictive Internet filters that arbitrarily wall out information that should be open to all.
Perhaps Ronald Reagan said it best when he said, “Tear down this wall” so others could experience the promise of democratic freedom.
It’s time to tear down another wall.
The Internet firewall.
Read More#SJW11 and beyond: Legal and ethical foundations for tomorrow’s citizens
The Common Core State Standards were developed by the National Governors Association Center of Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers to “provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn” and were “designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers.”
When released in June 2010, the NGA Center and CCSSO indicated these standards are “aligned with college and work expectations, so that all students are prepared for success upon graduating from high school.” The writers concluded, “With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.” As of mid-February 2011, all but nine states have adopted some form of these.
The standards only address English-language arts and math, according to the Common Core State Standards website, “because these two subjects are skills, upon which students build skill sets in other subject areas. They are also the subjects most frequently assessed for accountability purposes.” The group “may develop common core in additional subject areas.”
Yet, without the legal and ethical foundations on which the United States is based and the free expression these support, no amount of focus on rigor or international benchmarking will be enough to save our democracy. Standards that offer expectations for tomorrow’s citizens, whether headed to college or career, are vital. Being able to read is not enough without the ability to assess accuracy, completeness and bias of content. Being able to write or speak without knowing legal constraints and ethical guidelines is equally worthless.
Thus, members of the Journalism Education Association’s Scholastic Press Rights Commission offer these additional standards as a way to address what we believe is missing from those currently available. We offer the College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Citizenship and the Media. These mirror the format of the Common Core Standards in all but two ways: (1) They are readily applicable to journalism and/or media classes, though they could apply to social studies and English courses as well, and (2) they do not offer grade-specific standards because many such courses have a range of student grade levels included. With no national group currently proposing such a set of standards, we suggest each state adopt its own.
Key Ideas and Details
1. Demonstrate the core values and principles of U.S. democracy as set forth in documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and court decisions.
• Understand First Amendment rights and responsibilities when choosing media content.
• Analyze relevant court decisions as precedents.
• Practice these key ideas by collaborating on decisions through a student-led democratic process.
2. Demonstrate understanding of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship and the principles of civic involvement, including individual rights and their accompanying responsibilities.
• Produce opinion or editorial pieces that spark conversation and question authorities regarding current issues.
• Report accurately and objectively on the news and issues of the day.
• Search for solutions to problems.
• Provide alternative voices through credible reporting and constructive criticism.
3. Understand the importance and function of the marketplace of ideas in a democracy, including the necessity for diverse views.
• Create an open forum for student expression, including opportunities for outside voices to be heard.
• Strive to ensure all social, economic, ethnic, academic and grade-level groups are represented.
• Use a balance of sources and coverage in presentation of topics.
• Resist prior review and restraint by authorities and present sound reasons why that practice should not be instituted or continued.
• Exercise critical thinking and exchange ideas when making final content decisions.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
4. Demonstrate knowledge of the function, effect and parameters of law as they apply to the specific content areas.
• Exercise rights as afforded by the First Amendment and court cases.
• Recognize the difference between protected and unprotected speech and apply it to media choices.
• Recognize and abide by accurate interpretations of FERPA, FOIA, HIPPA and other relevant legislation.
5. Assess ethical issues and how society might be impacted by choices affecting students and community members.
• Explore, analyze and debate the impact of ethical choices by government officials, including public school administrators, school board members and other figures of authority.
• Provide leadership through sustained coverage of topics related to such ethical choices.
• Localize off-campus issues to show how they impact readers.
• Engage communities through accurate and thorough reporting of such issues.
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
6. Apply ethical principles in decision-making, including responsibility, thoroughness, honesty, accuracy, independence, accountability and credibility.
• Recognize the importance of independent thought in reporting.
• Utilize constructive criticism in editorial commentary.
• Access multiple resources to ensure accurate, thorough and balanced reporting.
• Accept accountability for all content.
• Correct and retract misleading or incorrect information.
7. Develop and refine ethical skills for choosing, gathering and organizing information.
• Investigate credibility of sources and confirm questionable assertions.
• Use anonymous sources only when it is essential to the content of the story, and honors confidentiality promised.
• Verify and synthesize when gathering and disseminating information.
Application of Knowledge and Ideas to Future Concepts
8. Prepare for the legal and ethical implications of technological changes in communication.
• Apply copyright laws to digital media.
• Properly attribute sources when using the work of others.
• Practice transparency in information-gathering by identifying methods of acquisition.
• Refrain from creating a false impression of reality through digital manipulation of photo, video or audio files.
• Avoid conflict of interest in information presented.
• Work to assure accuracy and thoroughness of information.
• Recognize privacy implications when gathering and publishing information.
Are we missing anything? We’d love to hear your suggestions – and comments.
Read MoreFollowing the TAO: Take the pledge as commitment to transparency, sound reporting
Whitney High journalists (Calif.) take the Tao of Journalism pledge Feb. 9, 2011.
Student journalists who practice ethical journalism and want assure readers, viewers and school administrators of their commitment to excellence, can now go public by taking the “TAO of Journalism” pledge .
The TAO Pledge asks journalists to promise that they will be “Transparent” about who they are and how the story was developed; “Accountable” for, and willing to correct any errors; and “Open” to other points of view. This idea, introduced by the Washington News Council, is gaining traction with media organizations around the world.
The Journalism Education Association has endorsed the TAO of Journalism Pledge as one way student media can instill trust in their programs.
JEA encourages schools and student media to sign the Pledge during Scholastic Journalism Week on Wednesday, Feb. 23 and to invite their school administrators to sign on, as well. Any student media group who “takes the TAO Pledge” will be listed on the TAO of Journalism website with a link to their website.
Students can then post the TAO Seal in their masthead and they will receive a poster of the TAO Pledge that can be displayed as a public reminder of their commitment.
Once students take the pledge, they need to be sure to follow the pledge to show their schools and their communities the importance of professional standards.
• BONUS for student media groups who take the TAO Pledge during Scholastic Journalism Week: Temporary tattoos of the TAO seal for all members of the staff.
Click on “Pledge” at the top of the home page.
Read More