New Year brings hope for New Voices Law
by Jackie Mink, JEA Emeritus Member This past January, I saw television reports about members of the United States Congress being sworn in for this new year. I also saw this happening with the Missouri legislature, which is the state where I live. New sessions makes me think of the New Voices of Missouri legislation, a movement to guarantee…
Read MoreContests should stress how to be journalists as much as they do winning
by Stan Zoller, MJEThe late sports writer Jerome Holtzman penned a book, “No Cheering in the Press,” which is a collection of fascinating tales by some legendary sports scribes. In the book, the scribes describe the ascent to the top of the craft to cover some of the nation’s most famous, if not infamous, sports…
Read MorePart 3: Students in the forefront during #Tinkerversary
When anyone tells Mary Beth Tinker that students are the future, she firmly but politely corrects them: “No, they’re the present.” If the students participating in the #Tinkerversary events this week are typical – and it would seem they are –, the present is in good hands. These included: Marjory Stoneman Douglas students from Parkland, Florida,…
Read MorePart 2: Now things are different in Des Moines
Des Moines schools, how you have changed since early winter 1965. That’s when a high school principal got wind of a pending Vietnam War protest – reportedly when his school’s newspaper adviser showed him a story about it for the next issue. He and his fellow principals decided suspensions would be the punishment for anyone…
Read MorePart 1: Let’s celebrate a #tinkerversary
“I had no idea our small action would lead to something so consequential,” Mary Beth Tinker told Smithsonian.com recently. Now, 50 years after the Supreme Court ruled in Tinker v. Des Moines students and teachers don’t “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate,” it’s clear Mary Beth, her brother…
Read MoreCelebrating Student Press Freedom Day, 50 years of student rights
by Lori Keekley, MJE SPRC members have been working to amass several resources for you as we kick off our celebration of the Tinker anniversary with Student Press Freedom Day. The goal is to keep celebrating Student Press Freedom Day daily leading up to the 50th anniversary of the Tinker decision. What’s new Need a…
Read MoreA pillar of strength: the Tinker decision
Lessons: What’s in Your State Press Law?, by John Bowen and Lori Keekley: As New Voices laws spread across the country to protect student journalists, help your students understand what their state does or does not cover when it comes to student press rights. Students will examine their own law and create a dialogue with…
Read MoreBringing light to relevant issues, past and present, defines journalistic leadership
“I’d rather be a hammer than a nail” “Blowing in the Wind“ “Find the Cost of Freedom” “Ohio” “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” How do these lyrics and titles relate to scholastic journalism? They all came at a time when people questioned the media, its role and its leadership. They all came at a…
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