Best practices to shape AI, journalism union
by John Bowen, MJE
Fifteen years ago Feb. 1, 2009, copyright education centered on online term papers.
Back then, USA Today reported, as did SPRC’s blog, about a court case against a company accused selling term papers online without proving content ownership. A US district judge in Illinois ordered the owner of the web-based company to stop selling term papers unless he has permission from the paper’s authors.
News about copyright to date in 2024 hasn’t dealt with term papers, but with “Steamboat Willie” and the original images of Mickey Mouse, freed from copyright limitations. There are, though, limitations that keep Disney in charge of most of copyright control on its work and characters. According to Disney spokespeople, the “More modern” Mickey and characters will remain protected from the public domain.
And, it’s clear, if we don’t pay attention, more lasting copyright issues could zip by without much notice.
Read MoreStudent expression shouldn’t be foreign to journalists
Not My King Signs and chants of Abolish Monarchy filled the Westminster area In London, England May 2, 2023. Even in democratic countries, some protestors could face penalties even for a peaceful protest. Photo by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona for Unsplash.com
To appreciate our freedom of speech and freedom of expression, travel abroad. Unfortunately, there are those in this country who think freedoms of expression need to be controlled, especially when they are extolled by students.
by Stan Zoller, MJE
When we recently visited Macao our tour guide pointed to a group handing out information about their religious beliefs. The reason he did is because the group was from mainland China where such gatherings and distribution of information about religion is prohibited.
Imagine having to leave your homeland to express yourself.
The mere thought should make you appreciate the fundamental freedoms available to people, let alone journalists, in the United States. Unfortunately, however, there are those who think freedoms of expression need to be controlled, especially when they are extolled by students.
The rights of student journalists play a role far greater than reporting news, sports, voicing opinions or reviewing movies.
Student media is community journalism and the stepping stone for civic engagement. It’s why New Voices laws are more important than ever before. Student journalists provide the first steps for civic engagement through their coverage of their community – their school where students learn about the First Amendment, learn about the importance of democracy and learn why it’s so important.
What’s needed is a greater understanding why it’s so essential to let students practice and appreciate what they learn.
Read MoreStudents win money, school board rejects it; Issues create story planning activity
by John Bowen, MJE
When Lynchburg, Virginia’s public school board rejected a $10,000 grant students had applied for and won — and the board had already approved — more than one group was upset.
An unnamed board member told news media board members have received death threats and hate mail because of their decision.
Students were upset because they say they had worked for hours on the grant designed to create safe spaces at schools.
Community members were upset because they objected to the type of group making the funds available and the way that group said the space had to be branded.
Other community members questioned who sponsored the funds because they supported students who needed that kind of assistance.
All this led to the board rejecting the grant and saying feedback was so negative.
And the best story idea for student news media staffs to focus on should be….?
That’s up to journalism students as they try to determine what are possible stories, from inverted pyramid to general feature to alternative story forms to Solution Journalism and Advocacy Journalism.
It all depends on what they see as potential facts and what sources they find that have some degree of relevance to their communities.
Making time for Media Literacy
by Diana Day
- Students need help now to navigate and make sense of the complicated media landscape. Photo by Jorge Franganillo on Unsplash
Even before the Israel-Hamas war began in October, bringing with it rampant misinformation and disinformation, one of my goals for my media arts and journalism classes this year was to be more intentional about teaching media literacy. I tend to react to specific events in the news and to use those charged moments to teach this crucial skill set, rather than to proactively plan more in-depth lessons and projects.
It’s clear from recent conversations with students this approach doesn’t serve them; they need help now to navigate and make sense of our complicated media landscape
I have found some outstanding resources. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but is rather a roundup of tools on my radar right now:
The Sift is published weekly during the school year by the News Literacy Project and is named after the SIFT method (formerly called The Four Moves) created by Mike Caulfield: Stop, Investigate the source, Find better coverage, and Trace claims back to the source.
The newsletter “offers a rundown of the latest topics in news literacy — including trends and issues in misinformation, social media, artificial intelligence, journalism and press freedom. It provides discussion prompts, teaching ideas, classroom guides and a video series that feat
From the News Literacy Project, the same folks who publish The Sift. I’ve been wanting to dig into this one for a while. It’s a series of lessons that cover a number of media literacy topics, including bias, conspiracy theories, and misinformation. I tried some of the sample content and was impressed. It’s straightforward, smart, and doesn’t talk down to kids.
This quiz comes out every Friday. Now, my students ask to do the quiz if I forget. Whether you get the answers correct or incorrect, the quiz shares some context and main points after you have clicked your answer; you end up learning a lot about the news even if you don’t do well on the quiz.
Teenagers and Misinformation: Some Starting Points for Teaching Media Literacy
I am always impressed with the materials and contests in the New York Times Learning Network. The lessons typically provide a rich context and thoughtful discussion prompts and include a NYTimes article as a part of the lesson, making them a great way to get students reading the news.
Web Literacy for Student Fact Checkers
This is a free e-book by Mike Caulfield, who created the SIFT method (see above). The first section is called “Why This Book?” and offers the following, which is a perfect close to this post about media literacy teaching tools:
The web gives us many such strategies, tactics, and tools, which, properly used, can get students closer to the truth of a statement or image within seconds.
Unfortunately, we do not teach students these specific techniques. As many people have noted, the web is both the largest propaganda machine ever created and the most amazing fact-checking tool ever invented.
But if we haven’t taught our students those fact-checking capabilities, is it any surprise propaganda is winning?
Read MoreExpanding upon the JEA curriculum to teach the SPJ Code of Ethics
by Kirsten Gilliland
This school year, I am teaching intro classes for the first time, including photo/digital journalism and Journalism 1-2. The past four years I’ve only taught production classes (broadcasting, newspaper, yearbook) and intro to photography/intermediate photography.
Like many journalism teachers, I turned to the curriculum section of the JEA website for guidance. After looking at my lesson options and sample curriculum maps, I created my own course layouts with ethics towards the beginning.
For photo/digital journalism specifically, I taught the “Legal and ethical considerations in photojournalism” lesson. Students at my new school are at a lower level academically than they were at my last school.
‘So, instead of providing the recommended 10 minutes to read the SPJ code of ethics individually, I decided we’d do it in chunks as a class to make sure everyone received the content and understood—they could ask questions and I could summarize/provide examples.
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