Anchored in the past; alive to the future

There are many traditions in our country that have been followed since our inception. Now that journalism is blending with social media, it's important for scholastic advisers to continue to pass along the fundamentals of traditional journalism to their students. Traditional journalists may recognize there is a battle to fight with social media, but they can also work to include social media within the framework of traditional journalism. Social media does not seem to be going away. Therefore, journalists and educators need to accept it and use it as a teaching tool. Pretending it doesn't exist or trying to compete with it is simply foolish. 


In connection, I would like to analyze the Thomas Jefferson quote which states "Our rulers can have authority over such natural rights, only as we have submitted to them. The rights of conscience we never submitted, we could not submit." Our conscience tells us what is right and what is wrong. As journalists, we should know what is a credible and accurate story and what is just hearsay. Sometimes we are fooled, but this is usually because we are rushing to get the word out and letting our guard down when it comes to being perfectly correct. Speed often sacrifices accuracy. 

Adapting for the Future

It actually may be too late to adapt for the future if the future is already here. I think journalism advisers need to change now or actually yesterday, even if it's uncomfortable. It almost comes to down to a generational issue. The students we teach are growing up in a generation where "true journalism" could be fading away as social media continues to grow. Personally, I think professional journalism and social media should be separate. Professional journalism should be where you receive your news and social media should be a place to keep up with what your friends are doing. However, this is not the case and it does make me angry. You can't really blame anyone. You just need to adapt. Journalists have always adapted and they must do so now.

When beginning to teach new student journalists I think it would help to start by asking them where do they get their news and the discuss the validity of those sources. As educators, we cannot teach the basic fundamentals of journalism and pretend that social media is not having an impact on the field. You also need to be careful not to insult social media and not make your feelings known that traditional journalism is more fundamentally sound. The bottom line is you must first teach the basic parts of journalism then figure out the medium that will be used to communicate the information. Too often it's the other way around. Students know how to use the medium, but they don't know how to report the information correctly.

Educating the public about media's social roles

Journalism advisers are educators and should be working to not only teach students, but the public about the role of the media organization they advise. The difficult part is also getting students to teach the public. I think it's important to build this into the curriculum which is presented to student journalists. Students need to understand journalists are representatives of the public, storytellers, information seekers and gatherers, and also educators. The public needs to be introduced to, understand, and appreciate the role of the media. This will help establish the importance of the media, especially on a scholastic level, along with the rights and responsibilities of journalists. It will also build and hopefully maintain the credibility of the news organization. 


We need to instill into our students the message that democracy cannot exist without an active and professional journalism program. From the time they are young students are taught about the democracy of our nation and how it compares to other nations which are not free. However, students need to be reminded  of these freedoms when they start to learn about journalism. Without journalism and someone watching the government, democracy is dead. Despite this many educational institutions are not run in a democratic manner, therefore it even more difficult for student journalists to practice their craft under their First Amendment rights. 

Citizens as Journalists

The line is really starting to become blurry between reporting done by professional journalists and what is being done by citizen journalists. Thanks to social networking essentially everyone could be a citizen journalist, but are their methods as professional as a trained journalist?

Spreading information has never been easier and faster. It's almost scary how immediate information presentation has become. Nobody has to wait for anything. The time is takes to find out what is happening is faster than snapping our fingers. So, how do professional or scholastic journalists teach citizen journalists? It would to develop guidelines for citizen journalists and also hold workshops to teach them. Allowing citizen journalists to contribute stories to your news organization without any type of guidelines and training could easily result in your organization losing its credibility.

Student Journalism's Global Role

There is one part of me that wonders if a student journalist should have any kind of global role at all. Although, another part says the global role of a student journalist can be developed over time. Despite this, I do feel that the emphasis for student journalists needs to be on proper training. A student who cannot write in proper English and on grade level needs to first work on basic writing skills before attempting to consider what their role will be. As I have said before, the bottom line is scholastic journalism advisers need to teach students to be objective, responsible, and ethical when researching stories, interviewing,  writing for print and online publications, and even when blogging.

Student journalists need to know the story is not about them. They are not celebrities. If they are worried about their notoriety and even making tons of money when they become a professional then they are probably in the wrong field. They need to want to find the story. They need to want to deliver it to the audience accurately. Ultimately, they need to want to work hard and hopefully they will become high level thinkers who can make an impact.

To Blog or not to Blog

Let me first start by saying that although I am blogging right now, I do not consider myself a blogger. I am blogging because it is part of my responsibilities as a student in a graduate school journalism class. As a former reporter turned teacher I don't really like blogging. To me, it does not feel like reporting. It feels like a strange version of an opinion/column writing, which does not necessarily look to persuade.

However, if I was teaching students what to do and what not to do when blogging, I would start with the Blogger 's Code of Ethics presented by cyberjournalist.net. It recommends being honest and fair, minimizing harm, and being accountable. Ultimately, students who are acting as journalists and blogging should be following the same basic principles and foundations of traditional journalists. Unfortunately, blogging and social media networking have no boundaries and the audience does not expect accuracy and objectivity. Let's face it..it's a free-for-all. Anybody can blog. Not anyone can be a professional journalist. You don't need any training or a job to be a blogger and you don't have to answer to anyone. As a journalist you need to follow procedures, answer to leaders, and maintain professionalism. There are really no rules for blogging. As I am writing now I want to follow aforementioned code of ethics, but I don't have to. Personally, I hope blogging and social media never replaces true reporting. If it does, our world will never come close to knowing the truth. Some may argue that we don't know it now, but I think it will only get worse when the line between blogging and reporting becomes even blurrier.

Investigating

Of course all reporting should include investigation. A reporter is actually always investigating even in his/her spare time. You can argue that most citizens are doing the same. As a society, we are curious and we want to find out the truth or at least an acceptable version of it. For example, most of us want to know what will happen with the weather. Will it rain? Will it snow? Will it be windy? Will it be hot? These are all investigative questions and we want the answers.

The problem with investigative reporting and scholastic media is who the students are watching as role models. There are some wonderful investigative reporters in this world, but too many times the marketing of the story gets in the way. Headlines and revealing photographs which sell papers, must-see stories on television newscasts which make us watch, and exclusive radio interviews which make us want to listen seem to cloud the nature of investigative reporting. Unfortunately, students do need to understand that professional journalism is first a business which needs to make money. Reporters could start out with a great investigative piece, but when it reaches the business side of a media outlet things can change. The good news is that students can practice true and accurate investigative journalism on the scholastic level without worrying about the business side of it. However, advisers need to focus on the purity of finding the story which may need to be uncovered and most importantly getting it right.

Student Media's Leadership Roles

Whether they know it or not, student journalists are leaders in the community. They can inform, entertain, represent other voices, give their opinion about what is happening in their world, and sometimes even change policy. Student journalists need to know this and they need to let everyone know including administrators, faculty and staff, parents, other students, and members of the community outside of the school. This can be done in two ways.

1. You can tell everyone about your role and responsibility as journalists after a controversial story is published and you are fielding complaints and questions.

2. You can get the word out at the start of every school year about the role and responsibility of a student journalist and the importance of being a public forum before an issue is published or even before a website is updated. You also need to foster positive relationships with the school community on a daily basis building readership and support from your audience.

Now, the hard part is getting everyone to believe and support you. There will be many obstacles, questions, and potential arguments. However, it will be worth it.

Multimedia: force for good-and danger

It's ironic that I am writing a blog about the danger of multimedia. Some may say blogging and social networking is the main cause of dangerous journalism. First, we must admit it's not going away. People who refuse to accept or use multimedia will only continue to fall behind. Student journalists need to use multimedia, but must be careful of the dangers. The base of knowledge students receive about journalism should remain the same. Traditional methods still need to be taught as scholastic journalism advisers should still stress the rights and responsibilities of journalists. If students are properly taught they will hopefully not fall into the dangerous traps of multimedia. They need to be very careful that speed does not sacrifice accuracy. Also, students need to be able to separate what is pure journalism from simply gossip or unsupported opinions. Since many advisers and potential mentors are still be part of a generation which did not grow up with the major amounts of multimedia we experience now, hopefully students are being properly educated to recognize the differences.

Guidelines for Reporting

A journalist needs to be fair, objective, and accurate. He/she needs to be a good storyteller, while understanding his/her audience's needs, all while not being censored by any controlling power. Journalists also need to be very concerned about deadlines while trying to fit as much information into shorter pieces. Following all of these guidelines on a daily basis is not easy, especially for student journalists who are only just learning the process of how to gather news and report on it. Not to mention student journalists are also taking four or five more classes often covering completely different material and of course trying to be a normal high school or college student. It's safe to say this job is not easy. However, there is a glory that comes with it. Student journalists need to know they are representing the citizens. It is their role to share information. This is a giant responsibility and should not be taken lightly.

Sensitive Issues Part Two

Everyone's definition of "sensitive" is different, as is everyone's definition of respect. It can even vary from day to day and even minute to minute. In journalism often our sensitive side is altered by deadlines, ratings, pressure from management, and the coverage of events which cause us to become cynical, jaded, or even numb. Sometimes sensitivity depends on the generation you were born in. Stories which I would think would be risque may be seen as perfectly fine by a younger generation. It's difficult to have blanket policies for handling sensitive stories. It really needs to be handled on a case-by-case basis. Scholastic journalism advisers should provide plenty of scenarios to prepare students in case a sensitive issue does arise. If and when the sensitive issue/story happens it needs to be discussed by a student editorial board. Sometimes this puts an adviser in a difficult spot, especially if his/her opinion varies from the editorial board. However, if the goal is to operate a true student publication, the adviser needs to let the students make the decisions.

Handling Sensitive Issues as a Journalist

I'm sorry, but this scenario below is NOT journalism. 


A student journalist writes a "news" story based on a gossip trail of information on some social media website and then tells the audience his/her own opinion. End of story. (This is awful.)


Sure, the student journalist may have met his/her deadline, but at what cost? I have some major concerns about accuracy and objectivity. Although this fictional scenario which I just created seems a bit far-fetched, I will bet it happens. It goes against everything that a journalist should be.  I completely agree with the Poynter Institute's list of values and standards which are accuracy, independence, fairness, transparency and professional responsibility. Journalism is not a game. Students need to know this is not just an extracurricular activity. It is a responsibility. The words and images which are presented by an journalist can last forever and need to be presented in a serious manner. Student journalists need to be mature, creative, dedicated, and follow the rules. Too many "bad" journalists have been modeling "bad" habits. It's time to get back to the basics and follow the fundamentals of traditional journalism. You can call me old-fashioned, but at least I will be accurate and objective. 

Loyalty to the Citizens

There is no question journalists must be loyal to find the truth and deliver it to the citizens or the audience it serves. This concept should certainly be stressed when instructing students in scholastic journalism. Loyalty should not be taken for granted. To me, what seems to be more difficult to teach and to practice is being objective. Before a student can understand objectivity perhaps they must first be asked the following critical question. Can a journalist truly be objective? It seems that sometimes the entire society is trying to compromise a journalist's objectivity. How many times has a journalist heard the phrase "please be sure to make me look good" and wondered is the person speaking trying to persuade me. What if the story will not make the subject look good? Often student journalists are easily swayed by those they cover because they don't really understand their responsibility to be objective. In the same breath...do students understand their role of maintaining civic engagement? Probably not. When they first begin in scholastic journalism I believe most students are just trying to accurately complete their assignments and meet their deadlines. However, once they have reached this level the next step could be for them to understand their role. It is important to take baby steps with this process. If not, students could find themselves making too many mistakes and developing bad habits.

The compromise of journalism standards

Yes, unfortunately it is true. Some journalists have and will continue to compromise their standards to get the story. It should not happen, but it does. Sure, we are all seeking the truth and we try to teach our students to do the same. However, often obstacles arise. In scholastic journalism, there are deadlines conflicting with other student activities, the lack of experience of some student journalists, and unfortunately prior review that seem to get in the way. Where does a student publication adviser start? I think it's critical to teach the importance of accuracy by simply showing examples of what happens when a journalist in not accurate. This needs to be the foundation of learning. Perhaps if we can train students to be concerned about accuracy first we can avoid problems in the future. As for the mirror versus the candle debate I think journalists need to be a combination of both. They need to shine the light in the corners and be the eyes for the audience they serve like the candle. They also need to reflect what is happening accepting that sometimes the information just needs to be sent and sent quickly for that matter. That's where  inaccuracy sometimes occurs. Let's face it there is the challenge of being fast and accurate. Too many times speed sacrifices clarity.

This is a test to see if my new blog works.