The Changing Internet: Why you should talk Net Neutrality with your students
By Megan Fromm, CJE
Between deadlines, snow days and standardized testing, we all know there isn’t much time for “extra.” Those extra lessons you wish you had time to teach, those extra teachable moments you wish you had time to organize. But this week, carve out 20 extra minutes to sit with your students and talk about what is arguably the most major change to the Internet since its very invention.
What change is that, you ask? In a phrase: The slow death of Net Neutrality.
Chances are good that your students know little about this concept, but a court decision last week has put the wheels in motion to re-imagine the Internet as they know it today.
In short, net neutrality requires that Internet service providers, or ISPs, treat all content equally. The FCC recommendations regarding net neutrality (which were deemed inapplicable last week) were designed to keep ISPs from charging more for certain kinds of content or for faster access. Essentially, the concept of net neutrality is what keeps our Internet from looking like subscription cable television.
But the 2010 FCC order for net neutrality was not a law, and in this most recent case heard in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Verizon successfully argued that the FCC has no authority to issue such orders.
This decision has the potential for grave consequences for freedom of speech and our rights to access information. Our students, as journalists, media consumers, and engaged citizens, must be aware of how drastically different the Internet could become under this new ruling.
So, here are a few readings to get the discussion started:
1. A basic introduction to net neutrality
2. A video explanation of net neutrality
3. A user-generated chart on what the end of net neutrality might look like
4. A great article that explains the court’s decision
Then, ask your students to consider how these changes might affect them:
- What if some people can’t afford to pay for news, or social media, or entertainment?
- Why might it be important to preserve net neutrality?
- What happens if your ISP (say, Comcast) decides to block any and all information about its competitors?
- How could all of this affect student media?
- What’s next?
And the children shall lead them: Student journalists make a difference
by Jane Blystone
Scholastic journalists often make a difference in their school and community by publishing story packages that are live issues in their locale. However, when students choose not to publish something, they still a make a difference in their school, community and in the public media.
By majority vote of the editorial board of the Neshaminy High School, (Langhorne, Pa.) newspaper, the Playwickian voted in October not to publish the name of their school mascot in the paper. This decision has raised much awareness and controversy about a term they believe is racist and is the name of their school mascot (‘Redskins’ hereafter referred to as the “r” word.)
Late in October, I receive d a phone call from Playwickian editor Gillian McGoldrick, who wanted some support and direction from the Journalism Education Association Scholastic Press Rights Commission (www.jeasprc.org) regarding an editorial that her staff had published October 23 about the choice of the editorial board (14-7) not to use the name of their school mascot any longer in their student publication because it was a racist term. (See editorial.) In the same issue the seven students on the editorial board who dissented posted their opinion regarding the ‘r’ word.
The principal had demanded that they continue to use the term in their student publication. However, that was in direct opposition to Pennsylvania Code 12.9 regarding student freedom of expression: “(a) The right of public school students to freedom of speech is guaranteed by the Constitution of the United states and the Constitution of the Commonwealth. (b) Students shall have the right to express themselves unless the expression materially and substantially interferes with the educational process, threatens serious harm to the school or community, encourages unlawful activity or interferes with another individual’s rights.” ( Pa. Code 12.9)
During discussion, we talked about several things she needed to do as the editor. First, she needed to contact the Student Press Law Center (www.splc.org), who could help her with legal council and then go to the JEA Scholastic Press Rights blog and push the Panic Button (see button in menu bar at the top of this page), where she could explain her staff’s situation. Once she sent that button, we Scholastic Press Rights Commissioners moved into action. Tweets and Facebook posts were launched describing the situation and linking to Playwickian online pages. Student and adviser support came pouring in across the country as SPLC attorneys executive director Frank Lomonte and legal counsel Adam Goldstein moved into action to provide guidance to the students. Read the follow up story here.
Editors were called to a meeting of the principal, which was moved to an evening meeting so parents of staffers could attend. After the two-hour meeting and a 53-page directive from the principal about why they must continue to use the school mascot name, even though they believe it to be a racist term, the students published a November issue.
A firestorm of support for the students moved out into the area media including the The Bucks County Courier Times and The Intelligencer. From there it went viral on Twitter and Facebook, ESPN, The New York Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer as well as other national media outlets. Posts on their Twitter account and their Facebook pages also document opposing positions regarding not using the “r” word.
Students have engaged the Washington, D.C. law firm of Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz to represent them. The firm has informed the school district solicitor that the directive requiring students to use the “r” word in their publication is unconstitutional and that they will go to court if necessary.
Public media in the Neshaminy area are supporting the students by no longer using the “r” word in their publications when reporting on Neshaminy sports and the Bucks County Courier has called on the school board to intervene. “We call on the school board to act, to engage the community in a discussion, and to give students the validation and respect they deserve,” it said.
While student journalists at Neshaminy High School were forced to include the “r” word in their publications, cheerleaders in McCalla, Al. were punished for using the term “Trail of Tears “ on a banner they created for a football game in November. Dr. Stephen Nowlin, superintendent said he was disappointed that students at McAdory High School students used the term, considered offensive and insensitive to Native Americans. Although an apology was posted earlier by the principal on the school website, it no longer appears.
Editors of the Playwickian continue to educate the public on the Lenni Lenape Nation in Bucks County within their publication to demonstrate the impact of using the “r” word.
For her leadership in the process of removing the “r” word from her publication, 16 year-old editor-in-chief Gillian McGoldrick has been awarded the Widener University High School Leadership award that also carries a $20,000 scholarship if she chooses to attend Widener.
The battle continues and student journalists continue to make a difference. As one adult in the area shared with me earlier this week, “And children shall lead them” sums up the action of these responsible student journalists.
Read More
All the photos fit to print: What a “selfie” can’t convey
By Megan Fromm
It was the selfie seen ’round the world: President Obama, Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt, and British Prime Minister David Cameron, leaning in for a quick click during a national memorial service for Nelson Mandela.
Almost immediately, both mainstream and alternative media began analyzing the photo ad nauseam, criticizing everything from the act itself to the First Lady’s apparently stern reaction in the background.
In many ways, the selfie controversy out-shadowed the event itself, and all context was lost in the scuffle. While it’s easy to indulge knee-jerk reactions about how inappropriate this gesture may have been, critical news consumers would do well to consider a few questions before passing judgement.
For instance:
- Did you know the memorial service happened in a huge stadium, and was rather celebratory in nature?
- Did you know that moments before the “selfie,” Michelle Obama was smiling with her seatmates?
- Did you know that according to some accounts, it was Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt who initiated the photo?
- Did you know that many other leaders pulled out their cell phones throughout the ceremony?
These questions all point back to an ethical mandate for context and photo selection. Visual literacy, and understanding the power of images, requires journalists to exercise as much caution in the selection and publication of images as they do in the selection and publication of facts.
The photographer who captured the selfie was quick to clarify the image after the fact, but what obligation is there to provide such context up front, at the moment the photo is distributed? Imagine, for a moment, that the information we have now—days post-selfie—was published in sync with the release of the photo. Would there even be a story? Probably. But it would be likely an entirely different narrative.
As your students curate the hundreds of photos they capture in the creation of scholastic media, take some time to engage in a critical analysis of what stories those images actually convey.
Try this exercise in visual literacy with your whole staff:
- Using a smartboard, display all photos related to a news event—one by one—for your class. (Don’t go into detail about the event).
- Each student in the class must pick two photos: the photo they believe best tells the story of the event, and the photo they believe will be most appealing to viewers.
- Now, discuss: are the two photos the same? If not, why? Which photo would they actually publish, and why? What are the ethical ramifications?
- Finally, have the journalist or photographer who covered the event give more detail about what happened: context, atmosphere, discussions, etc. They should give their perspective on which photo most accurately conveys the event, and therefore, is most suitable for publication.
FAPFA application deadline is Dec. 1
by John Bowen
Deadline for the First Amendment Press Freedom Award (FAPFA) is fast approaching. The application can be completed by using a SurveyGizmo form. Deadline for submission is Dec. 1, 2013.
In its 14th year, the recognition is designed to identify and recognize high schools that actively support and protect First Amendment rights of their students and teachers. The honor focuses on press freedoms.
The Tinkers return to their roots
Mary Beth Tinker at Kent State University during the Tinker Tour. Today, she returned to her middle school in Des Moines, Iowa.
Mary Beth and John Tinker returned to Des Moines, Iowa, today as part of the national Tinker Tour to celebrate student rights and to show students they can make a difference.
The Tinkers were the plaintiffs in the landmark 1969 U.S. Supreme Court decision that students do not leave their rights at the schoolhouse gate. They returned to Des Moines and their respective schools from which they were suspended welcomed by school officials and spoke to students and community members.
For Storify coverage, go here.
Superintendent of Des Moines Schools, Thomas Ahart, shown with Mary Beth and John Tinker, said students in the system are safe to wear armbands today as he prepares to wear one.
When law and ethics and good journalism combine
PART 3 OF a 3-PART SERIES
An experienced Ohio newspaper adviser teams up with a former student — who now has a law degree — to teach the staff about using public records. An alleged rape on campus requires student editors to stand their ground accessing information about it. Once they have details about the incident, they have to decide just what they should – or maybe should not – use. It’s a tale that has all the makings of excellent reporting.
The discussion and next steps.
Editors of the Shakerite have class at 8 a.m., and they had a lot to discuss Sept. 11. Editor Shane McKeon and campus and city editor John Vodrey had the police report showing that what the principal, in his letter to parents, said was an assault had really been classified by the police as a rape.
Now what?
Read More