Comments on: Reaching down: more thoughts on journalism education

By: Michael Josefowicz

Michael Josefowicz — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:59:11 +0000

In addition to the technical skills, there is a comment I found at newsless.org that I think will help tie the journalism part to the more general education issues.

He quotes an article written in 1947,
“Find delight in the task of establishing useful trails through the enormous mass of the common record.” That’s a mission statement I can believe in.

If the “common record” is taken to mean everything that happens in the world, I thought it is a great mission for both journalism and education.

By: Dennis

Dennis — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:25:26 +0000

As usual, Mark Whitson asks good questions. As a native of Oregon, I think a valley-wide online HS social media that includes the ability for HS journalists to post their stories would be invaluable. Add in HS students doing a good portion of the tech work (Adrian Holovaty indeed – find someone who moves from the IT side to the journalism side, and that’s just cool), and it’s a real-life project that reaches a broader audience, allows for peer and educator feedback and bridges the gap between HS journalism students.

Better yet, it provides support for HS students who want to hold their schools accountable. My limited experience suggests that this is another immediate benefit of boosting HS-level journalism.

Could there be a grant out there for this?

By: Mark Whitson

Mark Whitson — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 22:34:00 +0000

Mark,

Thank you for highlighting my comment. Publications Advising at the MS & HS level can be a lonely business often being the only teacher in this content area at your school.
I really like your idea about setting up a ‘Social Media site’ for High school journalists. I have been thinking about some type of forum for Oregon HS Journalists for some time. But ‘time’ keeps getting in the way. That and graduation- it seems that just about the time I get some students who are motivated, talented, and interested in such a project- they are off to college.
It might be a great place for college J-school students to ‘intern.’ Not quite the NYTimes, but it could be more rewarding.

Cheers,

Mark Whitson
Lebanon High School Publications Adviser
Lebanon, Oregon

By: Michael J

Michael J — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:59:53 +0000

The win-win part of this suggestion is that there are few ways to better get students excited about the world is the “Journalism Club.”

I speak from my own experience 40 years ago and more recently from volunteering in vocational high school and teaching at Parsons in NY for 7 years.

If the experience is managed correctly, it teaches students how to work in teams, meet deadlines and stand by their commitments. It’s all about new media, listening and talking, so of course they are naturals.

When publishing on the web or even better in Print using print on demand technology, is added to the mix it’s a natural way to engage their passion. They learn about the world and practice the communication skills they are going to need to succeed in whatever they are going to do with the rest of the lives.

By: Teach_J

Teach_J — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 04:17:14 +0000

Why can’t I live in Vancouver? I guess because I’m a Yank, but anyway – you hit the nail on the head. Those of us laboring in the high schools need more support from both college and pro journalism. We need more programs like the ASNE Reynolds Journalism Institute for teachers. We also need quality summer programs for our kids to attend. Here in Houston, the Chronicle has a summer program, but it only supports 30 kids. We have way more than 100 high schools in the metro area. That’s just not enough. If we really want the best to go into journalism, we have to court them like other career fields do. That means taking time and spending money to give them training and opportunities. I hope you get something started up there in BC.