Anthology of essays edited by Gregory Adamo and Allan DiBiase

Reviewed by Carolyn Schurr Levin

In a time when college media budgets are being cut, access to information is increasingly difficult to obtain, and continued presence on campus seems precarious at best, many college media advisers are faced with having to justify not just their own positions, but often the very existence of the media outlets they advise. “College Media: Learning in Action,” an anthology of essays edited by Gregory Adamo and Allan DiBiase (2017), provides a plethora of arguments for not only the quintessential importance of college media outlets, but also for strengthening and investing in them for the future.

Adamo, an associate professor in the School of Global Journalism and Communications at Morgan State University in Baltimore, and DiBiase, who has taught philosophy and the philosophy of education at several universities, have collected research and essays from  college media advisers, professors, journalists, former journalists, and others to detail “the variety of ways students learn through participation in” college media, thus justifying “support of these rich, alternative learning opportunities.” Because, the editors argue, colleges today are increasingly assessing, and questioning, their commitment to this kind of learning, “it becomes increasingly important to understand and describe what happens in these unique spaces lest they become assimilated into more ubiquitous templates for learning or eliminated completely.” The goal of this anthology should be cause for jubilation for the ever-increasing number of college media advisers who face diminished funding and wavering administrative support. This book provides valuable data to bolster arguments for the future of both the advisers and the media outlets. Continue reading “Review: ‘College Media: Learning in Action’”

Shifting preferences for technology use, abbreviated word choices

By Carol Terracina Hartman
CMR Managing Editor 

Molly Ivins’ earliest collection of essays, titled “Molly Ivins can’t say that, can she?” (1991) highlighted an era of communication in which we questioned the manner and mode of commentary about public officials and each other.

Now with the growth of a generation in our classrooms that is less inclined to speak to or call each other by phone and more inclined to “snap” or “tweet” each other, communication styles and mannerisms direct this question toward our classrooms: “can they say that?” and conversely, “can we say that?”

We attribute the changes in politeness and acceptability to technology use – and abbreviated word choices – and decrease in oral communication. Doesn’t everyone say “please” in a text?

We’ve addressed this trend in multiple CMA sessions the last three national fall conventions. Jane De Roche, of Mira Costa College, raised this question in a 2016 CMA session in Washington, D.C., asking, “how do we respond to millennials in class when they say ….?”

Continue reading “Communicating with millennials in the newsroom and classroom”

Covering Suicide on College Campuses

Jena Heath
St. Edward’s University
Brooke Blanton
St. Edward’s University

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Abstract: Student journalists and their faculty advisers face particular challenges when confronted with covering suicide on their campuses. We examine these challenges by analyzing coverage and interviewing student journalists and their advisers about their editorial decisions. The interviews are designed to assess how often college media outlets comply with recommended professional guidelines for covering suicide and to shed light on the decision-making process. The results point to the need to better educate student journalists and advisers about the interpretation and use of these guidelines and to help them navigate pressures to minimize even coverage that conforms with them.

Reviewed by Carolyn Schurr Levin

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The year 2012 was a big one for Newsweek.  After 79 years in print, the venerable newsmagazine published its last print issue on Dec. 31, 2012, transitioning to an all-digital format in early 2013.  The move reflected the challenges of a weekly publication in a world with a 24-hour news cycle, print advertising revenue declines and a growing online audience.  Perhaps as significantly as Newsweek’s digital transition, in late 2012, former Newsweek staffer Lynn Povich published The Good Girls Revolt: How the Women of Newsweek Sued Their Bosses and Changed the Workplace, her detailed chronicle of the 1970 lawsuit that she brought, along with 45 other women, charging the newsmagazine with discrimination in hiring and promoting women.  That lawsuit, Povich convincingly argues in her recent book, “has become a legacy for the young women who followed us.”

Continue reading “Review: “The Good Girls Revolt: How The Women of Newsweek Sued Their Bosses and Changed the Workplace” By Lynn Povich”

Compiled by Susan Smith, media adviser at South Dakota State University

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A record number of college newspapers were reported stolen in 2012, and while fewer have been stolen in 2013, such thefts continue, according to Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center.

Meanwhile, Hazelwood was cited in a case where a college refused to allow a student to student teach because of his unorthodox views, and some universities are attempting roadblocks to limit access to records that should be open.

CMR asked LoMonte for his take on such situations. (Please see sidebar for additional resources).

Continue reading “Newspaper thefts, censorship efforts, roadblocks to public records and more: A Q&A with Frank LoMonte”

Newspaper theft a form of censorship

Also, see Q&A on theft with SPLC Executive Director Frank LoMonte

Newspaper theft is a crime. It is also a terribly effective form of censorship. Each year dozens of student newspapers and other publications across the country fall victim to thieves whose intent is to prevent the dissemination of news, information and opinion with which they disagree.

While most college newspapers are distributed without charge (most student media have determined it would actually cost more to collect money at the point of distribution than it is worth), they are certainly not “free.”

Continue reading “Dealing with Newspaper Thefts: Advice from the Student Press Law Center”