The snow has melted (in some fortunate areas of the country) and spring is just around the corner. So what better way to welcome the warm weather than with exciting, cost-efficient SPJ programs and activities on your campus?
PROGRAM IN A BOX
The Society of Professional Journalists has recently created Programs in a Boxto help accommodate your chapter’s programming needs. We understand that sometimes the clock moves too fast and budgets are just too small, so this new initiative is intended to help you implement a successful program with little planning and little cash.
“PIB” contains a variety of pre-planned programs for your chapter to utilize at any time. Each program includes nearly all materials that you’ll need — even fliers! Just choose a program that interests you, download the “stuff,” and watch it come to life.
The first of many “PIB’s” to come is Journalism Movie Night. The only thing we can’t do? Pop the popcorn!
Once your chapter has used one of the programs included in “PIB,” we would love to know how it turned out! Please share both successes and failures so we can continue to build and improve.
Additionally, if your chapter has held a successful program that you think another chapter could benefit from or if you just have something to add to our list, please let us know.
The 2011 SPJ/RTDNA conference, “Excellence in Journalism” may be more than six-months away, but there’s no reason why you can’t get a taste of professional development in just a few weeks.
Each spring (between March and April), SPJ holds day-long conferences across the United States, bringing area journalists, students and journalism educators together in one place to hear from industry experts on topics impacting today’s journalists.
Regional conferences create excellent opportunities for students to network with professionals and fellow SPJ students from your region. You’ll build relationships that can lead to mentorships, internships, and even jobs.
Click here to read details about your region’s spring convention.
FIRST AMENDMENT FREE FOOD FESTIVAL
It’s a well-known fact that SPJ fights for a free press and strives to educate students about the First Amendment. But what you may not know is that SPJ offers $250 grants to student chapters willing to host a unique educational event that’s literally a food fight.
The First Amendment Free Food Festival (FAFFF) is a program in which students symbolically sign away their First Amendment rights in exchange for a free lunch. Since it was created in 2006, more than 20 FAFFF’s have been hosted around the country.
SPJ will award $250 grants to 10 chapters who want to host a FAFFF on their own campuses. While there’s no deadline to apply, you must host your FAFFF by May 31, 2011.
Visit http://www.spj.org/fafff.asp and koretzky.com/free for more details about this perfect spring event.
“Occasionally, I had watched the evening news with my parents and read the newspaper, but I never fully realized the impact that news had on my daily life,” said Lucy Chen, a soon-to-be junior at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Md. “And studying news literacy taught me how to gather and assess my own stream of information, whether it come from a newspaper, a TV show, or the Internet.”
Alan Miller, a former investigative reporter for the Los Angeles Times and founder of the News Literacy Project, wrote in the same edition of the Nieman Reports, “In the 2009-10 school year, the News Literacy Project worked with 21 English, history and government teachers in seven middle schools and high schools in New York City, Bethesda and Chicago, reaching nearly 1,500 students. More than 75 journalists spoke to students and worked with them on projects.”
Miller brought in several seasoned journalists to help with the project: Gwen Ifill, Sheryl Gay, Peter Eisler, and James Grimaldi – to name a few.
The project engaged students in discussions and activities through a variety of subject matter, said Miller in his article. He added that teachers were also able to adapt the curriculum to fit their own needs.
To view both of the above articles, and the Nieman Reports’ entire section on “Digital Youth,” click here.
According to Moore, “The proposed policy states that student publications are not public forums and that administrators will not tolerate material that is ‘libelous, obscene, invades the privacy of others, conflicts with the basic educational mission of the school, socially inappropriate or inappropriate due to the maturity level of the students, or is materially disruptive to the educational process.’”
Elizabeth Kaleva, the district’s attorney and author of the policy, told Moore that the policy would help protect their students’ First Amendment rights. However, Frank LoMonte, the SPLC’s executive director, said the policy allows too many possibilities for censorship.
I had a great time in Indianapolis last week for the annual SPJ spring board meeting.
There are a lot of great things coming to SPJ members across the country: new training videos, exciting new partnerships, and much more. The next few years will be one of the most exciting times to be a member of SPJ!
Have a great weekend, and enjoy The Weekly Index!
There has been an ongoing fight in Virginia over pictures that were confiscated from James Madison Univerity’s student newspaper The Breeze last Friday. The Roanoke Times has an article on how a Commonwealth Attorney and several police officers – armed with a search warrant – demanded The Breeze‘s editor turn over photos from a recent riot. The photos have been sealed and are now being held by a third party. SPJ sent a letter to the attorney on Monday, and The Washington Post carried an editorial about the situation yesterday. The News & Advance out of Lynchburg, Va. carried an editorial, too.
State courts have recognized that newspapers may withhold materials from the government unless officials make a compelling case to the contrary, a process that is supposed to play out in court in response to a subpoena. In this case there was no subpoena, no court arguments and no recognition that raiding a newspaper makes a mockery of the First Amendment. ~ The Washington Post
Robert Niles, from The Online Journalism Review, suggests that journalism has outgrown AP style and schools should prepare students to focus more on search engine optimization. Read his post here.
Dan Kubiske has two great posts on the International Journalism Committee’s blog. One of the posts deals with the upcoming elections in Burma, and a series of position papers from the Asian Human Rights Commission. You can read that post here.
Dan’s other post is about a new campaign to inform their users about which governments have asked that material be removed from Google. Surprisingly, Brazil leads the world in removal requests. Here’s the post.
I want to continue to shine a light on the winners of regional Mark of Excellence Awards. Please take some time to check out our press releases with the names that have been announced so far: Region 1, Region 4, Region 6, Region 7, Region 9, Region 10, and Region 12.
____________________________________________________________ Andrew M. Seaman is a senior communication studies student at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. He is one of SPJ’s student representatives on the national board and you can follow him on Twitter @aseaman06.
Katie Maloney, a staff writer for the Student Press Law Center, reported, “Harrisonburg Police officers and the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Rockingham County, Va. executed a search warrant in the newsroom of the James Madison University student newspaper Friday.”
The SPLC also reported that the officers and attorney seized photographs of a recent riot near campus.
Please check the SPLC’s website for a full report here.
Tomorrow is a very busy day in my part of the world. The annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Scranton, which is arguably one of the most important days of the year in Northeastern Pennsylvania, will be held on Saturday – rain or shine.
We plan to post a whole lot of news and information on the blog over the next few days about the convention. There is no better way to get my fingers ready than to type a comprehensive edition of The Weekly Index.
So, here we go…
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act has been viewed as an impenetrable wall to many student and professional journalists around the country. SPJ’s FOI Committee has a new guide to make that wall look a little less intimidating. David Cuillier, chair of SPJ’s FOI Committee, has a post and link to the new guide here.
Why is it a good time to join SPJ? Well, Holly Fisher, chair of SPJ’s Membership Committee, knows why. She has a post on The SPJ Garden Center. You can read her post here. For me, joining SPJ has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I’ve met so many new friends and connected with so many professionals that I could not imagine my career without SPJ. Also, as a student entering the ever changing world of journalism… I think an SPJ membership is the safest investment you can make. One of my internship supervisors put it best. He told me that being a member of SPJ is, “just the right thing to do.”
The Washington Post found themselves in a very interesting situation after running a photograph of two men kissing in front of a D.C. courthouse. The picture ran on the front page of the paper after the District started accepting marriage applications from same-sex couples. Andrew Alexander, The Post’s ombudsman, blogged about the negative response from readers, and defended the pictures place in the paper. A handful of people even canceled their subscription over the photograph. Some also suggested that the picture should have been buried on an inside page. Alexander posted an update that said readers led a counterattack against the negative comments about the picture. Some said they would subscribe to the paper to fill the void left by those who canceled their subscription in protest.
There was a time, after court-ordered integration, when readers complained about front-page photos of blacks mixing with whites. Today, photo images of same-sex couples capture the same reality of societal change. ~ Andrew Alexander
There is an unfortunate case involving the University of Kansas and The University Daily Kansan. According to an article from The Kansan, Mason Heilman, student body president, lobbied that The Kansan’s funding be removed from the media fee charged to students. The motion passed the Student Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, which means the paper will lose approximately $83,000 next year. The paper says it is 8% of their operating budget. Heilman told the paper, “The parallel to me would be if Congress stepped in and said The New York Times is about to go under and we think they are an important news source so we are going to fund them, but then we are going to expect them to provide unbiased coverage of us.” However, the paper is reporting that this is the only cut to the media fee. I plan on looking into this a little more, and will get back to you all with what I find out. You can read the articles about this in The University Daily Kansanhere and here. Update! Scott Leadingham, Managing Editor of Quill, points out that the measure must still pass the entire Student Senate on March 24. Thanks, Scott!
Does anyone have friends at North Carolina State University? If so, send them to the newspaper office, because they need help! The campus’ 90 year old paper is in danger of shutting down this semester due to a series of unfortunate events. They need more students to get involved, and even put out a help wanted ad as an editorial. You can read the editorial here.
The long legal fight surrounding the Medill Innocence Project may be over. The Chicago Tribunereported that the attorney for Anthony McKinney will drop the evidence obtained by the Project, even though it may help establish McKinney’s innocence. The information gained by the students at Medill was questioned and much of the material was subpoenaed by prosecutors.
I want all professional members that stumble upon our blog to sign up to be a mentor in SPJ’s Mentor Match Up. SPJ assigns mentors to young professionals first and then starts assigning them to students. So please encourage all SPJ Pro members to be mentors for their younger counterparts. I bet many will find that the experience will be beneficial to each party. So sign up here!
The deadline for applications is drawing near for the Ted Scripps Leadership Institute. As a 2009 graduate of the Institute, I can say that the experience is completely worth the time and investment. I met so many people, and it really helped me get my foot in the door on the national level. You can find out more information here.
Some of us have not even had our regional conferences yet, and national already has a tentative schedule for Vegas! Can you believe it? Well, you don’t have to. You can see it here.
And finally, why don’t you take a trip over to the link for the SPJ campus chapter of the University of Central Florida? They have a great website, and get to have their regional conference in Disney World! You can also follow them on Twitter @spj_ucf, and check out their Facebook page.
That is all for now. I will have another post up later today, and then I need to finish packing for my journey to the Big Apple. Make sure you check back for photos and videos starting on Sunday, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @CampusCopy.
And just to show you how important St. Patrick’s Day is in my neck of the woods… Here is Michael Scott, Scranton’s most notable resident.
____________________________________________________________ Andrew M. Seaman is a senior communication studies student at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. He is one of SPJ’s student representatives on the national board and you can follow him on Twitter @aseaman06.
Please forgive the minimal posts this week. The school year is back, and in full swing, but I’ve compiled a pretty good list of links to keep you busy.
Jessica Durkin, SPJ Digital Media Committee member, has a really cool post on one of the first tablets that people hoped would revolutionize the way we read newspapers. Obviously, the tablet in the 1994 video wasn’t and instant success, but who knows? Maybe, Apple will have better luck over a decade later.
Speaking of the iPad, here is what The New York Times had to say.
In more related Apple news: The University of Floridasaid they will require some of their journalism students to buy Macs, software packages, and other equipment. I can’t say that I am in favor of it, but the students will be able to use financial aid.
You may not have the money to start a school newspaper, but as long as you have eager young minds… anything is possible. A high school in Ohio had trouble reviving a school paper that had sat dormant for 15 years. Their answer: Blog!
Hey, young journalists! Do you have an online portfolio? Why not check in on the discussion over at SPJ’s Generation J blog.
The Los Angeles Times has partnered with students from USC to produce content for their homicide blog.
A battle has been brewing between a teachers union and a student publication in Nevada. A teachers union attempted to stop the publication of an article, but itlooks like the article was published today after all. Check one for the First Amendment. Also, check back for a longer post on this.
It looks like an old printing plant from The Washington Post will be sold, but unfortunately it doesn’t look like the presses will be start back up. The University of Maryland purchased the plant, which closed last year to extend their east campus.
There are about 100 other links that I would like to share with you, but I am heading to class. I will update the post later with a few more!
Today we are going to start a new feature, The Weekly Index, where I will try to point you towards some interesting articles, websites, features, videos and podcasts that pertain to campus journalism.
So, let’s get started!
The Chronicle of Higher Education has an article and video about campus news blogs. Some of the blogs have become so popular that they are scooping the campus newspapers.
How do journalists cover an event in the aftermath of such a terrible natural disaster? The Washington Post’sHoward Kurtz tells us in today’s column.
Tiffany Luckey, Generation J Committee member, posted a video to their committee’s blog featuring Colleen Kiphart asking the question, “What does diversity mean to you?”
Kevin Smith, SPJ’s president used his blog to recap what SPJ has been up to lately. Leave some time to read this, because we’ve been doing A LOT! Part of that is about defending students, too.
Dan Kubisketalks about the scuffle between Google and China on the Journalism and The World blog. Some of the hacks seemed to target journalists.
USA TODAY spends “a few minutes with Andy Rooney,” and they talk about his 31 years at 60 Minutes and a possible retirement in the very distant future.
“I hate to say it, but a computer is better than a typewriter.” ~ Andy Rooney
Pew’s Project for Excellence in Journalism said they found that print journalism is still the best source to find out information about a community.
The Student Press Law Center has some information about a contest that allows high school students to win a nice chunk of change for a winning PSA on the First Amendment.
That’s all for this week! Don’t forget to check back for longer blog posts throughout the week, and I will see you back here for The Weekly Index next Friday!
The subpoena is demanding notes and other materials created by the student journalists involved with the Project’s investigation of Anthony McKinney, who has been in prison for 31 years for murder.
The students found information that led a judge to grant McKinney another hearing, which then led the Cook County state’s attorney to subpoena the information.
The brief argues that, while collecting the information, the students were reporters. As reporters, the students are protected by the Illinois Reporter’s Privilege Act.
A judge accepted the brief and has scheduled a hearing for Feb. 10.
The Student Press Law Center has a copy of the brief on its website in PDF format.
In related news, ChicagoBreakingNews.com is reporting, “Today, an attorney representing the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, the Chicago Sun-Times, CBS News, the Washington Post and the Hearst Corp. – in addition to a dozen more newsgathering organizations – filed a brief in Cook County Circuit Court opposing the forced surrender of the material.”
Hopefully justice will prevail in the end, and the court will realize, as they did in Tinker v. Des Moines, that students and teachers do not shed their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate.
Andrea Breemer Frantz, associate professor of journalism at Robert Morris University and a member of the CMA First Amendment Committee, discusses her experience and thoughts on the First Amendment and private universities in “When the First Amendment doesn’t apply: Teaching free speech and press at private schools presents challenges.”
Breemer Frantz also revisits Tinker v. Des Moines, one of the most important Supreme Court cases for students in U.S. history, by interviewing Mary Beth Tinker in “Wearing our constitutional rights as we walk through the schoolhouse gate.”
Tinker, her brother John, and their friend Christopher Eckhardt wore black armbands in 1965 as a way to protest the Vietnam War. They were quickly disciplined by the school district.
As Breemer Frantz writes, “What began as a simple call for peace by a handful of teen-agers quickly developed into a precedent-setting challenge before the Supreme Court to determine just how far the First Amendment could stretch to those under the age of 18.”
The article celebrates the 40th anniversary of the 7-2 Supreme Court decision, which said First Amendment rights do not end at the schoolhouse door.
Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center, discusses current and past court battles resulting from online publications and cyberbullying laws in “More students facing online censorship.”
According to LoMonte, some states have enacted cyberbullying laws with broad language, which results in “open-ended enforcement discretion that can easily be manipulated by govern¬ment officials looking to stifle legitimate speech.”
LoMonte also discusses the pitfalls of being a student media adviser in “The cost of defending students’ rights: Two advisers lose jobs for defending the rights of their students.”
The article highlights the circumstances surrounding cases of adviser abuse at Maryland’s Morgan State University and Clark College in Washington.
The publication also features a roundup of 15 college press cases through the years, an informative article on obtaining a $5,000 grant as part of the Liberty Tree Initiative, and a great article on SPLC’s Adam Goldstein answering 10,000 legal requests since 2003.
Welcome to The Weekly Index!
