A four-part blog:
Emma’s story Part 1 of 4
One student journalist attempts to reach a larger audience
One student journalist attempts to reach a larger audience
by Candace Bowen, MJE
My original blog idea started as a simple little suggestion to encourage high school student journalists to cover school board meetings and educational topics in communities without commercial media – those rural and urban areas considered news deserts. But it’s grown much bigger than that. These will be the weekly installments to – follow the story
Student journalists’ role in reporting on education grows where there are News Deserts
Part 1: We’ll explore what happened when a student reporter offered a story about her school to a local “news and digital marketing platform.” It was posted – and then….
Part 2: What do those involved with student media legal issues say about aa597this? We’ll talk to the Student Press Law Center about what rights such young journalists have.
Part 3: How do the hyperlocal web outlets see their role when working with students – or do they see that as a possibility at all?
Part 4: Are there ways we – advisers and journalism teachers – can help students and communities get vital information, especially about local education? How can we educate those who might be working with student journalists but have no background in scholastic media and student rights and responsibilities?
by Candace Bowen, MJE
It was spring 2023, right after yet another school shooting, when junior Emma Levine decided those in her New Jersey community needed to hear local student voices about this issue.
She reached out to TAPinto, “a network of local news and digital marketing platforms,” opening in towns that have no local newspaper or news website. The franchise currently has nearly 100 such outlets across the nation, many in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Florida.
Emma didn’t work on her student newspaper, though she had taken journalism and hopes to have that as her college major in another year.
“The whole idea behind what I wanted to write was to reach more people, to be a student voice.” She said she hoped to show how her school was reacting to school shootings. To do that, she interviewed a student, a teacher and the school’s principal at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in New Jersey.
All three of her interviewees knew her purpose and her plan to have this published in TAPinto so community members would know what the school was doing. She carefully double checked her facts with all three. “I wanted to be sure it was correct,” she said, and she did make one minor change.
The article was posted on a Wednesday, and, by Friday, Emma heard from her editor. She said “it had to be taken down.” According to Levine, “The school’s communications officer insisted the three interviewed had no idea this was to be published.” So the TAPinto editor removed the story.
The editor wanted to know “what else I could write” because Emma was considered an unpaid intern. But Levine said she was “super determined to get it back up, even if that meant making some changes.” She tried talking to the superintendent, communications officer and principal, but none of that happened until June.
“I thought it was important to get the piece out there,” Levine said, but the communications officer said the superintendent had “grave concerns” about what was posted in the article. Because Levine was working for “an outside entity,” she should have gone through the communications officer to get to talk to the principal. And, no, even taking things out wasn’t a solution.
Levine said she “took that hit and moved on,” writing two more articles for TAPinto during the summer. The principal later approached her about being “the student voice as part of an internship for credit through the school.” She said she told him that was “great idea” but she didn’t want credit for this. She never heard more about that proposal.
Levine does encourage other students to try to write for their local news outlets. She said she learned a lot about how the (news) process works.
Emma said, overall, she learned some “big takeaways,” including that “education is about putting out fires.” She was not being supported as an opportunity-seeking student. Her hardest takeaway, however, was that a lot of education is about “putting out fires.”
“My principal wasn’t going to bat for me – but my journalism teacher was,” Levine said.
Ai, Fair Use and the First Amendment
by Mark Dzula
Description
Writers are on strike in Hats against AI companies, and consider what’s at stake in each situation.
- Students will consider the four factors of fair use to determine if companies are on solid legal footing when they make this claim when they utilize large data sets to train AI bots.
- Students will research and weigh the role of precedent to predict how the courts may rule in these cases, including work with primary source documents.
- Students will propose guidelines that safeguard the First Amendment and protect the rights of content creators in the face of rapidly developing AI.
Length
One eighty-minute block, with HW
Materials / resources
- ChatGPT maker OpenAI faces a lawsuit over how it used people’s data. Report in the Washington Post
- Sarah Silverman Sues OpenAI and Meta Over Copyright Infringement. Report in the New York Times
- With Warhol, It’s Time to Transform Transformative Use, opinion piece in Copyright Lately
- Copyright Fair Use Examples, from JDSUPRA
- Four Factors of Fair Use
- Transformation or Derivation: Modern Trends in the Fair Use Doctrine from Software to Photography, from IPWatchdog
Day 1 step-by-step
- Opening activity: Determining transformative use. Teacher flashes examples from Copyright Fair Use Examples on the board, asking ‘was this a case of fair use?’
- After brief discussion, pull up the four factors of fair use, discuss each aspect. Consider grouping into four groups, one for each factor. Groups discuss, then share out their understanding of each factor. Using precedent from the cases presented in the opening activity, determine more nuanced and specific understanding of the limits of fair use.
- In-class reading (choose one):
- Reading Response: How might our understanding of the four factors of fair use be impacted by the reading materials, especially given the capacity of AI to consume large data sets for training and to rely on human-generated content (copyrighted or not). How might the rights of citizens and creative workers be respected?
- HW: Write 2 page double-spaced opinion piece on AI, copyright, fair use, and the First Amendment. What should companies do as they pursue AI? What should creators expect? How might they safeguard their material? What should citizens keep in mind as they allow companies access to their data? Compelling essays will provide examples (cases, precedent, etc) and consider prospective counter arguments.
Teacher notes:
A lesson or previous practice with persuasive writing in legal settings may also help students feel prepared to execute the lesson well.
This lesson could be extended by requiring the students to go much further in-depth with their research. Another class could be devoted to a mock hearing, with role play with students acting as judges (and assuming their POVs) and well as litigants (assuming their POVs) in the cases described in the reading materials.
Read MoreLitigating social media platforms: editorial judgment and the First Amendment
by Mark Dzula
Description
Currently, there are major legal battles over who has the right to regulate content on social media. Should companies make decisions about what to publish or have the ability to limit what goes out on their platforms? Or should government have the ability to determine which companies are protected by the First Amendment and to what extent?
A key distinction in these cases is the difference between a newspaper/publication (which is beholden to a certain set of laws) and a social media platform. In which ways are these entities similar? In which key ways are they different? Based on these differences, how should laws and the First Amendment apply?
From Ai to book banning and news deserts, Constitution Day empowers journalistic thinking
JEA’s Scholastic Press Rights Committee wants to help you and your students celebrate their free speech rights this year. Constitution Day, observed Sept. 17 yearly in commemoration of the signing of the United States Constitution, is an excellent time to explore and discuss the status of the Constitution in today’s USA.
• Bringing help to news deserts (by Candace Bowen, MJE) Think about it: If voters don’t know what’s going on in government, how can they make informed decisions in the voting booth? How can they choose the right leaders if all they hear is hype from one side or even conflicting information from several sides? As far as schools go, how can they decide who should be on the school board, the group that makes important decisions about curriculum, administrators and policies that impact everyone?
• Localizing Book Banning, 2023 Constitution Day Activity (by Kristin Taylor, MJE) Focus: One of the key skills of a good reporter is the ability to localize national news. This activity can be used on Constitution Day as part of a larger discussion of students’ access to information or another time as practice localizing news. The topic: Rising instances of book bans across the United States.
• Litigating social media platforms: editorial judgment and the First Amendment (by Mark Dzula) Currently, there are major legal battles over who has the right to regulate content on social media. Should companies make decisions about what to publish or have the ability to limit what goes out on their platforms? Or should government have the ability to determine which companies are protected by the First Amendment and to what extent?
A key distinction in these cases is the difference between a newspaper/publication (which is beholden to a certain set of laws) and a social media platform. In which ways are these entities similar? In which key ways are they different? Based on these differences, how should laws and the First Amendment apply?
• Ai, Fair Use and the First Amendment ( by Mark Dzula ) Writers are on strike in Hats against AI companies, and consider what’s at stake in each situation.Students will research and weigh the role of precedent to predict how the courts may rule in these cases, including work with primary source documents.
Constitution Day puzzles: Puzzle 1 | Puzzle 1 key | Puzzle 2 | Puzzle 2 key (Kirsten Gilliland) Looking for a break between lessons and activities? Try these Constitution Day crosswords puzzles (with keys) on legal terminology, court decisions and more.
• In addition to this new material, check out our numerous lessons and activities from previous years: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013.
• This is also a great time to review student press rights particular to your community. How aware are your students of their own editorial policy? School board policy? Guidelines for ethical performance and meaningful, all-encompassing staff manual? How about the existence (or lack thereof) of a New Voices law? Are there ways your students could strengthen or improve their specific protections? You can always check out additional resources on this website or the Student Press Law Cente
Constitution Day Coordinator: Mark Dzula, the Webb Schools (CA)
Additional Contributors:
Candace Bowen, MJE, Kent State University (OH), retired
John Bowen, MJE, Kent State University (OH), retired
Kirsten Gilliland, Bryan High School in Omaha, NE
Kristin Taylor, MJE, The Archer School for Girls (CA)
