Face, fight and educate
those who would limit media
by John Bowen, MJE
A Boston Globe article about its Aug. 16 campaign for media to speak out against President Donald Trump’s attacks on journalists called the president’s rhetoric ”alarming.”`
“Whatever happened to the free press? Whatever happened to honest reporting,” the reporter quotes the president in an Aug. 2 political rally in Pennsylvania. “They don’t report it. They only make it up.”
The Globe seeks editorial comment from other media to stress potential damage to our democracy from the intimidation, and the importance of an unfettered press.
In a way, the current round of attacks from the president and others have some roots in the 1988 U.S. Supreme Court’s Hazelwood decision. The court’s majority enabled public school officials to limit student expression – not just of student media but any expression in school – under certain conditions.
We now have a generation of teachers and administrators, let along their students, who have only seen media control in many of our schools.[pullquote]In a way, the current round of attacks from the president and others have some roots in the 1988 U.S. Supreme Court’s Hazelwood decision. The court’s majority enabled public school officials to limit student expression – not just of student media but any expression in school – under certain conditions.[/pullquote]
Hazelwood and other decisions essentially created an expectation student media in public schools could and should be controlled.
If school officials frowned upon criticism, demanded a positive image and prior reviewed and restrained where information did not match their their view of what student media should be, that became the norm. Challenge it and students faced censorship, suspension, withdrawal of school recommendations.
Read MoreMaybe #Firstonthefirst initiative can help move the needle
Maybe it was last night’s reflection on Anthony Kennedy’s final day serving as a Supreme Court justice.
Or maybe it was because I’m still recovering from the latest State of the First Amendment survey.
In case you missed it, more than one-third of the survey respondents (40 percent) could not name a single freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment. Only one out of the 1,009 people surveyed could correctly name all five freedoms.
That blows my mind, and I often think about what I can or should be doing differently to help move the needle outside the walls of my classroom.
So today I began what I’m calling #Firstonthefirst.
I made a commitment to talk to five strangers today and share with them about the First Amendment. I’m going to do it on the first of every month, and I hope you’ll join me.
It’s easy enough to visit with folks in line at Starbucks or the grocery checkout, or colleagues at school, or parents on the bleachers at your kiddo’s sporting event. A few minutes of conversation can make a huge difference. I want the people in my community to know the five freedoms and to have a better understanding of why the First Amendment matters.
To make a visual connection, I wore one of my First Amendment T-shirts, and I’ll do that for each #Firstonthefirst. There’s something about seeing those 45 words (or in the case of this shirt, my favorite of those 45) that makes it more memorable, and I hope to leverage the power of social media to spread this movement and get my students — and all of you — having these First Amendment conversations as well.
Read More5 activities to consider before next fall
By John Bowen, MJE
Looking for end-of-year activities to rebuild or revisit how your student media operate, the range and effectiveness of content, no matter the platform?
Consider the following, either now at the end of the year or during summer staff retreats, to help students strengthen your program’s foundation.
Read MoreEnd-of-the-year audit: whose voice made the cut?
By Kristin Taylor
One of the highest callings of journalism is to “give voice to the voiceless.”
As scholastic journalism classes begin to wrap up, it’s a good time for staffs to look back at the year to evaluate their coverage and see how fully they’ve met that goal. Before starting the process, I suggest having students make predictions.
Read MoreClickbait QT68
Guideline:
Journalists should present relevant information in context so the audience has adequate information on which to base decisions. Context is just as important as factual accuracy and can help readers fully understand an issue and its relevance to their daily lives.
Read MoreImportance of scale in visual reporting QT67
Guideline:
Journalists must be vigilant in ensuring charts and infographics do not inaccurately depict the information nor should it mislead the reader. Be weary of data interpretations from others — especially those who benefit from the results.
Read More