Director's Notes: Journalism Growth

• Rally 'Round Liberty.' The AEJMC Law and Policy Division's Media Law Notes has a nice story on the Liberty Tree Initiative First Amendment festivals. The McCormick Foundation-funded program assists colleges and universities in organizing First Amendment on-campus events. The Liberty Tree initiative is an advocacy partnership founded by McCormick, the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Knight Foundation and Vanderbilt University's First Amendment Center. The $100,000 grant was designed to build awareness by bringing thought-provoking First Amendment programs and speakers to campuses nationwide. Among the schools selected were UNC-Chapel Hill, Yale, Berry College, Winthrop University, Eastern Kentucky University, Elon, Lehigh and Cal State Fullerton. Sandra Chance of the University of Florida coordinates the Liberty Tree campus program, which builds on the tradition of constructive conversations about freedom by America's earliest patriots under an elm tree near the Boston Common in 1665.

• Journalism Fellowships Adapt. MediaShift reports that economic and digital challenges are forcing changes in journalism fellowship programs. McCormick and other foundations sponsor nearly 40 of these golden opportunities for young and mid-career journalists to hone their skills. However, the current tumult in the industry has caused editors and publishers to ask whether it's worth losing reporters, even on a temporary basis, to fellowships. Fellowship program directors have responded by adding creative features and reaching out to independent journalists.

• News Literacy Projects Expands in Chicago. The McCormick-funded News Literacy Project has completed its pilot program in Chicago and expanded into two additional middle schools. All three schools are working with LISC-Chicago, the News Literacy Project's local partner. The Chicago Tribune Foundation also provides financial support.

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First Amendment Revival: Update on McCormick’s Liberty Tree Initiative

In the past year, we've seen a number of cases where student journalists face prior restraint and censorship. For example, at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, student editors chose to resign rather than be censored, when administration pulled a controversial story. In light of these cases, it's apparent that First Amendment education is becoming an even more necessary part of a journalist’s training.

Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, carried out a series of events as part of the Liberty Tree Initiative this past fall. Both students and faculty gave an interdisciplinary effort to “bring awareness to the campus and local community about the five freedoms embedded within the First Amendment,” as mentioned in AEJMC’s Media Law Notes newsletter.

Winthrop University held several presentations, panels and discussions that focused on sharing the history of the First Amendment and how to responsibly exercise those rights today. One of the discussions was about the “particular challenges facing newspapers in light of digital technology, such as the Internet and social media… [encouraging] students to use these tools to exercise and preserve their range of First Amendment rights.”

To learn more about how you can bring the Liberty Tree Initiative to your campus, click here.

Join the Liberty Tree Initiative’s Facebook group to learn more about conferences held.

The Liberty Tree Initiative is a program that gives select schools $5,000 to build awareness of the First Amendment through education and information. It was founded in partnership with the McCormick Foundation, American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Knight Foundation, and the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University.

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Student Journalism Programs Receive Funding From Dow Jones

Dow Jones Newspaper Fund gave $459,000 in grants for high school and college students and high school journalism teachers to support:

• Multimedia training programs for professors;
• Operation of six Centers for Editing Excellence and a business reporting training center for college students; 75 internships to college students for news; multimedia, sports editing and business reporting training;
• Free circulation of Adviser Update to high school journalism teachers and reprinting other journalism teaching guides;
• The National High School Journalism Teacher of the Year scholarships that award both the best journalism teachers and students; and
• Summer High School Journalism Workshops and Workshops Writing and Photography Competitions

About the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund, Inc.
The Dow Jones Newspaper Fund is a nonprofit organization supported by the Dow Jones Foundation, Dow Jones and Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, and other media companies. Its mission is to encourage high school and college students to pursue journalism careers by sponsoring workshops and providing internships.

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Students, Administrators Discuss Free and Responsible Student News Media

Student journalists and administrators stepped up the plate at the Protocol for Free and Responsible Student News Media conference held by the McCormick Freedom Project and the Illinois Press Foundation early this week at Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Illinois.

The goal of the conference was to craft a protocol addressing the tensions inherent to scholastic journalism. Participants had discussions about the role of the First Amendment in student journalism, especially how both students and administrators can collaborate without compromising journalistic or pedagogical values. Approximately 50 student journalists, advisors, educators, school board members and journalism organization leaders were in attendance.

The need for the protocol was highlighted by student journalist Pam Selman, former editor, and Evan Ribot, former managing editor, of the Statesman student newspaper of Stevenson High School. They described how the school administrators forced them to censor articles that put the school in a negative light, compromising their journalistic rights. The Stevenson editors' resignation is a prime example of how students are being forced to give up their First Amendment rights as journalists because the administration doesn't approve of the stories they wanted to publish, no matter how newsworthy.

Participants also documented the conference on Twitter (using #studentnewsmedia). Check out a sampling of the vibrant conversation and be sure to check back throughout the year for follow-up discussions as the McCormick Freedom Project crafts the final protocol report.

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   MIPAMSU Prior review is totally un-American, says David Cuillier, SPJ FOIA chair. #studentnewsmedia 09 Feb 2010 from Echofon
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   candacepb Biggest slap in a student jlsts' face is to be considered "just" a student journalist. Admins need to be honest and open. #studentnewsmedia 09 Feb 2010 from TweetDeck
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   SPLC_org Thanks, McCormick Foundation (and some amazing students) for an inspiring 2 days at #studentnewsmedia conference; now comes the hard part. 09 Feb 2010 from web
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   jloo_mfp thanks to all the fantastic conference participants in Wheaton this week!Let's keep the discussion and links going at #studentnewsmedia 09 Feb 2010 from web

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   joshrmoore Student journalists repeatedly say prior review is biggest hurdle to good #studentnewsmedia 08 Feb 2010 from Twitterrific
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   McCormickJrnlsm Discussing the legal aspect of censorship in #studentnewsmedia cases. What constitutes arbitrary censorship? Is it legal? 08 Feb 2010 from OpenBeak

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Keep the discussion going at the Five Freedoms Project's Ning network.

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McCormick Journalism Calendar of Events

Check out the Journalism Program's calendar of events for activities and programs that may be of interest to you.

If you have events to suggest or add to the calendar, please send us an email with your information and we will post it as soon as possible.

We look forward to seeing you at an upcoming event!

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ICFJ Releases Two Guides on Coverage of Disaster

Just weeks after a 7.0 earthquake rocked the island nation of Haiti, the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) has produced two guides to help reporters better cover disaster and deal with traumatic situations. Please share these guides with colleagues. They come in both English and Spanish.

Some features:

• Practical guidelines for delivering news responsibly while staying safe;
• Tips for creating a disaster preparedness plan for your newsroom;
• Ethical suggestions for journalists working with grief-stricken survivors;
• Tips for journalists dealing with post-traumatic stress; and
• Links to other online resources for journalists.

These two guides, sponsored by McCormick, build on ICFJ’s crisis reporting program for U.S. Hispanic and Latin American journalists. To view them, see links below:

“Disaster and Crisis Coverage”

“Journalism and Trauma”

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