The Latest
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‘Whad’ya know?’
New teachers should answer, ‘Law & ethics!’
by Candace Bowen As Wisconsin Public Radio’s Michael Feldman asks each week, “Whad’ya know?” Sadly, even some secondary school journalism teachers with proper credentials can answer, like Feldman’s audience, “Not much!” At least that appears to be true when it comes to law and ethics. And some teachers don’t know much because no one required…
Twitter: Creating a balance
between reporting role and social life
by Jeff Kocur The Zac Brown Band recently played to a full house at the Target Center in Minneapolis, and the Star Tribune’s critic gave a scathing review. Reader comments attached to the story, though, exposed the writer’s dance between his snarky Twitter world and his professional responsibility to the readers. A reader revealed the…
Ethics in the eye of the storm
Keep your live coverage error-free
by Megan Fromm When Hurricane Sandy hit the United States early last week, citizens turned to Twitter for a constant stream of information. The hashtag #Sandy provided hundreds of live perspectives each minute, including photos of the impending storm and subsequent devastation. For those covering the story live, the storm spawned an entirely new…
Looking for a few open forums
The upcoming 25th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Hazelwood decision reminds us how important it is to have student media that are open forums for student expression either by school policy or by practice. Do they exist? We hope so… Our goal: To showcase your schools and your policies to the nation on a Forum…
A checklist for ethical news values
by Marina Hendricks As I wrote this, Hurricane Sandy bore down on the East Coast. A week remains until the election in which U.S. voters will choose their leader for the next four years. The Detroit Tigers played the San Francisco Giants for a World Series title. And I’m willing to bet there’s something interesting…
Forum for student expression?
Apply for FAPFA recognition
by John Bowen Applications are now available for this year’s First Amendment Press Freedom Award (FAPFA). In its 13th 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 application can be completed by…
Funny how the cheerleaders get all the attention
by Mark Goodman Funny how cheerleaders get all the attention. It would have been difficult to miss the coverage this past week of the cheer squad at Kountze High School in Southeast Texas and their fight over free expression. From a high school of a little more than 400 students in a town of about…
Fighting censorship?
Here’s a Blueprint for help in your state
by Kathy Schrier It’s obvious, by the frequent reports of administrative prior review and restraint across the country, that there is a lack of clarity about the law and the First Amendment rights of students. The waters, muddied by the 1988 Hazelwood Supreme Court decision, are much more clear now in seven states where anti-Hazelwood legislation…
Don’t let death derail your publication
by Mary Kay Downes The loss of any student is a tragic event either through sickness, accident or suicide. Often times staffs are shocked when events such as this occur and frozen into either inaction or precipitous action. They ask, “Do we cover this?” They ask, “How do we cover this?” They ask, “Should we…
Yes, Common Core has room for law & ethics
by Candace Bowen Like so many things, it’s good news and bad news. The Common Core State Standards actually may help us show how journalism has skills everyone should know, but in the process could we be losing support to teach the very framework necessary to use our voices in democracy? In other words, where…
Minors as subjects of sensitive topics
*Editor’s note: This is the second of a series of rotating columns by commission members to appear Wednesdays. Megan Fromm will present best practices for teaching ethics; Jeff Kocur will discuss common problems student leaders and advisers face and how to overcome them; Candace Perkins Bowen will examine journalistic ties to Common Core standards; Mark Goodman…
Panic button!
If you are a JEA member or students of a JEA member who need assistance concerning censorship issues, use the panic button to generate an online form to fill out explaining your situation.