Most Recent Articles
Celebrate roles student news media can bring to a democratic society; honor, envision and practice free speech
JEA’s Scholastic Press Rights Committee hopes to help you and your students celebrate their free speech rights this year. Constitution Day, observed on Sept. 17 each year in commemoration of the signing of the United States Constitution, is an excellent time to do it.
This year we provide lesson materials ranging from exploring impactful, recent Supreme Court cases to applying the democratic political philosophy of John Dewey and how to use modern planning tools to improve coverage.
We have a quick Constitution-review crossword as well as an additional blog post to help you and your students audit if your coverage was as comprehensive as you’d like.
Read MoreUse a planning tool – Futures Wheel – to build better contextual, meaningful content
Futures Wheels were designed by futurists to see what the future might bring, positive or negative. If positive, the wheels could be used to show how to induce something to happen. If negative, how to prevent that. Can it be a part of journalistic story planning, source acquisition and other types of information processing to craft stories that meet audience needs?
Title
Futures Wheels: Developing and refining journalistic story planning to better identify context, background and meaningful events, empowering journalism’s social responsibilities
Description
A Memorial Day incident in northeastern Ohio this year raised the specter of potential First Amendment violations, opened wounds of racial tension and created ethical questions on issues of media social responsibility. How can students localize the event and issues? How could covering these issues lead to improved audience awareness and journalistic social responsibility?
News planning using futuristic tools can provide essential information and credible leadership empowering journalistic responsibility.
Read MoreMahanoy decision bolsters democracy’s roots, future
by John Bowen MJE
While words shared in anger in off-campus speech by an unhappy student might not seem to have lasting democratic value, they do. Expressing them and other views provides foundation for our marketplace of ideas, and reaffirms protection for unpopular and unpleasant ideas.
In Mahanoy School District v. B.L., The U. S. Supreme Court decided 8-1 school officials cannot control, in this case, student expression created off grounds. The court did not set additional standards or tests when schools can restrict off-campus speech, according to a Student Press law Center release.
The case developed from a student’s failure to make the varsitycheerleading squad and subsequent vulgar posts about the squad, the school and more.
“America’s public schools are the nurseries of democracy. Our representative democracy only works if we protect the “marketplace of ideas.” This free exchange facilitates an informed public opinion, which, when transmitted to lawmakers, helps produce laws that reflect the People’s will. That protection must include the protection of unpopular ideas, for popular ideas have less need for protection.” (Mahanoy School District v. B.L., emphasis added)
The Court’s decision recognized schools might have special interest in regulating some student speech, but not in this case.
“It might be tempting to dismiss B. L.’s words as unworthy of the robust First Amendment protections discussed herein,” wrote Justice Breyer for the court’s majority. “But sometimes it is necessary to protect the super- fluous in order to preserve the necessary.”
Teaching points from the decision could include:
• Working to help the school’s community understand and support the importance of protecting student speech seen as unpopular or unpleasant.
• Developing educational outreach programming by student media to explain student media responsibility of key legal and ethical principles including student designated forum status, making final decisions of all content and understanding SCOTUS decisions in Mahanoy, Tinker, Hazelwood and others.
• Demonstrating the importance of student journalistic responsibility to as important factors in maintaining and growing our democratic heritage through an empowering marketplace of ideas.
Educating school communities about these principles will show how schools should, and do, carry out their public responsibilities as nurseries of democracy
Read MoreThe fight for First Amendment rights has escalated
by Stan Zoller, MJE
Needless to say, a staple in any beginning journalism course is (or should be) understanding the First Amendment. Many educators go to great lengths, and rightfully so, to make sure their students know the five freedoms guaranteed (religion, speech, press, assembly, petition).
The 45 words are engrained in our, and hopefully our student’s, heads from the days of J-1 and for the rest of our lives.
We know them.
We defend them.
And we expect our government to abide them.
Sadly, the key word in the previous sentence is expect. However, recent stories have indicated that is not the case.
Both The Washington Post and CNN have revealed situations in which the Trump Administration sought to interfere with the practice of a free press.
On May 7, the Post reported:
“The Trump Justice Department secretly obtained Washington Post journalists’ phone records and tried to obtain their email records over reporting they did in the early months of the Trump administration on Russia’s role in the 2016 election, according to government letters and officials.”
Almost exactly two weeks later, on May 20, CNN moved a story that said almost exactly the same thing when it reported:
“The Trump administration secretly sought and obtained the 2017 phone and email records of a CNN correspondent, the latest instance where federal prosecutors have taken aggressive steps targeting journalists in leak investigations.”
Be concerned. Very concerned.
The fear facing the American public at large is that the very principles of our democracy continue to come under attack by government officials who seek to manipulate the Constitution for their own personal vendettas. The assault on the American media, in this case by the Trump Administration, is little more than effort to erode the trust in the media among the American people.
While there may be warts in journalistic practice by some scribes, the reality is that the institution that is the American media is pretty damn good – largely because the framers of the Constitution saw to it that Americans deserved a press that was free of government interference.
Journalism curriculums at all levels need to be tweaked to take into consideration the current climate of battering of the media. For high school educators, the challenge is more daunting. No longer can student journalists embark on journalism because it’s fun or because they have a friend on staff.
It has become a rumble. A street fight.
The challenge for student, if not all, journalists, is echoed in the oath given to the President of the United States to “…preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” By upholding the intent of the First Amendment, student journalists are in essence following the oath. Obviously, scholastic journalists need to understand and practice the full breadth of power and responsibility they have under the First Amendment.
And with this power and responsibility comes something else. Something that may usurp the joy and fun of being a student journalist.
The challenge. Not the challenge of getting a good grade. Not the challenge of meeting deadlines or accurate reporting.
The challenge “from above.” The proverbial trickle-down effect.
The new and now seemingly sad reality, is that interreference by those “in power” who see fit to try and impede the First Amendment Rights of journalists – including student journalists.
In the past, solid reporting and fact checking were the main spears needed to ward off an attack by overzealous administrators, community activists and, sadly, even parents who want to impede the educational process based on their own biases.
Journalism educators need to step up their coaching of student journalists when it comes to identifying support for their First Amendment rights. The obvious first steps are JEA’s Scholastic Press Rights Committee and the Student Press Law Center. Beyond these two pillars of support for scholastic journalism, advisers and students should reach out and connect with state and congressional representatives who understand the need for a free and responsible student press and that fabrications that students don’t have First Amendment rights are unwarranted and unfounded.
Students and advisers should also look for support from organizations like American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the League of Woman Voters. Both groups have regional or local chapters that more than likely be willing to work with students.
The challenge for student, if not all, journalists, is echoed in the oath given to the President of the United States to “…preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” By upholding the intent of the First Amendment, student journalists are in essence following the oath. Obviously, scholastic journalists need to understand and practice the full breadth of power and responsibility they have under the First Amendment.
Stan Z0ller
Scholastic press associations should consider initiatives to step up their efforts to initiate or support New Voices legislation.
The need has always been there. Now, however, the stakes are greater than ever before.
The defense of First Amendment rights can no longer be penciled into a unit in a course curriculum, or on a poster during Scholastic Journalism Week or Constitution Week.
Like the ongoing assault, the defense must be ongoing.
We don’t have a choice.
We need to be concerned. Very concerned.
Read MoreElections may be over, but not the responsibility
by Stan Zoller, MJE
In many states, communities recently elected or re-elected candidates to a multitude of government bodies from city council to township trustees to school boards.
Sadly, voter turnout in local elections is traditionally low – very low – as people are as about as interested in their local officials as a chocoholic is in vanilla.
From a civics standpoint, it’s disappointing. From a civic education standpoint, it’s just plain miserable. Imagine teaching students the importance being a responsible steward of the electoral process when the majority of people don’t seem to care.
The lessons associated with local elections, specifically school board elections, can be split into two simple steps. Before and after.
Read More