10 ways to nurture scholastic journalism
by Randy Swikle
Retired Student Newspaper Adviser
Johnsburg High School, Johnsburg, Ill.
In 2002, my principal at Johnsburg High School, Chuck Dill, was JEA’s Administrator of the Year. He was an exemplary facilitator who involved local stakeholders of scholastic journalism in a partnership that guarded student autonomy, that balanced student press rights with ethics and pedagogical responsibilities and that nurtured First Amendment education, appreciation and application.
Students were empowered but not emancipated; educators were authoritative but not authoritarian; and the school culture was collaborative and not autocratic. It was an ideal balance of responsibilities that cultivated democratic learning and inspired engaged citizenship.
One Labor Day weekend, our principal was arrested and charged with operating a motorboat while under the influence. He put the school mission above his personal vulnerability and supported the right of student reporters to cover the story on Page 1 of their Johnsburg Weekly News publication. The principal contested the charge, and a judge later exonerated him. That story was covered on Page 1, too.
In the 25 years I advised the JWN, no administrator ever threatened censorship or required prior review of the paper. Controversy was a staple, as it is in any authentic American newspaper. Rather than fear contention, the Johnsburg school community embraced diverse perspectives as an innate feature of a free society. And when journalistic mistakes were made, stakeholders did not point fingers but rather joined hands to problem-solve and inspire remedies.
Principal Dill was a proponent of partnership. I once asked him to list his expectations for the partner who advises the newspaper staff — me! His response serves as a model for nurturing scholastic journalism and the school mission:
No. 10: Understand the peripheral aspects of your job. It is more than teaching journalism. It’s also being an advocate, a problem-solver, a diplomat, a counselor, a personal mentor, a friend, a businessman, a facilitator, a spokesman and a hundred other things.
No. 9: Communicate effectively and ethically. Use strategies of dissemination and persuasion to make a profound difference on the side of what’s right. Focus on issues and maintain the courage to prioritize principle above personal vulnerability.
Read MoreBeyond SJW: an education for reality
by Fern Valentine, MJE
SJW-2012
During Journalism week, and every week for that matter, we need to stress the unique learning opportunities a publication class offers, unique learning they will be able to utilize no matter where they head after high school.
For example, while law is mentioned at least in social studies classes, in publication classes the students learn first hand the opportunities and limitations of U.S. law including, of course, the First Amendment, but also copyright, libel, etc. They learn to check out their legal questions with free advice from the Student Press Law Center. They learn to use their rights responsibly investigating topics of interest to their audience.
Speaking of their audience, instead of their teacher as an audience to their writing, publications staffs have their peers and other readers as their audience, making them take special care in getting everything right. Students learn to edit copy and apply all those grammar and punctuation rules they have been taught, but, in other classes, only their teachers have corrected.
Read MoreBeyond SJW: an education for reality
by Fern Valentine, MJE
SJW-2012
During Journalism week, and every week for that matter, we need to stress the unique learning opportunities a publication class offers, unique learning they will be able to utilize no matter where they head after high school.
For example, while law is mentioned at least in social studies classes, in publication classes the students learn first hand the opportunities and limitations of U.S. law including, of course, the First Amendment, but also copyright, libel, etc. They learn to check out their legal questions with free advice from the Student Press Law Center. They learn to use their rights responsibly investigating topics of interest to their audience.
Speaking of their audience, instead of their teacher as an audience to their writing, publications staffs have their peers and other readers as their audience, making them take special care in getting everything right. Students learn to edit copy and apply all those grammar and punctuation rules they have been taught, but, in other classes, only their teachers have corrected.
Read More‘Social Media Toolbox’ available for those
considering, and using, social media in journalism
SJW-2012
Marina Hendricks, a member of JEA’s Scholastic Press Rights Commission, has developed a “Social Media Toolbox” for use by student journalists and their advisers. The toolbox, available at hendricksproject.wordpress.com, features 16 lessons on social media plus related resources. The lessons can be used as a unit or individually, depending on the needs of students, advisers and school publication programs.
Lesson plans for Free Speech Friday and First Amendment appreciation
SJW-2012
For Free Speech Friday, Scholastic Press Rights Commission members offer lesson plans usable any time during the year or immediately following Scholastic Journalism Week. The lessons are downloadable.
• Applying the NSPA Student Code of Ethics
The goal is to help students understand the elements of the NSPA Code of Ethics and apply that understanding to theoretical or real scenarios– Chris Waugaman. Download the lesson here.
• Satire, political speech and the news media
This lesson explores the term satire and helps students identify the use of satire in political speech and in the media. By identifying and dissecting satire in our daily lives, students learn to be more critical consumers of media and new–Megan Fromm. Download the lesson here and accompanying PowerPoint here.
• Elements of libel handout
The five elements of libel that published equal defamation–Chris Waugaman. Download the list here.
• Fighting prior review
One way to fight prior review is to anticipate the arguments used by those who support it and plan talking points and arguments against it. Such preparation might head off a real “fight” and enable sides to collaborate instead of content–John Bowen. Download the activity and sample arguments here.
• Projecting roles for scholastic media for 2015
Answers to these questions can help you formulate your focus, your brand and your reputation, not only for legacy media but also for the new media your students will use during the next five years. Giving priorities to these roles can help determine what type of publication/media you will be and what type policies you will need–John Bowen. Download the activity here.
Next: An exciting new teaching unit, Social Media Toolboxby Marina Hendricks.
A ray of hope: Missouri school’s Internet filter use leads to viewpoint discrimination
SJW-2012
by Megan Fromm
SPRC board members hear it time and time again. The biggest threat to a responsible, educated, well-rounded student media these days just might not be the principal.
Instead, Internet filters make it next to impossible for student journalists to conduct research and adapt their products to an online world.
As educators, we know Internet filtering is unnecessary, detrimental and misserves our students who must learn to responsibly engage in and contribute to a digital world.
Last week, hope arrived in the form of a Missouri federal district court ruling. The verdict: A state school district must stop censoring content related to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community via its Internet filtering software.
Viewpoint discrimination means blocking one side of a topic or issue. Thus a gay porn site is not the equivalent of an anti-gay church site. See the discussion in the court’s decision.
The SPRC is ready to take on the challenging of unlocking the Internet for our students, and we’ve gathered a team to begin doing just that.
While we are still in the planning stages, we hope you’ll consider how you can contribute to the cause in ways big or small.
Have an idea? Let us know. Make a suggestion. Give us feedback. There is no time like the present to make our voices heard on such an important issue.
Internet filtering team plan of action:
- Educate ourselves.
–Find out the scope of the problem. How many schools have filters? Do student journalists get unrestricted access? What are the biggest flaws in the filtering software? - Document the problem.
–Where are the success stories? Who is currently fighting this fight? How does it hurt our students, not just student journalists? What are the attitudes toward filtering? - Educate others.
–Develop a plan to educate decision-makers that Internet filters don’t have to be at maximum restriction. Show that lifting filters has educational value.
–Improve public awareness on how filters harm more than help.
–Educate others that internet filters are an almost insurmountable obstacle to teaching the responsible use of social media and technology. - Identify partners.
–Who can help get our message across? - Go big.
–How can we take this to a national scale?
You can also help us identify schools where Internet filters create instances of viewpoint discrimination by blocking one side of a topic or issue. For example, school Internet filters have been know to block the pro side of sex education and contraception while allowing access to the other point of view.
If you or your students have experienced this viewpoint discrimination, please send the following information to jabowen@kent.edu :
Name of student media (or individual name if individual research)
School name (and city/state)
Name of site blocked
URL of site blocked
Name of site unblocked (for viewpoint comparison)
URL of topic site that was unblocked (for viewpoint comparison)
Filtering system your school uses
Next: Journalism lessons for this week and beyond
