Enemy of the American people?
Scholastic Journalism Week gives students a chance to prove the opposite
by Stan Zoller, MJE
This week is Scholastic Journalism Week – a time for scholastic journalists and their advisers and teachers to tout the excitement and passion that is, in many ways, uniquely scholastic journalism.
There will be posters, T-shirts, activities and, of course, voluminous numbers of social media posts.
This year, however, there’s something else that needs to be added to the mix.
A sense of urgency.
Never before in American history, or the history of American journalism, has the media and the First Amendment come under such ridicule and hatred by a sitting president. Instead of being dubbed “watchdogs” who protect the public’s right to know, mainstream journalists have been labeled “the enemy of the American People.”
By a sitting president.
Evita Peron would be proud. So would Hitler. So would Stalin.
In January 1787, Thomas Jefferson wrote to Edward Carrington that “The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right, and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them.”
Jefferson made this comment two years before the First Amendment was submitted for ratification and more than four years before it was ratified, that coming in December of 1791.
While Jefferson took exception to the media, as many people do, he at least seemed to realize the importance of a free press and how it, like individual Americans, have a right to their opinion.
[pullquote]Jefferson got it; Even though, historians claim, he had one thing in common with Donald Trump – a fundamental distrust of the Fourth Estate, reportedly saying in June of 1807 that “Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper.” In the end, however, Jefferson knew the importance of a viable media.[/pullquote]
Jefferson got it; Even though, historians claim, he had one thing in common with Donald Trump – a fundamental distrust of the Fourth Estate, reportedly saying in June of 1807 that “Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper.”
In the end, however, Jefferson knew the importance of a viable media.
The theme of Scholastic Journalism Week, “The Communities We Cover,” reflects the need for a free and vibrant press. Student journalists, like any other journalists, need to be free to report on anything within their community – whether it is their school, school district or hometown –without fear of censorship, restraint or undue lambasting of their efforts by officials.
Journalists are not perfect. Neither are school administrators, educators or politicians. The reality is, however, that the work done by journalists is an open book for anyone to see, especially in the age of social media. Mainstream journalists are trained in press ethics and laws and have the tools to fact check in order to verify their work. Again, it’s not always perfect.
The First Amendment clearly states that there shall be no laws “…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…”, yet messages coming out of Washington, D.C. seem to be taking a counter-step to the that sentiment.
While there are cries to take the plight to social media with various hashtags, the fight against the assault on the nation’s media needs to go further. Student journalists need to take charge of informing their news consumers that journalists, including those in student media, are not “the enemy of the American People.”
During Scholastic Journalism Week scholastic media outlets should encourage their audiences to become civically engaged and contact lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to let them know that an assault on the First Amendment is not only an attack on professional journalists, but the nation’s students as well.
This year it’s important to not just celebrate Scholastic Journalism Week. Student journalists need to take pride in what they do and practice the craft that they and their advisers are so passionate about.
It’s that important. In fact, it’s urgent.
Read MoreOur tasks for the future:
Building a Tool Kit of Trust, integrity
Trust.
Trust in sources, information, journalists. Trust in audiences. Trust in education.
Ways to help student journalists and their audience fight fake news and bad journalism begin in middle and high school, and especially in journalism programs.
Helping journalism students and their audiences fight fake news and sloppy reporting should include understanding what type of journalism is involved. Bill Kovach and Tom Riosenstiel identified the four types in the book Blur.
Each type provides its own journalistic function and each can play roles in fake news:
• Journalism of Verification: “a traditional model that puts the highest value on accuracy and context.”
• Journalism of Assertion: “a newer model that puts the highest value on immediacy and volume and in so doing tends to become a passive conduit of information.”
• Journalism of Affirmation: “a new political media that builds loyalty less on accuracy, completeness, or verification than on affirming the beliefs of its audiences, and so tends to cherry-pick information that serves that purpose.”
• Interest-Group Journalism: “targeted Web sites or pieces of work, often investigative, that are usually funded by special interests rather than media institutions and designed to look like news.”
In the third deditiion of their book Elements of Journalism, Kovach and Rosestiel changed the last category to Journalism of Aggregation.
Studying the four types can help scholastic journalism prepare for a Tool Kit of Trust, preferably without censorship and prior review.
Our Toolkit of Trust would provide materials and journalism resources in at least these six areas:
• Fighting bad journalism
• Uncovering and educating about, then limiting the spread of fake news
• Preventing charges of fake journalism aimed at our student media
• Limiting impact of censored student media
• Uncovering sponsored news
• Building trust in journalistic values through gatekeeping that stresses journalistic responsibility
We feel these areas can be the focus for the war agains fake news and bad journalism.
Because of new-found attention directed toward critical news thinking and news literacy, including proposed California legislation, we hope to, by next fall, share educational materials that:
• Focus on answering the “why” news question to make the “what” meaningful.
• Help your communities understand the need for communications/sense making responsibilities as they question authorities.
• Once journalists have questioned authorities, question them about the quality, motive and detail of their information. Remain skeptical until all questions are answered.
• Double down and stress what speech is protected and why and its importance to the well-being of a democracy.
• Show diversity in all its meaning as a guiding light for scholastic journalism. Let all people and ideas be represented.
• Remember objectivity as a process remains the core of scholastic journalism. It’s a process rooted in truth, credibility and coherence as essential, even as reporters are skeptical and challenging of sources.
• Strive to focus on solutions (journalism) to the issues and problems coverage raises.
• Protect and empower the whole process of fighting fake and misleading news by supporting and becoming involved in states’ New Voices legislation.
• Stress journalists’ social responsibility in a factionalized media/political environment.
• Fight the spread and use of fake news in all its forms and assist student journalists and their communities understand, respond to and counter it.
If you or your students have other areas you feel would help your program and/or scholastic journalism, please use the comment form and let us know.
In a recent Student Press Law Center Ball of Rights promotion, the words “censorship is deplorable” appear. We would add to that “prior review is insidiously deplorable.” Both lead to misinformation and distortion. Both limit journalistic integrity.
Both are at the core of fake news we need to change.
Resources:
• When it comes to legal issues, journalism schools leave students unprepared, a new study argues
• Six skills every journalist should possess
• Truth, truthiness, triangulation: A news literacy toolkit for a “post truth” world
• Fake news? Bias? How colleges teach students not to be duped
Lori Keekley, in Dow Jones speech,
promotes SPRC services
by Lori Keekley
Thanks to all of you who were at Nov. 12’s Dow Jones Newsfund’s Journalism Teacher of the Year speech. Here are the links I promised. If you weren’t there, these are great reminders of several important items available from the SPRC:
• SPRC members are reintroducing the Making a Difference campaign. This monthly posting will highlight students who have made a difference through their coverage. When your students create content that has a positive impact on your school or community, please fill out the submission form and we’ll tell you how to send your content. JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee will post one or more packages a month on its website and promote them on social media.
• Also, for those of you who are interested in starting a conversation with administrators, we’ve provided some information from both SPRC and JEA: Teacher’s Kit for Curing Hazelwood, JEA Advisers Code of Ethics, Talking Points to use with Administrators. Another great resource (in addition to everything from SPLC) is the Principal’s Guide to Scholastic Journalism.
• And … applications are available for JEA’s First Amendment Press Freedom Award. In its 17th year, the award recognizes high schools that actively support, teach and protect First Amendment rights and responsibilities of students and teachers. The recognition focuses on student-run media where students make all final decisions of content without prior review. The award comes in two steps, with Round 1 due before Dec. 1. The entry form and entry information can be obtained here.
• We’re happy to help via SPRC’s Panic Button if needed. We are here for you!
Thank you, and please let me know how I can further help you.
Lori
Read More10 resources to strengthen
your journalism program: FSW
Solid reporting makes arguments for free expression in student media easier. Here are 10 articles journalism teachers and advisers can build from to put newsthinking into their journalism programs.
- How to do good journalism between now and election day
http://www.poynter.org/2016/how-to-do-good-journalism-between-now-and-election-day/431978/
The key here is how to apply important points to all reporting, even after the elections. What can be applied here to make your student media reporting even more effective so it better fulfills journalistic responsibility
- Fact check: Trump and Clinton debate for the first time
http://www.npr.org/2016/09/26/495115346/fact-check-first-presidential-debate
This experiment in real-time fact-checking runs more than 40 pages and drew more than 7.4 million pageviews, Poynter.org reported. Its links to accurate sources is a treasure trove scholastic journalists can use in other reporting.
- Emotion in reporting: use and abuse
https://ethics.journalism.wisc.edu/2010/08/23/emotion-in-reporting/
High on this year’s ethics in journalism discussion list is objectivity and its side issues. Scholastic media have been particularly affected by this: whether emotion or self-promotion is acceptable. Ethicist Stephen J. A. Ward makes the argument emotion in journalism can be manipulated.
- Why journalism education has much more progress to make
While this article is primarily aimed at collegiate journalism education, it has key thoughts for scholastic media: there will be journalism jobs for those who can make sense of information, no matter the tools.
- Is solutions journalism the solution?
http://niemanreports.org/articles/is-solutions-journalism-the-solution/
In addition to just reporting negative impacts of issues or events, solutions journalism reporters will look at efforts to deal with those problems. This article outlines who one reporter tackled local issues in an approach that focused on searches for solutions along with just highlighting the problems. Also see Solutions Journalism Network.
- Interviewing: The ignored skill
http://www.poynter.org/2003/interviewing-the-ignored-skill/12413/
Good questions bring about good stories but they are not the only skill needed in interviewing.
Asking the right questions based on skillful listening is also a key.
- Data Journalism Handbook
http://datajournalismhandbook.org/1.0/en/index.html
In its Beta stage, the handbook is well organized with descriptions that put this growing journalistic skill into perspective. The handbook also shares examples of data stories. Good for teachers looking for a basic understanding of data journalism. See also The challenges and possible pitfalls of data journalism, and how you can avoid them for the ethical concerns of this approach.
- Do you know which news media to trust?
This Newsela/American Press Institute collaboration is aimed to help teachers and students with materials to strengthen news literacy in election coverage.
- Joining forces in the name of Watchdog Journalism
http://niemanreports.org/articles/joining-forces/
Old instincts argue for competition instead of collaboration. Here is a story on the importance – and need – for collaborative watchdog journalism.
- Resources for journalism educators (in covering sensitive issues)
http://dartcenter.org/content/tip-sheet-package-for-journalism-educators#.U95vP0gzEd9
As scholastic journalists delve more and more into reporting sensitive issues, these materials will help provide background and reliable and credible sources.
Read More
Just This Once: FSW lesson 2
The American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee released “The Speaker … A Film About Freedom” in 1977. The film, in its original form, comes with a discussion guide. Today, the website for it has the discussion guide and links to coverage about the film and other pertinent articles. Controversial in 1977, the film today hits at many current issues surrounding free speech. Note the date, 1977. Clothing and style reflect that timeframe. It might take students a while to get beyond that and into the First Amendment issues.
Title
“Just this once”
Description
Based on a 1977 film by the American Library Association, The Speaker, on whether a school and its community should allow a speaker to talk on controversial issues. The key question is, essentially, “What is the harm in just this once in preventing a person from speaking an idea.”
Objectives
- Students will analyze the questions raised in the film.
- Students will discuss the issues raised in the film.
- Students will develop a position based on what they find.
- Students will formulate possible alternative solutions to the film’s outcome.
Common Core State Standards
| CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.7 | Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem. |
| CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.4 | Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper). |
| CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.5 | Analyze in detail how an author’s ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text (e.g., a section or chapter). |
Length
120 minutes
Materials / resources
Internet access for the film’s background: http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2014/05/ala-members-discuss-controversial-film-speaker-annual-conference
The Speaker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojFYx52X-Ys
Lesson step-by-step
Step 1 — introduction (10 minutes)
The teacher should present background to the film from the ALA site and raise the essential question for the activity: “What is the harm in just this once in preventing a person from speaking an idea.” Stress should be placed on the concept of free expression, especially in context with Free Speech Week. The teacher might also have to discuss the difference in clothing and fashion.
Step 2 — Show the film (43 minutes)
Option 1: Show the film in its entirety without stopping for explanation. Students would have to take notes and jot down questions they have.
Option 2: Stop the film at student questions or at teacher-chosen key points for discussion/explanation. This, of course would lengthen the presentation time into Day 2.
Step 3:— Processing the film’s information (7 minutes) (Homework assignment)
Ask students to examine their notes and list key points made for and against the speaker, and to be ready to discuss the issues and to plan for alternatives.
Step 4 — Day 2 Discussion (25 minutes)
Students will discuss the issues of the film, working toward a conclusion of whether the speaker should speak.
Option 1: Small group discussion with each group reaching a decision which would have to be resolved in class.
Option 2: Large group discussion with possible resolutions posted on whiteboard for decisions.
Step 5 — Alternatives and solutions (25 minutes)
With their possible solutions of the whiteboard, have students work in small groups to examine alternatives. Is it an either-or dilemma? Are alternatives possible and would they help accommodate all positions? What types of ethical problem solving is possible? Have the small groups work toward explaining their decision in terms of ethics.
Step 6 — Final discussion (10 minutes)
What surprised you the most? What was the best alternative or solution? How as a journalist should you apply the issues involved?
Assign each student to prepare a 50 word or less statement in the form of a poster of why his or her decision of “just this once” is the ethical stance to take. Statement due the next class.
Step 7 — Assessment
Credit given to student responses in the 50-word statement. Post them in the classroom for continued discussion and possible use in class/staff ethical guidelines.
Differentiation
The teacher might have students watch the video at home and take notes there, shortening the lessons by one day.
Extension
The class could spend an additional day making the issues current by replacing the speaker with a politician/issues from the 2016 presidential election.
Read More