Making a Difference:
Freshman capstone project
localizes national issue of gay rights
by Jane Blystone
Ally O’ Reilly wanted her capstone journalism project for the year to make a difference. She knew that the national issue of gay rights needed localization in her school publication, Pine Whispers. Her adviser, Stephen Hanf, at R. J. Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was impressed that a freshman would take on such a challenge.
I love this story because one of my freshmen in Intro to Journalism came up with it and developed it on her own for an end-of-year project. She could have tackled a fluffy feel-good story, but instead tied in this story to the recent Supreme Court cases. It was so well written, timely and full of impact for this under-covered demographic that I had no choice but to publish it in our print paper — something normally reserved for upperclassmen taking newspaper class. It got people talking about an issue that impacts a lot of high school students.”
O’Reilly covered the struggle for students in her school to get an LGBTQ group going. She also interviewed a bisexual student and another student who has shared his life with his brother and two fathers as well as a senior writer might do.
Here is her story. National gay rights issues hit home for students
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JEA listed among key ethics and media law resources
JEA has been listed as a part of key media law and ethics resources by journalism degree.org titled 100 Key Ethics & Media Law Resources for Journalists.
“Modern journalists, and anyone else working in the media, have thorny ethical issues to contend with,” Kara James wrote in a letter notifying JEA president Mark Newton of the compilation. “The sites,organizations and articles listed here are good places for journalists (or journalism students) to learn more about the legal and ethical landscape of their field.”
The site for the compilation is http://journalismdegree.org/media-law-ethics/ .
Among other organizations listed include:
• SPLC
• Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
• Society of Professional journalists Ethics Handbook
• Nieman Journalism lab
JEA’s link is to the general website. Other JEA links would include the Press Rights Commission and the law and ethics curriculum for JEA members.
Read MoreMaking our words matter
by Tom Gayda
Rights vs. responsibilities. Or, just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. These are the phrases to keep in mind when living in a social media world.
Putting the First Amendment in action is our right, but with that right is the need to be responsible. There are many things a person can say, but sometimes those things aren’t always smart.
Even adults have to be careful. I may not agree with a decision made professionally, but to call out my boss or colleague and question his or her integrity might not be wise. My job doesn’t owe me my First Amendment rights the way sitting on my back porch talking to a friend does. Sure, I can say what I want, but if I want employment I might want to be careful. My boss probably isn’t as interested in my right to free speech when it knocks him or his company.
A student encounters similar situations. Perhaps not even that bad. Say a math student gets a poor grade on a test. Math student takes to Twitter and says the math teacher doesn’t know how to teach. Not really the worst thing a kid could say but if the math teacher hears about the comment, extra credit opportunities might dry up pretty fast. If the same math student calls the teacher a more colorful name the punishment might just be a little harsher.
Not that long ago we actually lived in a world where a lot of things we were thinking were left unsaid, but now the majority of us our gridded up we can’t go too many minutes without sharing something with someone.
The best thing to do is think first. Does your comment add something to life? Is it necessary someone see what you are thinking? Sometimes it might be wiser to act responsibly and keep a comment or two private.
Everyone is working their way through how to speak their mind and be responsible. And while we are lucky to have the First Amendment to protect us, it is important to keep in mind that our words matter whether they are protected or not.
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Teacher Appreciation Week
recommendation for principals
Dear Sir or Madam:
Here’s a little suggestion for Teacher Appreciation Week gift-giving. It will make your journalism teacher happier. Besides it will make you and, most important, your students a lot happier.
My suggestion: An open forum, no-prior-review policy where students, under the guidance of a trained journalism teacher, make the content decisions.
All that freedom sounds scary, you say? Having a Main Office set of eyeballs look over student media before it goes out may sound like a good idea, but doing so has often been a whole lot scarier for some. Consider these lessons from the archives of the Student Press Law Center showing how some principals learned the hard way:
Read MoreNational scholastic journalism groups’ position on Neshaminy policy proposal
As the national organizations of journalism educators committed to the training of future journalists and the preparation of citizens for life in our democracy, we write to express our vigorous opposition to the proposed policy changes under consideration by the Neshaminy Board of School Directors that relate to school-sponsored student publications
We find the proposed policy changes, which give school officials virtually unlimited authority to censor student journalism even of the highest quality, educationally unsound, constitutionally insufficient and morally indefensible. They are inconsistent with the student media policies recommended by national education experts.
Read MoreRead my lips: Students should exercise caution when producing lip sync videos
By Megan Fromm
Sometimes, pop culture and reality align to provide the perfect anecdote for our weekly SPRC posts. This week, the timing of Jimmy Fallon and Emma Stone’s heated lip sync battle on the Tonight Show couldn’t have come at a better time. Earlier this week, the celebrities dueled over who could best move their mouth to a famous pop or rap segment, emulating thousands of videos already online in which people — often teens — attempt to look just like the musicians who originally released a song.
And while fans may have crowned Emma the lip sync queen, anyone concerned with copyright infringement should take this example to heart: When a person publishes a video — even if it’s only seconds long — of his/herself miming along to copyright music, that person could be violating copyright.
Take, for instance, the case against Vimeo, a popular video sharing website. In an ongoing lawsuit that started in 2009, Capitol Records is suing the website, accusing Vimeo of posting videos that violated hundreds of the record company’s copyrights.
What makes music copyright especially complicated is that compositions may exist under several copyrights — one for the lyrics and musical arrangement, one for any particular production of the composition, and often one for the arts or imagery that accompany a musical record. Strictly speaking, without permission from the copyright holder, others cannot legally reproduce or redistribute the work in question.
Students initiating school-wide lip dubs is becoming increasingly common (for example, students in both Pennsylvania and Indiana produced their own), but simply calling it an “educational activity” because it happens on
So, students and teachers beware. And more importantly, be safe, legal and respectful by obtaining written permission before producing and publishing lip syncs as part of your student media program.
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