J-School’s should urge students to specialize

With the new industry in turmoil and layoffs and buyouts of editorial staffers continuing, throughout the country, former journalist turned-teacher Ron Martz questions whether the age-old academic approach to journalism curriculum needs an overhaul. A general communication or journalism degree simply does not prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s jobs, he argues. He urges schools to require students to undertake a specialized focus or even second degree to lay the ground work to tackle beats with a sophistication needed in today’s market. He writes: “As society and business have gotten increasingly complex, journalism has failed to keep pace by failing to properly educate, or insist that reporters be properly educated, about the intricacies of what they cover.” A specialization could help reporters to land a job in which they become indispensible to the news organization, and provide the in-house expertise needed to elevate the organization’s brand and reputation.

Read the full story

McCormick Hosts Ethnic Media Leaders

The recent “McCormick Ethnic Media Conference: Strategies for Growing the Sector” brought some 30 leaders from across the nation to Chicago to discuss strategies, obstacles, lessons learned and impact of the work they do. The conference featured a public panel Friday, June 20 on “The State of Ethnic Media: Boom or Bust?” This public discussion was moderated by Community Media Workshop’s Thom Clark and featured Sandy Close of New America Media, Cristina Azocar of the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism at San Francisco State University and Juana Ponce de Leon of New York Community Media Alliance. Here are video excerpts from that lively exchange:

• Thom Clark of CMW introduces the panel and discusses the results of his organization’s research into Chicago’s 200 ethnic news outlets (click here)
• Panelists discuss challenges facing ethnic media
(click here
• Juana Ponce de Leon discusses the vibrancy of the ethnic media in a city where 40% of residents are foreign-born (click here)
• Cristina Azocar discusses the research conducted by SFSU on opportunities and threats to EM nationally (click here)
• Sandy Close on the role and strengths of EM (click here)
• Sandy Close on EM and advertising potential (click here)
• Closing comments on MSM v EM v the death of journalism (click here)

A highlight of this event was a spoken word performance by Esther Ikoro and Adam Gottlieb of Young Chicago Authors (click here)

Photo above by Demetrio Maguigad of Community Media Workshop

Read the full story

Free Press on Campus

All college media outlets are deemed to be "a public forum for expression by student journalists and editors," according to a recent bill passed by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D). The bill also forbids school administrators from exercising prior review, according to the Student Press Law Center (SPLC), even when the media is produced by the school.

The bill comes in response to the Hosty v. Carter case, in which the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2005 that "college-sponsored student publications that are not designated as public forums can be controlled by school administrators in the same way high school officials can control student media on their campuses," SPLC reports.
The law goes into effect in January 2008.

For more information, visit: http://www.splc.org/newsflash.asp?id=1597

Read the full story

Student Journalism Rights: Step by Step Toward Acceptance?

Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski signed a law last week that protects Oregon high school students and college journalists from censorship by school administrators and also gives students the right to sue their school if they feel their right to expression has been violated. Click here (http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707130314 ) for a Statesman Journal (Salem, Ore.) story on the law detailing how:

+ The Oregon law is the country's first in more than a decade to protect high school journalists and the first ever to cover both high school and college journalists under one statute. (This new ruling adds to the list of six states that currently have laws protecting high school journalists from censorship; all were passed before 1996.)

+ A 2005 Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling (Hosty v. Carter) allowed college administrators to impose prior review and restraint on student newspapers if the publication is not a designated public forum for student expression. (This ruling covers three Midwestern states but has been cited by administrators nationwide to justify tightened controls over high school and college publications.)

+ According to the Student Press Law Center, a wave of similar laws is currently being pursued in other states (including Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey and Vermont).

+ Many student press advocates consider the law a victory – yet consider the final version somewhat watered down by amendments (including removal of a provision that would have allowed punishment for administrators that censor student publications, along with another that would have designated college publications public forums.)

To see Warren Watson's piece on this legislation, visit www.jideas.org

Read the full story

Big Shoes To Fill

Two staunch defenders of press freedom are taking on prestigious journalism education positions. Searches to replace Mark Goodman of the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) and Brant Houston of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) are well underway.

Goodman, formerly SPLC's executive director, will serve as the Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism at Kent State University. Houston is leaving as executive director of the University of Missouri-based IRE to serve as the Knight Chair in Investigative and Enterprise Reporting at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Both Goodman and Houston have agreed to assist in the transitions and won't officially begin their new duties until January 2008. Their successors will join highly regarded, financially stable organizations. The challenge will be building on the leadership and legacies of their predecessors.

In Goodman's 22 years at the helm of SPLC, the organization reinforced its position as the top defender of press rights for high school and college journalists. He became deeply involved in a number of super-charged cases involving censorship, prior restraint and other crackdowns attempting to muzzle student journalists.

Houston, who will serve as acting director until Dec. 31, spent 13 years molding the world's leading training organization for investigative journalists. IRE has more than 4,500 members covering all facets of media. Its recent annual conference, held June 7-10 in Phoenix , drew 950 participants.

Read the full story

Stop the Presses: College Campus Press Act

Illinois college journalists are in line to receive the same free press rights as their professional counterparts if Gov. Rod Blagojevich approves a bill passed this week by the state legislature. According to the Chicago Tribune, the College Campus Press Act- passed unanimously by the state senate and 112-2 in the Illinois House - would permit college student journalists "to write articles without fear that college officials could censor or bar publication of their work."

College press freedom is a hot topic in Illinois, after a prominent prior restraint case in 2001 at Governors State University. Three student journalists sued the school after a dean stopped the paper from being printed after learning there would be several stories critical of the university, according to the Tribune. The case went to the courts and the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that college administrators did have the right to use prior review and restraint for student papers if the publications weren't designated as a "public forum for student expression," according to Virginia-based Student Press Law Center. The new Illinois legislation designates college publications as public forums for student expression.

Gov. Blagojevich has 60 days to decide whether to sign or veto the bill.

For more, visit: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/southsouthwest/chi-collegepressjun08,1,6884139.story

Read the full story