Whose values? Social media algorithms and readership

Which shall shape journalism’s future? Values established by algorithms? Clickbait? Media revitalized by required journalism in schools? Democracy may hinge on which society values “Everyone is so friggin’ crazy! I’m going to quit reading the news and unsubscribe from everything,” a friend said to me. I asked what caused her despair. She is an intelligent…

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Transparency helps keep air in the balloon

Al McGuire, the late basketball coach at Marquette University, used to remind folks that championship basketball wasn’t all “seashells and balloons.” I suppose you could apply that to just about anything – life, final exams, losing a close game or even journalism. No matter how many laws are passed, policies adopted and awards won, getting…

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Who made the cut? Start your school year with a voices audit

One of the highest callings of journalism is to “give voice to the voiceless.” Constitution Day is a great time for journalism staffs — digital, print or hybrid — to evaluate their coverage from the year before and see how fully they’ve met that goal.  Before starting the process, I suggest having students make predictions,…

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After 234 years, Hamilton’s words remain spot on

When Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay wrote the Federalist Papers in 1787, odds are more than pretty good that scholastic journalism wasn’t on their minds.  Safe bet. In one of the 51 essays he wrote, Hamilton noted that “…A government continually at a distance and out of sight can hardly be expected to…

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January 6: Reporting on mobs, coup, insurrection, protest, riot, patriots

While JEA condemns attack on the Capitol Jan. 6, it also urged journalism teachers and advisers to continue facilitating fact-based journalism, especially of locally-related issues. To help students and advisers with that coverage, The SPRC highlights information and ideas that can assist in exploring current events or national issues. JEA commended journalism educators, president Sarah…

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Questioning Authority: Covering Jan 6th

Journalists must no longer share just the what. We must provide the WHY   It’s not just what we tell people. It’s more than ever the WHYords are powerful. And teachable moments are a gift. No one knows that better than journalism teachers. So, when crowds descended on the Capitol Wednesday (note the words I…

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Who owns student content? Publication and copyrights

Students were back wherever their classes meet after the first of January when questions began on JEA’s listserv about who owned publication content, specifically images, in student media. Responses came, saying the school did; the publication did and student journalists did. Reasons and answers varied widely. JEA’s Scholastic Press Rights Committee several years ago, as…

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Should it stay or should it go? An ethics question

by Teresa Scribner, CJE After spending 17 years in the newspaper industry as a visual journalist, I feel like I have a solid grasp on leaving my personal beliefs at the door when I walk into a newsroom. For years, I bit my tongue on politics, religion and reality TV. Being able to compartmentalize has…

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