Civic engagement:
More than a buzz word
by Candace Bowen
Civic engagement is one of the pluses we name when talking about the value of scholastic media. But what do we mean by that line and what in our activities gives our students that experience? First let’s think about what it does NOT…
Making a Difference: Student journalists document controversy challenging community
by Jane Blystone
Part 2 of an 8 part series
When the school district in Pflugerville, Texas, decided to provide employees with domestic partners the same fringe benefits that married couples received, student journalists at Pflugerville High School documented the public controversy as it was the first district in the state of Texas to offer such coverage.
Raising conversations about whether the district should offer such coverage also sparked discussion about same sex marriage in a state where it is banned by state constitution. Students were able to build the package as they documented public meetings where citizens challenged citizen in open forums.
The strong writing and editing in this package ensures that viewers get the larger story in just three and one-half minutes. Student journalists localized the story by interviewing students within the school who were on both sides of the issue. Coverage of public school board meetings, teacher, student and private citizen interviews provided a balanced news package.
View the video package here: http://vimeo.com/62813171
Student journalists do make a difference.
Read MoreWhen law and ethics and good journalism combine
PART 3 OF a 3-PART SERIES
An experienced Ohio newspaper adviser teams up with a former student — who now has a law degree — to teach the staff about using public records. An alleged rape on campus requires student editors to stand their ground accessing information about it. Once they have details about the incident, they have to decide just what they should – or maybe should not – use. It’s a tale that has all the makings of excellent reporting.
The discussion and next steps.
Editors of the Shakerite have class at 8 a.m., and they had a lot to discuss Sept. 11. Editor Shane McKeon and campus and city editor John Vodrey had the police report showing that what the principal, in his letter to parents, said was an assault had really been classified by the police as a rape.
Now what?
Read MoreWhen law and ethics and good journalism combine
PART 2 OF a 3-PART SERIES
An experienced Ohio newspaper adviser teams up with a former student — who now has a law degree — to teach the staff about using public records. An alleged rape on campus requires student editors to stand their ground accessing information about it. Once they have details about the incident, they have to decide just what they should – or maybe should not – use. It’s a tale that has all the makings of excellent reporting.
The incident
An unexpected faculty meeting 10th period in mid-September. Police in the halls earlier in the day. All the students at Shaker Heights High School were talking, but the journalism students were more than curious.
“When I came back (to the journalism room) after the meeting, I told them I was forbidden to talk about it,” adviser Natalie Sekicky said. “Yes, there was an incident. Yes, something happened. But we have to be sensitive.”
Read MoreWhen law and ethics and good journalism combine
PART 1 OF a 3-PART SERIES
An experienced Ohio newspaper adviser teams up with a former student — who now has a law degree — to teach the staff about using public records. An alleged rape on campus requires student editors to stand their ground accessing information about it. Once they have details about the incident, they have to decide just what they should – or maybe should not – use. It’s a tale that has all the makings of excellent reporting.
The backstory
Journalism teacher Natalie Sekicky admits she’s lucky. Anyone with a full teaching load and student media to advise can usually only dream about being able to put staffers in teams and work with them as they investigate complicated, in-depth stories.
But then Sekicky’s former editor-in-chief Emily Grannis, a college journalism major, started giving “quick lessons” about record requests to the J1 classes while she was home on breaks. When she entered a nearby law school, she said she was able to work “more formally” with the Shaker Heights students.
Read More