College Media Review

Maintaining a science writing program

Forest of barren trees. (Public Domain, Creative Commons)

Environmental journalism training ebbs and flows with political fortunes

By Carol Terrracina Hartman
CMR Co-Managing Editor

A professional myth pervades the field of environmental journalism, but likely has some basis in fact: when a Democrat holds the White House, the jobs for environmental journalists evaporate: here come the pink slips. But when a Republican has the White House, it’s major job creation: every media outlet staffs up on environmental and science writers.

The unspoken perception is that the environment is a partisan issue and therefore safe to ignore at certain times, thus requiring less reporting. What that says for journalists, is that it becomes harder to report and publish on environmental issues because editors and media outlets perceive that the environment is “safe”: a crisis can’t occur.

Ethical issues aside, where does that leave undergraduate science writing programs? If opportunity to report potentially ebbs and flows every four years, how do professors plan curriculum and attract students to the programs?

A panel hosted at the Society of Environmental Journalists conference in Sacramento September 2016, addressed the best practices for teaching science and environmental reporting. A common theme emerged among the speakers: interdisciplinary approach.

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Campus media focuses on political changes

College views on transition of power

Editor’s Note: This is the second set of links College Media Review is publishing related to Donald Trump’s inauguration, the women’s march, and visits college journalists had with professional journalists while in Washington, D.C. Also included are links from college.usatoday.com to inauguration coverage, including voices from college Republicans explaining why they voted for Donald Trump.

Jan 22, 2017 – Voices: I’m a college journalist who covered Trump’s inauguration. Here’s what I saw. … Related: College students share why they went to Trump’s inauguration … (Photo: Sophia Tulp for USA TODAY College). Protestors …

Jan 20, 2017 – 20, 2017, before the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump. … Sophia Tulp is an Ithaca College student and a USA TODAY College digital producer. … Voices: I’m a college journalist who covered Trump’s inauguration.

Jan 20, 2017 – “We have to hold Trump accountable and actually stay engaged.” … We talked to CollegeRepublicans at Trump’s inauguration — here’s what they said. By Aileen …. This article comes from TheUSA TODAY College Contributor network. ….. Voices: I’m a college journalist who covered Trump’s inauguration.

Quick Links — College media takes on national focus

College media cover inauguration of new president, march and protests

College Media Review put out a call for student coverage of the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump as well as the Women’s March on Washington.

And college media advisers and student journalists responded.

We are pleased to present the following links from The Owl and Baylor Lariet student newspaper as well as the WNYU radio station.

From The Owl student newspaper at Doane University:

From The Baylor Lariat

http://baylorlariat.com/inauguration-2017/

From WNYU, New York University’s student-run radio station:

If other college media covered the historic events and would like to share coverage with CMR, please e-mail links to Debra Chandler Landis, CMR editor, at dland2@uis.edu

Making the most of milestones for college media

The Pioneer turns 60; alumni reflect on changes

By Carolyn Schurr Levin and Maxime Devillaz
Long Island University

Sixty years doesn’t make The Pioneer the oldest college newspaper. Not even close.

The Dartmouth was founded in 1799, and The Miami Student in 1826. In 1871, The Bowdoin Orient debuted, and two years later, in 1873, The Harvard Crimson began publishing.

But the challenges, obstacles, and successes faced by The Pioneer, the student newspaper of the LIU Post campus of Long Island University, over 60 years are emblematic of enduring college newspapers, no matter their age. Continue reading “Making the most of milestones for college media”

Research (Vol. 54) — Don’t Press the Panic Button Yet

An Analysis of Federal Student Press Law Cases at the University Level

By David R. Wheeler
The University of Tampa

Although some student press advocates are concerned about recent decisions curtailing the speech and press rights of college students, First Amendment protections for postsecondary school students are on much firmer footing than are protections for K-12 students.

The 1960 and 1970s: Students and Editorial Control

The birth of college press freedom began even before Tinker, when an Alabama federal district court in 1967 ruled in favor of a student editor in Dickey v. Alabama State Board of Education. In Dickey, a disagreement over content in the student newspaper resulted in student editor Gary Dickey’s suspension from Troy State University.[1] Dickey wrote an editorial commenting on the governor and state legislature’s insistence that no articles be published that were critical of them. The president of the university, Dr. Frank Rose, disagreed with this policy, and Dickey wanted to write an article supporting the president. As the court noted:

It is without controversy in this case that the basis for the denial of Dickey’s right to publish his editorial supporting Dr. Rose was a rule that had been invoked at Troy State College to the effect that there could be no editorials written in the school paper which were critical of the Governor of the State of Alabama or the Alabama Legislature. The rule did not prohibit editorials or articles of a laudatory nature concerning the Governor or the Legislature.[2]

Dickey was told by his adviser that he could not publish the column. Instead, Dickey decided to run a blank space in place of the article with the word “censored.” For this action, Dickey was suspended, and he subsequently took his case to federal court, claiming a violation of his First Amendment rights. In ordering that Dickey be allowed to return to the school, the district court judge said: Continue reading “Research (Vol. 54) — Don’t Press the Panic Button Yet”

CMR Extra — Quick Links

Heartening news about quality journalism as a business model—and how print and broadcast media can team for investigative ‘solutions reporting’

CMR_arrow26_CMR_SiteIconGray Quality journalism is a “viable business model,” according to Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan. In a memo sent to Post employees earlier this month, Ryan cited increasing digital ad revenue and subscriptions as among the examples, and said the Post planned to hire more staff in 2017.

For more about what Ryan had to say, see this Poynter article: http://www.poynter.org/2016/the-washington-post-is-profitable-and-growing-publisher-says/442683/

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Bringing American-style journalism to Chinese high school students

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Reflections on an inaugural high school journalism conference

By Kelly Furnas
Elon University

Amid a backdrop of international language barriers, governmental censorship and an educational system that devalues creative thinking, Chinese high school students still learned about journalism through an inaugural national high school conference.

“Generally there is a surging trend for more popularity of right-brain subjects.” -- Zhu Lin, Youth Impact China

The conference, held earlier this year, was organized by JEA China, an affiliate member of the Journalism Education Association headquartered in the United States. The conference included U.S. and Chinese presenters.

JEA China — an affiliate member of the Journalism Education Association headquartered in the United States — is hoping to capitalize on those obstacles by providing programming tailored for high school students hoping to study in the West.

Zhu Lun, one of the architects for JEA China’s conference, as well as the organization itself, is chief executive officer of a nonprofit organization called Youth Impact China, which he started in 2015 to provide extracurricular programming for high school students in subjects such as business, finance, biology, art, design and journalism. Continue reading “Bringing American-style journalism to Chinese high school students”

Report spotlights threats to freedom of student press

Colleges urged to end retaliation against journalists and advisers

By Chris Evans
Chair, CMA First Amendment Advocacy Committee

Most advisers eventually get The Question.

untitled-extract-pages — Click above to download report

It might come in a call or an email. Or a passing comment from a colleague in the hallway. Not infrequently, it first appears in the anxious look of an editor-in-chief who’s found herself on the receiving end of a tirade by a college administrator.

This particular question often serves as an opening salvo in a confrontation over something as frivolous as a bawdy sex column or as journalistically significant as an investigation into a provost’s drunken junket to Jamaica.

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Impartiality Above All

Opinion: Election represents challenge for advisers, journalism educators

By Carolyn Schurr Levin

cmr_arrow26_cmr_forum If you were reading only The New York Times during the 2016 presidential election, you can be forgiven if you held a well-founded belief that Hillary Clinton would win the election by a landslide. On Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 10:20 p.m., Election Day, The New York Times predicted a Clinton victory by 85%, “based on the latest state and national polls.”

There is surely a lot of soul-searching going on at The New York Times and elsewhere.

The same holds true if you were reading many college newspapers around the country this fall. Millenials (adults ages 18-35) did in fact vote strongly for Clinton, and their preferences were reflected in stories they reported for their school media. My own students submitted story after story reflecting an inherent Clinton bias.

They were all wrong.

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Online bookstore now available…

Resource for those who want printed volumes of CMA material

Now available on College Media Review: an online bookstore where the public can purchase printed volumes of CMR research annuals and buy an assortment of college media apparel and other items.

“CMR webmaster Bill Neville, the College Media Association board of directors, and CMA executive director Meredith Taylor worked together to make this bookstore a reality. A sincere thanks to them for their work,” said CMR editor Debra Chandler Landis.

Continue reading “Online bookstore now available…”