The relentless news of layoffs and falling earnings at media companies may make skeptics question the value of journalism education. Two recent studies make a persuasive case for why scholastic journalism still makes a difference.
Tag: Fall 2008
Dirty words
Kalyn Feigenbaum was sitting in the DJ's chair at Pennsylvania State University's WKPS radio when it happened. Through the driving bass line and shattering cymbal crashes, she heard it come over the airwaves as though it was a hand slapping her in the face.
SPLC spotlights stories that make a difference
Public-records laws can open up a world of discoveries, rewarding persistent journalists like those in Marcy Burstiner's reporting class at California's Humboldt State University.
Web publishing carries promise and pitfalls
Yearbooks face more scrutiny
At the end of each school year, students pore over their new yearbooks, looking at every picture, picking out their friends and signing messages they hope will retain meaning for years to come. By the time the next year rolls around, that annual is all but forgotten and students are ready to move on to a new year of memory making.
Covering sexuality — carefully
When student journalists write about sex it almost always raises administrative eyebrows, but when the topic turns to homosexuality, the reaction sometimes escalates from concern to alarm.
Student voices find sympathetic ear
Sen. Leland Yee was one of about 3,000 protesters in the 1960s who defended a little park on the urban Berkeley campus. The park was owned by the University of California and administrators intended to replace it with a new dormitory.
Legislature passes anti-retaliation bill
California teachers stand to get more protection this fall under a bill meant to keep high school and college administrators from retaliating against them for protecting student free speech or expression.
Tangled Web
It had been a long day at school for Avery Doninger. Her principal, Karissa Niehoff, told her about scheduling conflicts the school was having with "Jamfest" -- a battle of the bands contest Doninger worked to coordinate as junior class secretary for her Burlington, Conn., high school. Doninger believed because of those conflicts, the event would be effectively canceled.
Order on the desktop
If retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has her way, students across the country will be donning controversial T-shirts and unrepentantly violating school dress codes ' in a virtual sense, at least.