Six schools earn First Amendment
Press Freedom Award
A committee with representatives from the Journalism Education Association, National Scholastic Press Association and Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society is pleased to announce the six winners of the 2014 First Amendment Press Freedom Award.
The award recognizes high schools that actively support, teach and protect First Amendment rights and responsibilities of students and teachers, with an emphasis on student-run media where students make all final decisions of content.
As in previous years, schools competed for the title by first answering questionnaires submitted by an adviser and at least one editor; those who advanced to the next level were asked to provide responses from the principal and all publications advisers and student editors, indicating their support of the five freedoms. In addition, semifinalists submitted samples of their printed policies.
2014 First Amendment Press Freedom Award winners are as follows:
Convent of the Sacred Heart High School, San Francisco, Calif.
Francis Howell North High School, St. Charles, Mo.
Kirkwood High School. Kirkwood, Mo.
Mountlake Terrace High School, Mountlake Terrace, Wash.
North Central High School, Indianapolis, Ind.
Townsend Harris High School, Flushing, N.Y.
These schools will be honored April 10 at the opening ceremony of the JEA/NSPA Spring National High School Journalism Convention in San Diego.
Two of the schools are first-time recipients: North Central High School and Convent of the Sacred Heart, which is not only a first-time awardee, but the second private school to ever be recognized.
“We are proud of each of these schools for supporting their student media as they practice critical life skills like decision making, critical thinking and civic engagement while informing their audiences,” JEA Scholastic Press Rights Commission chairman said.
This is the 14th year for the recognition. The award, which began with an emphasis on student publications, was originally titled Let Freedom Ring, and later expanded to include the other freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment.
First round applications are due annually by Dec. 1. Downloadable applications for 2015 will be available on the JEA website in the fall.
Read MoreStudent free speech vs. adviser job security?
“But what do you do if what they want to publish may cause a problem?” Rachel asked, a little furrow of a frown between her eyes.
She and the other 16 education majors in Kent State’s Teaching High School Journalism course had heard all about the value of a free press from Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism Mark Goodman. He had met with them the week before when I had to miss class. Now I was back, explaining the value of the Tinker standard and re-emphasizing their future students’ First Amendment rights.
Rachel and most of the others felt our passion and wanted to believe, but…they envisioned a lot of “what ifs” for new teachers.
Read MoreDoes your mother love you: Get three sources;
Is the Verification Handbook useful: Check it out
As scholastic media and their advisers move more to online media and use more social media as a reporting tool, verification remains a critical issue.
Enter the Verification Handbook, a product of Poynter’s Craig Silverman and American Copy Editors Society (ACES) Merrill Perlman.
Subtitled “A definitive guide to verifying digital content for emergency coverage” it comes across as a thorough, easy to use and authoritative tool for our students to use as they grow into digital and social media reporting.
Read MoreStudents Tackle Coverage of Rape Culture
Fourth in a series of articles about student journalism that makes a difference
Jane Blystone, MJE
Covering a taboo topic like “rape culture” can be very daunting to any journalist. However the scholastic journalists at Palo Alto High School did not let the culture of silence deter them from telling covering this story that their peers needed to read. Students saw 3000+ copies of “Verde” distributed and 25,000 hits to their sister publication’s website, www.palyvoice.com, move into the public arena.
Their adviser, Paul Kandell, shared the intensity of the work done by the students to cover this story in a thorough and sensitive manner. “With 3,000 print copies, 25,000+ online hits (as of May 1) and countless retellings through print, radio, TV and online interviews by Verde editors, the “You can’t tell me I wasn’t raped” package has broadly impacted awareness and discussion of a taboo subject: “rape culture” and its presence in high school life, particularly when combined with alcohol abuse. The package feels like a public inoculation: It’s hard to imagine any teen reading the story and being as cavalier about drinking or sex – or slut-shaming girls who have been raped. The more who read it the better.”
Students took the initiative to work with the Ochberg Society for Trauma Journalism, the Student Press Law Center, the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma and a Poynter Institute course work on “Reporting on Sexual Violence.” Was the work intense work? Yes. Was the issue hard to write? Yes. Was the work worth it? Yes. Has it made a difference? Absolutely, and for all time.
Kandell is right and we share these documents with you to show you that well-trained and uncensored scholastic journalists can tackle hard-hitting stories with great depth, broad coverage and a sensitivity that is humbling.
1. Lisie Sabbag’s article “‘You can’t tell me I wasn’t raped’”
2. Will Queen’s piece “Breaking the Silence,”
3. Staff Editorial editorial.
4. Interviews of male students “From a different perspective: a discussion with Paly guys,”
5. Savannah Cordova’s column Taking it Seriously: Ever made a rape joke? This column is for you
6. Staff infographic The state of rape today
7. Complete issue of Verde PDF of Verde Magazine on issuu
8. Letter sent to faculty http://palyvoice.com/2013/04/23/copy-of-introduction-letter-sent-to-faculty/
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Press Rights Minute
Press Rights Minute is a new Scholastic Press Rights Commission service that offers quick and authoritative 60-second audio support for advisers, students and administrators on key journalistic issues. [pullquote]The link to all the links is https://soundcloud.com/scholastic-press-rights[/pullquote]
Commission member Sarah Nichols created the concept and commission members, students and others completed segments in the series.
We created the service, in part, to practice what we teach our students regarding multiple digital tools — it shows both advisers and students how easy it is to use SoundCloud as another way to tell stories or report information to their audience in a mobile-friend
ly way.
The Press Rights Commission hopes you will find this service helpful as well as easy to use. We intend to build on the number of segments we have as the year goes on. If you have topics you feel we should address, please let us know.
Activating the Press Rights Minutes
Here are two sample clips. The link to the others is https://soundcloud.com/scholastic-press-rights
Clip2: Getting it Right
Clip5: 10 Tips for Dealing with Censorship
We hope you find the clips helpful. If you have requests for comments on certain issues, please let us know by contacting John Bowen, commission chair.
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Be proud of each trip you take to publish student media
by Stan Zoller
Several years ago I was having a conversation with my neighbor, also a teacher. Our conversation covered the usual teacher stuff – students, administrators, curriculum, union contracts – and course loads.
It was while we discussing the classes we taught, he pronounced that “well, anyone can teach journalism.”
So much for good neighbors.
I asked him what his point of reference was and he, to no surprise, did not have a good answer, but seemed hint that “all we had to do” was put out the paper, which, I guess is like saying all drivers education teachers have to do is start the car.
Journalism teachers seem to be education’s misunderstood children. It’s the destination – the newspaper, the yearbook, the broadcast or website by which we are judged. That’s all we do.
[pullquote]What’s overlooked, as we all know, are the intricacies that go into student media. Not the intricacies of InDesign or Photoshop – but the intricacies of journalism. The laws, the ethics, the policies and the court decisions.[/pullquote]
You know, “hey kids, go and report so we can produce the next edition, get the next sig done or post it.” You know, we’re like Nike – we just do it.
Journalism educators are notoriously supportive of each other (well, for the most part) and of our craft. We’re proud when the final product is published, produced or posted.
What we need to be proud of however, is not the destination – but the trip we took to get there. My guess is most people – in education and out – do not have an idea of everything that goes into producing student media. They see the photos, read the words, listen to the broadcast and say “nice job.”
What’s overlooked, as we all know, are the intricacies that go into student media. Not the intricacies of InDesign or Photoshop – but the intricacies of journalism. The laws, the ethics, the policies and the court decisions.
What separates journalism classes from the many other classes is what students need to know before they get “the keys to the car.” Our students need to be exposed on a regular basis to court decisions that impact journalism, not just student journalism.
News consumers who read or watch student media should have the same expectations they do as if they were reading the Chicago Tribune, the Sacramento Bee, the Virginian-Pilot or the New York Times.
Unrealistic? Maybe high school students don’t have Pulitzer Prize winning writing and reporting skills – but they need to have the same ethics and understanding of press law as any reporter. Administrators need to understand that the student media is not an outlet for students to have fun in print, online or on air. If journalism educators don’t keep the bar raised for their student journalists, then the door to prior review and prior restraint may swing open.
And before you know it, administrators may think that anyone can teach journalism.
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