Vol. 33, No. 3StetMichigan Interscholastic Press Association

March 2006

Photo by Kelly Dougherty, Clarkston HS

INSIDE: Textbook talk 4 Learn more about national organizations 6 Fighting for 1st Amendment Rights 8

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So, what have I learned in my two-year tenure as MIPA president? I think, more than anything, I’ve realized the importance of getting out there and

trying new things. Plenty has happened in the last cou-ple of years to make me a believer in the old adage that good luck is only possible when you have worked to allow it to happen.

Sometimes opportunities will come your way when you least expect them, but you’ll miss them if you aren’t in a position to see them. My best example is from just a few weeks ago. I received an e-mail that began with “I got your name from…” and went on to ask if our yearbook staff would be interested in working with a senior Sports Illustrated photographer at the NFL Experience exhibit at Cobo Hall on the day before the Super Bowl. Uhhh….yeah…I guess we could manage to get out of bed early on a Saturday for that. So my kids were each given a Canon Rebel XT, and were given photography tips from Peter Read Miller, who has shot 20-something Super Bowls. They shot the Punt, Pass, and Kick seminar that morning, and met some NFL players, and talked about how cool it was that they were lucky enough to have this chance. But I don’t nec-essarily think it was luck. I still don’t know who was on the other end of the “I got your name from…” statement, but I’m pretty sure that they wouldn’t have gotten my name from anywhere if I hadn’t tried to get out there and meet people.

There are other benefits to “getting out there,” like the interaction opportunities journalism teachers have with other advisers. We all know that in our classrooms,

we are basically in a vacuum. During the average week, I see other adults for approximately 20 minutes at lunch, if I’m able to leave my room, and on Thursdays for our staff meetings. Saying “good morning” on my way to the mailbox doesn’t really count as true adult interaction. And everyone in my building is the same way. But what they don’t have is a huge support group of other like-minded teachers that they can talk to on a semi-regular basis. Without MIPA board meetings and summer workshops and fall conventions and spring award ceremonies and late-night rap sessions with other advisers, I’d still feel as if I were in that same vacuum. And it would, to use the vacuum industry’s preferred term, suck.

Most of my colleagues at Kettering know very few other people who teach what they teach. No, really…I’ve asked them; the social studies teachers might know a handful of other social studies teachers in the district. The English, science, and math teachers are mostly the same. And the good ones will absolutely bemoan this fact. “If only we had a chance to do some real profes-sional development,” they say. “And meet with our peers to make ourselves better teachers.” And I’ll smirk (internally because, hey, nobody likes a smirker), and think about how happy I am as a publications adviser. I’ve gotten to know hundreds of advisers in other dis-tricts and around the country because I’ve tried to become as involved in scholastic journalism as I can. This is one of the many really cool aspects of advising a

Getting lucky takes some work

Stet is the official newsletter of the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association, an agency of the School of Journalism at Michigan State University. Stet is published four times a year by the MIPA executive director and MSU students.

Send letters to the editor and advertising inquiries to mipa@msu.edu. The MIPA Web site is maintained by Josh Tacey and Cheryl Pell.

Web site: www.mipa.jrn.msu.edu

StetBrian Wilson, Waterford Kettering HS

Rod Satterthwaite, Dexter HS

Sandra Strall, Carlson HS

Kim Kozian, L’Anse Creuse HS North

Jeremy Van Hof, Grand Ledge HS

Cheryl Braford, Portage Central HS

Nikki Schueller, North Farmington HS

Julie Price, Haslett HS

Gloria Olman, retired, Utica HS

Betsy Pollard Rau, H.H. Dow HS

Vacant

Diane Herder, Laingsburg HS

Lynn Strause, East Lansing HS

Jeff Nardone, Grosse Pointe South HS

Cheryl Pell, Michigan State University

Penney Aiken, MSU Student

Amy Brandt, MSU Student

President

1st Vice President

2nd Vice President

Secretary

Trustee

Trustee

Trustee

Newspaper Chair

Legislative Chair

Workshop Chair

Middle School Chair

Broadcast Chair

Yearbook Chair

Hall of Fame Chair

Executive Director

MIPA Office

MIPA Officers 2005-2006

MIPA305 Communication Arts BuildingMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, MI 48824-1212

Phone: 517-353-6761Fax: (517-355-7710

Brian Wilson Waterford Kettering HS

The President’s Column

COVERPHOTO

The cover photo was taken by Kelly Dougherty for the 2004 yearbook, Hilltopper, at Clarkston HS. It won 1st Place in Division 1 in the 2005 MIPA Individual Category Yearbook Contest.

Please see PRESIDENT, page 10

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Two Michigan advisers have been named Rising Star award winners by the Journalism Education Association.

Nikki Schueller of North Farmington HS and Tim Morley of Inland Lakes HS will be two of seven teachers nationwide to receive the award at the San Francisco JEA/NSPA convention in April.

The award, new this year, was created to encourage advisers and journalism teachers with one to five years’ advising and/or journalism teaching experience to remain in the profession.

Honorees were selected for their commitment to journalism education and passion for striving to help their students create outstanding publications or broadcast programs.

Congratulations, Nikki and Tim!

Mary Lou Nagy receives MJE Status

Congratulations to Mary Lou Nagy, newspaper adviser at Plymouth Canton HS. Mary Lou recently received Master Journalism Educator (MJE) status from the

Journalism Education Association certification program. In order to receive the certification, she had to have earned Certified Journalism Educator status, taught for five years, submitted a letter from an administrator at her school, showed evidence of scholastic journalism

activity, passed the MJE exam and present a paper or teaching unit to the certification committee. If anyone is interested in receiving CJE or MJE status, please go to the JEA Web site at http://www.jea.org/certification/cert.html.

&Notes NewsTwo MIPA members receive JEA award

Bookmark the MIPA Web site:www.mipa.jrn.msu.edu

MIPA to sponsor Photojournalism Day at the Flint Institute of Arts

M IPA is sponsoring a one-day workshop at the

Flint Institute of Arts for stu-dents and teachers interested in photojournalism.

The event will be centered around an exhibit entitled Thy Brothers’ Keeper, which will feature photography that examines war, child labor, mental health and other issues that relate to human rights and social justice. The workshop will include a special lecture by

one of the photographers whose work is in the show.

Students will have a chance to write an essay based on their experience at the event and enter it into a contest. The first place prize will be the exhibit book with all of the photos in it.

Cost for the workshop is $10, which includes lunch. Visit the MIPA Web site in late March to download the regis-tration form. Space is limited.

Lucian Perkins of the Washington Post took this photo. This and other photographers’ work will be on display in the Thy Brothers’ Keeper exhibit at the Flint Institute of Arts.

Overflowing . . .

Entries for the various MIPA contests started coming in early February, but the bulk landed in the MIPA office on Monday, Feb. 27. The shot from the doorway doesn’t include all of it—there’s more behind the door. Individual categories were judged on Saturday, March 4.

Lucian Perkins, Bosnia, Courtesy of the artist/The Washington Post

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By Jennifer Wolfin

AP STYLE. ETHICS. PRESS LAW. LAYOUT. DEADLINES. PROFES-SIONALISM. This list only begins to touch on what is taught in scholastic journal-ism—and there is no easy way to go about tackling what needs to be taught.

While advisers, by nature, are creative and innovative teachers, new and seasoned advisers often still find themselves asking how to best

approach teaching. What texts are out there? What texts are best? And what other outside

resources can help rein-force definitions of good writing, style and design?

Such questions were posed to advisers throughout Michigan in an effort to understand what texts are being used in journalism classrooms.

Although there are no clear-cut answers (nor should there be), several advisers were eager to share their thoughts.

Popular Writing TextsMany advisers pointed to “The

Radical Write: A Fresh Approach to Journalistic Writing for Stu-dents” by Bobby Hawthorne as the most important text for teaching journalistic writing.

“Hawthorne’s book speaks to students at their level. The examples are from students just like themselves, so the stu-dents tend to buy into the

ideas more,” said Jason Skiba, newspaper and yearbook adviser at Battle Creek Central HS.

Brian Wilson, yearbook adviser and former newspaper adviser at Waterford Kettering HS, agreed.

“In both newspaper and year-book, I use “The Radical Write” more than any other text. It really helps students learn how to write more interesting stories, which I think is the most important and most difficult skill to pick up,” he said. “I don’t really need a book to teach the five W’s and H, or the inverted pyramid, or the difference between a feature and a news story. Most journalism teachers can do this. It isn’t hard to teach someone how to write; it’s difficult to teach them how to write well.”

“The AP Stylebook and Libel Manual” is also a standard tool in most journalism classrooms and newslabs.

Popular Design TextsIn terms of design, two books

were widely mentioned: “The Newspaper Designer’s Handbook” by Tim Harrower and “The Non-Designers Design Book” by Robin Williams. Rod Satterthwaite, news-paper and yearbook adviser at Dexter HS, said Harrower and Wil-liams are effective because they use humor well, are clear, and pro-vide great examples. Satterthwaite also mentioned using Mario Gar-cia’s “Pure Design,” a guidebook with examples from major newspa-pers and popular magazines nationwide.

Other Tools for StudentsMost advisers interviewed were

quick to point out that while text-books provide an important base for student journalists, major dai-lies and magazines offer just as much or more teaching material. Skiba emphasized the study of daily newspapers.

“Journalism teachers are lucky. We can use real world examples as textbooks—and they’re updated every day,” he said, adding that he requires students to read the news-paper daily.

He can do so because his school receives deliveries of the Battle Creek Enquirer through Newspa-pers in Education (NIE), a program which enables schools to receive daily deliveries at no cost.*

Likewise, Satterthwaite uses a variety of outside materials. He said that in addition to using the books by Hawthorne, Harrower, Williams and Garcia, he supple-ments instruction with CD-ROMs from The Columbia Scholastic Press Association and The National Scholastic Press Association—both of which showcase the best student publications in the country. He also brings in publications such as Mar-tha Stewart Living and ESPN: The Magazine to examine photography and design.

Outside publications are also used to shed light on issues sur-rounding journalism. Nick Popa-dich, newspaper adviser at Grand Blanc HS, said he often brings in articles that relate to media ethics, the state of journalism, and rele-vant issues handled well.

Sara Edleman, newspaper advis-er at East Grand Rapids HS, point-ed out another benefit.

“I think the thing that strikes kids the most is comparing two different outlets in their reporting on the same subject—New York Times vs. USA Today, for example. That really crystallizes a lot of the issues for them,” she said.

Tools for TeachersIn terms of texts for teachers,

What books do you use in journalism class?TEXTBOOKTALK

Please see TEXTBOOKS, page 10

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March 2006 ■ 5

X

Information adapted from an informational graphic prepared by The Oregonian and illustrated by Steve Cowden.

X

Editors and reporters call it “the daily miracle.” And it does seem miraculous that despite blizzards, computer meltdowns,editing screwups, power outages and press jams, the newspaper gets printed and delivered day after day, year after year —

sometimes century after century. Take The Oregonian, for instance. It’s Portland’s only daily newspaper andone of the biggest papers in the nation (with a daily circulation of more than 350,000).

What does it take to produce a typical issue of the paper? Here’s a look at a typical day in the life of a big-city

newsroom as The Oregonian’s 465 editors,reporters, photographers and designers race

the clock to produce another miracle.

How a newspaper comes togetherIt’s like an assembly line — where workers race the clock to produce a new product each day

INSIDE THE NEWSROOMAT THE OREGONIAN

THE MAJORDIVISIONSAT A DAILYPAPER

The Oregonian’s news department employs465 staffers, including 124 reporters, 59 copyeditors, 26 team editors and 20 photographers.Most staffers work downtown; dozens morework in small bureaus in the suburbs. Wireservices provide most of the world and nation-al news, although the paper also has tworeporters in Washington, D.C.

REPORTERS AND EDITORSThe newsroom is divided into teams based

on topics or geography, such as:� Family & Education � Business� City Life � Sports� Crime & Justice � LivingWithin each team, reporters are often

assigned to beats; the Crime & Justice team, forinstance, has beats for prisons, federal court,night cops and family violence.

When a reporter files a story, it first goes toan editor on his or her team, who checks it foraccuracy, organization and fairness.

COPY EDITORS AND PRESENTATIONOnce stories are edited, they’re sent on to

copy editors and designers. Copy editors checkstories for grammar, spelling and punctuation,add headlines, and then send everything to thepresentation team, where designers have laidout the stories — with any additional photos,captions and graphics — on the page.

EDITORIALThe 15-member editorial department works

independently of the newsroom — on anotherfloor of the building, actually — to producethe paper’s opinion pages. The editorial staffwrites editorials that present the newspaper’sviews on issues and events, as well as selectingletters to the editor and guest opinion columns.The paper also employs an editorial cartoonist.

PHOTO AND GRAPHICSAfter returning from their assignments, pho-

tographers develop their film and make prints— although most of the photos they shoot arenow digital. With the help of photo editors,they select and process the best images for thenewspaper. These are digitally sent to the pres-entation team for layout.

Nearly a dozen graphics designers receiveinformation from editors and reporters withwhich they build charts, graphs, maps andother graphic elements to accompany stories(like the illustrations on this page).

6 A.M.The first editorarrives andbegins selectingstories to run inthe Street Finaledition, whichprints at noonfor downtownstreet sales.

7 A.M.Editors on theCoordinatingDesk fieldphone calls andsort obituaries.The newspaperpublishes 200obits a week.

8 A.M.After ingestinglarge amountsof coffee, editorscheck wires forstories. Policereporters checksources forovernight news.

9 A.M.News teamsgather to planthe day’s newscoverage. Theeditorial boardmeets to discussthe day’s issues.

10 A.M.Top newsroomeditors meet toassess the day’snews and beginplanning PageOne. Reporterscall sources andgo into the fieldto cover stories.

11 A.M.Wire editorsbegin choosingthe top nationaland world newsstories. Featurestaffers holdmaestro sessionsto plan futureprojects.

NOONReporting continues. Manyreporters remainin the newsroommaking phonecalls or finishingstories they’vepreviouslyresearched.

1 P.M.Graphics artistsbuild maps andcharts for bothnews stories andspecial projects.In the featuressection, pagedesigners workdays in advanceon sectionfronts.

2 P.M.Reportersupdate theirteam leaders,who compilesummaries ofstories plannedfor the nextday’s paper.

Like reporters always do, we’re focusing all ourattention on the newsroom here. But all news organizations — whetherthey’re newspapers, TV stations orWebsites — depend on other depart-ments for their survival.

Two-thirds of The Oregonian’semployees work outside the newsroomto help produce and deliver the papereach day, selling ads, driving trucks,balancing the books and running thepress.

Here’s a quick rundown of what goeson in other parts of the building whileyou’re busy writing stories.

THEADVERTISINGDEPARTMENTThe Oregonian’s staff of 293works in a number of key areas:

� Classified ads: 110 peopleprocess thousands of ads forreal estate, cars, jobs, pets, etc.

� Retail and display ads:Nearly 100 employees sell display ads (the ads that runbelow and beside news stories).

� Advertising services: Thesestaffers help clients write, editand design their ads.

THE PRODUCTIONDEPARTMENTThis is where 379 people transferthe words and pictures of newsand advertising onto paper:

� Camera and composing: Theseworkers prepare pages for printing,turning them into negatives.

� Plate making: This crew turnsthose negatives into plates that aremounted on the press.

� The press: 136 staffers operatethe printing press and bundlepapers for delivery.

THECIRCULATIONDEPARTMENTThe 155 employees in this departmentwork night and day to distribute thenewspaper, recruit new subscribers andrespond to calls from customers.

Delivering the paper is their most important job. And most of those papersgo to subscribers. (Only about 18 percentof The Oregonian’s 350,000 daily papersare sold in street racks and stores.) Mostof the deliveries are handled by inde-pendent contractors who drive trucks,run distributorships and supervise thecarriers who deliver papers to people’shomes.

3 P.M.The newsroom’stop editors meetagain to reviewthe day’s newsand discuss howto treat theday’s biggeststories. Copy andlayout editorsbegin editingstories anddesigning newspages.

4 P.M.Most reportersare now back inthe newsroom,writing to meeta 6 p.m. dead-line. Top editorsmeet one lasttime to solvelast-minuteproblems andmake their finalstory selectionfor the frontpage.

5 P.M.News reporters continue turningin their stories.Photographersare making finalprints of photos.And all wire stories are nowbeing edited bythe copy desk.

6 P.M.This is the dead-line for reportersto send theirstories to editors(though front-page storieshave until 6:30).It’s also thedeadline forsending photosto the presenta-tion team.

7 P.M.Copy editorsreview storiesfor accuracy,grammar andstyle, then writeheadlines. Sloteditors finishchecking thework of copyeditors by 7:45.

8 P.M.The presentationteam sends thelast of its pagesto composing forthe first edition.The presses startrolling at 8:30.This edition isthen deliveredstatewide.

9 P.M.This is the dead-line for gettingcopy and photosto the presenta-tion team for thesecond edition,which rolls at10:30.

10 P.M.Reporters racemeet the 10:30deadline for theSunrise edition(the main morn-ing paper) whichprints at 11:45.

11 P.M.All the editorsand reportershave headedhome. Onemakeup editorremains until 1a.m., checkingthe wires forlast-minute,late-breakingnews.

Editor selects stories for Street Final

Coordinating desk fields phone calls

Reporter checks sources

News teams plan day

10 a.m.news meeting

Graphics artistbuilds maps and charts

Reporters andphotographerscover incidents

3 p.m.news meeting

Editing of stories, photosand graphics

Editors pick top stories

Copy editor checks stories Slot

editor reviews copy editing

Last deadline for stories, photos

and graphics

Makeup editorchecks wiresbefore goinghome

Presentation teamdesigns pages

Speaking of textbooks, here’s the next big one. Harrower’s got another winner on his hands.

F ans of Tim Harrower’s “The

Newspaper Designer’s Handbook” will be interested in checking out his new book on journalistic writing.

“Inside Reporting: A Practical Guide to the Art and Craft of Journalism” will be available in July from McGraw-Hill. Harrower said the book stems from a need for a reporting manual that is concise, practical, interactive and entertaining. Like “The Newspaper Designer’s Handbook,”

“Inside Reporting” is aimed at community college students, but is appropriate for high school and university journalists as well. “If the material clicks with junior-college students, it usually succeeds in high schools and bigger universities, too,” Harrower said.

—Jennifer Wolfin

“The pages I’ve seen are beautiful and exciting, but packed full of substance as well. This

is the next bright light in terms of scholastic journalism textbooks. I bet we’ll see some

universities adopting it as well.” Cheryl Pell, MIPA director

Below are two sample spreads from Tim Harrower’s new book, “Inside Reporting: A Practical Guide to the Art and Craft of Journalism,” which will be available in July.

Jennifer Wolfin is a senior English major and journalism minor. She will be interning next year.

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Demystifying the national organizationsJournalism Education Association

Based at Kansas State University, this organization provides membership to journalism teachers only. It co-sponsors two national high school journalism conventions with the National Scholastic Press Association (see below). It does not offer a publication critique service, but it does sponsor contests such as national Yearbook Adviser of the Year, national Administrator of the Year and national Student Journalist of the Year. It also offers a bookstore of resources for journalism educators.

Membership is $50 per year per adviser. Member benefits include a quarterly adviser magazine called C:JET (Communication: Journalism Education Today) and the JEA listserv, a network of over 700

advisers around the country waiting to answer your questions about journalism (and sometimes non-journalism) related topics via e-mail.

One suggestion for the listserv: some days you can receive over 100 e-mails from the list. This overwhelms many who are new to a listserv. If you join, consider having your listserv mail sent to a different e-mail address than the one you use at school or at least to a different folder. That way you can check the messages when you have time.

JEA also provides two certification levels: Certified Journalism Educator (CJE) and Master Journalism Educator (MJE). While these certifications aren’t recognized by states as teaching endorsements, they do allow journalism teachers to show professional development at the national level.

In addition, JEA sponsors summer adviser courses through Kansas State University.

Michigan belongs to the Region 6 of the JEA, and our regional director is Tom Gayda (tgayda@msdwt.k12.in.us) from North Central HS in Indiana. Our state director is Brian Wilson from Waterford Kettering HS (WilsoB01@wsdmi.org).For more information contact:Journalism Education AssociationKansas State University103 Kedzie HallManhattan, KS 66506-1505866-532-5532www.jea.org

National Scholastic Press AssociationHoused at the University of Minnesota, this

organization provides memberships and critiques to student publications. In addition, the NSPA co-sponsors two national high school journalism conventions with JEA, one in the fall and one in the spring.

These three-day conventions draw thousands of high school journalism students and advisers from around the world. Each day has hour-long sessions for students and advisers on topics ranging from yearbook design to starting a video production program. Each convention also has individual and publication contests your students can enter as well as adviser luncheons.

Many advisers suggest taking students to these national conventions only after the adviser has attended one herself. They are great experiences, but the first one can be overwhelming, and it might be easier to go with a colleague the first trip to get your bearings and see how things are organized.

In addition to the conventions, NSPA offers two levels of membership to publications. Level One is $109 and includes entry in the Pacemakers, considered the Pulitzer Prize of scholastic journalism, a CD-ROM of the best of high school journalism from across the country,

eligibility to enter contests such as national photo, story and design of the year, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and many other resources.

For $80 more ($189) a publication can have a Level Two membership which includes all the benefits of a Level One membership along with a publication critique and a chance to win NSPA’s highest honor, the All-American award. Publications that win an All-American ranking 10 times within an 11-year span earn NSPA Hall of Fame honors.

NSPA also awards scholarships to advisers to help offset the cost of adviser workshops and classes.For more information contact:National Scholastic Press AssociationAssociated Collegiate Press2221 University Ave SE, Suite 121Minneapolis, MN 55414612-625-8335www.studentpress.org

So you’ve won some MIPA awards, maybe even a Spartan. Your student body can’t wait

until your newspaper is distributed. Or your yearbook sales are higher than ever. You and your students are proud of your publications. Rightfully so.

But how do you stack up regionally or nationally? What advice do other journalism experts have for you and your students? You’ll never know if you don’t join some of the other organizations beyond MIPA that provide critiques, conventions and other bonuses to journalism students and advisers.

Here is a list of each organization, their contact information and the services they offer to students and advisers.

By Rod SatterthwaiteDexter HS

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Demystifying the national organizationsColumbia Scholastic Press Association

Housed at the Columbia School of Journalism in New York, this organization provides a yearly convention and publication critique service as well as Gold Circle awards for individual writing, photography and design.

The yearly convention for students and advisers is held at the Columbia School of Journalism, usually in March. CSPA also offers two levels of membership, Regular Membership and Associate Membership.

Regular Membership ($169) includes a critique of the publication and eligibility for a Gold, Silver or Bronze Medalist Award. In addition, regular members also receive entry in to the Crown Competitions (similar to NSPA’s Pacemaker Award and given to only the top few publications in the

country), 40 free entries in to CSPA’s individual contest called the Gold Circle Awards, a CD-ROM of the top publications in the country and other resources.

Associate Membership ($119) includes all of the same benefits as Regular Membership except for the critique. For more information contact:CSPAColumbia UniversityMail Code 5711New York, NY 10027-6902212-854-9400www.columbia.edu/cu/cspa/

Quill and ScrollBased at the University of Iowa, Quill and Scroll

provides publication critiques, individual contests and an Honor Society for high school journalists.

For $65 a publication can be critiqued by a Quill and Scroll judge and be eligible for a Gallup Award, Quill and Scroll’s highest award. Quill and Scroll’s critique book is unique in that it has lengthy self-assessments that a staff fills out before its publication is judged.

Quill and Scroll also offers individual newspaper and yearbook writing contests for $2

per entry.For a $50 one-time fee, publications can start a

Quill and Scroll Honor Chapter at their school, and eligible students nominated by their adviser receive recognition and cords to wear at graduation.For more information contact:Quill and Scroll SocietyThe University of IowaSchool of Journalism and Mass Communication100 Adler Journalism Building, Room E346Iowa City, IA 52242 319-335-3457http://www.uiowa.edu/~quill-sc/

Great Lakes Interscholastic Press Association

This regional organization for high school journalists in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, is housed at Bowling Green State University. GLIPA offers publication critiques and individual writing, photography and design contests.

GLIPA hosts a fall student/adviser convention on Bowling Green’s campus with sessions on all aspects of journalism. They also host a spring awards ceremony, where they announce the winners of their highest publication honor, the Buckeye Award. In addition, GLIPA sponsors monthly individual contests for newspaper and yearbook students.

GLIPA also offers student scholarships and adviser classes through BGSU. For more information contact: Great Lakes Interscholastic Press Association 302 West Hall Bowling Green State University Bowling Green, OH 43403-0237 419-372-8725 www.bgsu.edu/departments/commst/GLIPA

Rod Satterthwaite teaches at Dexter HS and is the first vice president of MIPA. He earned his certification in journalism through MSU and is the founder of the MIPA Mentorship Program.

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Former high school journalist fights for student First Amendment rights

was a high school junior when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier that school administrators could censor student newspapers. Deeply involved with my own school paper, I took the ruling personally. This was a paper that, before my

time, had brazenly exposed local stores that sold alcohol to underage students. In my tenure, we produced special issues about the dangers of LSD and steroid use among student athletes. We covered the fatal car crash of two fellow students. We did serious journalism on serious issues, and we were proud of it.

I was one of the lucky ones who got to practice this kind of journalism before Hazelwood wormed its way into this nation’s educational culture, before the idea of a free press was reduced from tangible reality to a few words in an old textbook. Standing up to miffed high school administrators gave me the courage to talk my way past a police line in college and the confidence to challenge a federal marshal trying to exclude reporters from a high-profile trial on my first job.

Guess what? Most people under 30 coming to work for

your papers today have had to play catch-up on their First Amendment rights for their entire adult lives. Young people who worked on their high school paper likely learned that press freedom meant keeping the principal happy. In college, they might have learned from experienced peers and educators that the Constitution confers the right to make important people mad—but it takes time for that seed to sprout. Lots of young journalists are walking through your doors without ever having experienced the democratically vital thrill of speaking truth to power.

Does this matter to you? Do you think your paper best serves your community by tackling hard issues, asking difficult questions, telling unpleasant truths that may rile government leaders but ultimately help citizens make good decisions? Where are you finding young talent with the courage, confidence and experience to demand accountability from important people, rather than timidly recording what they say in meetings and announce in news conferences? Do you know that in another case, Hosty v. Carter, the 7th U.S. Circuit has already ruled that Hazelwood censorship can extend to college newspapers?

Our entire culture of appreciation for First Amendment freedoms, and the news media that trade on these freedoms, is eroding. This trend puts our profession, and your paper, at risk. We are educating student journalists to be meek and subservient, and these journalists grow into today’s professionals. We are educating student news audiences to expect fluff and PR from the press, and these young citizens grow into today’s nonsubscribers.

How do we stop these trends that are weakening our industry? How about taking a stand for free expression, celebrating the robust civic discourse that arises from powerful journalism, insisting that young people be allowed to exercise freedoms that are guaranteed by the Constitution but unrealized in our schools?

There’s a bill in the Michigan legislature, Senate Bill 156, that would restore student press rights to the standard recognized before the 1988 Hazelwood decision. It would strictly limit high school administrators’ rights of prior review and prior restraint to cases of blatant obscenity, libel or lawlessness. It would encourage strong, and protected, advisers to guide student journalists through important news decisions. It would ensure that student journalists who wish to elevate discussion on pervasive issues like drug use and teen sex; or who feel a duty to report on criminal activity by school employees; or who simply want to comment on cafeteria food—have the protection of Michigan citizens who believe that free expression remains the cornerstone of our democracy.

The Michigan Press Association has opted not to take a position on Senate Bill 156, much less lobby for it. The Michigan Collegiate Press Association, which represents 30 college newspapers throughout the state, supports it. We think it’s the inevitable position for an organization that depends on First Amendment freedoms for its very existence.

If you haven’t looked at Senate Bill 156, I’d encourage you to do so. (Check out http://mipa.jrn.msu.edu/bill/index.shtml for more information.) If you haven’t decided to support it, I’d urge you to reconsider.

This is the essence of what we in the news business do. We support free expression.

Note: This article first appeared in “The “Bulletin,” the newsletter of the Michigan Press Association, on Feb. 9. The intended audience is editors and publishers of newspapers around the state that are members of MPA, but it has some cogent arguments that you and your students may find interesting.

Perry Parks is editorial adviser for The State News at Michigan State University and a member of the Michigan Colle-giate Press Association Board of Directors. He graduated from Dearborn High School in 1989.

How about taking a stand for free expression, celebrating the robust civic discourse that arises

from powerful journalism, insisting that young people be

allowed to exercise freedoms that are guaranteed by the

Constitution but unrealized in our schools?

By Perry ParksEditorial Adviser, The State News I

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By Jennifer Wolfin

When a career change four years ago brought James Flanagan into teaching—first at an alternative school and then at Fraser High School—he soon found

himself in a role as the news-paper and yearbook adviser. Having been a radio disc jockey, journalism was not new to him; however, advis-

ing student publications involves a unique set of challenges. In a recent interview, he shared his thoughts on advising and life experience with a uni-versity student/soon-to-be journalism teacher. His comments brought encouragement to me, and may offer a fresh perspective to more experienced advisers.

Q: What experience prior to your current position has been helpful to you as an adviser?

A: I’ve held several jobs while working through college and chasing my radio career. Dishwasher, photographer, process server, legal clerk, notary pub-lic, pizza driver, pizza shop manager, club DJ, wed-ding DJ, private investigations, and others. I think my real world experiences help me identify with my stu-dents and vice versa.

Q: In addition to being the newspaper and yearbook adviser, you are currently the execu-tive producer and emcee of a nationally syndi-cated weekly radio show. Talk to me about doing both. Does one job help you do the other?

A: In both situations it is my job to relate information in an interesting way; I attempt to com-municate, educate and entertain in both positions. I see my experiences outside of the classroom and out-side of the academic setting as a valuable resource to feed what I do in the classroom. It’s the “real world” experiences that I can use as examples in teaching situations. Also, as a member of the local media, I am under the supervision of my program director (my adviser) and I see how he works with me and my fel-low DJs; how he manages and advises us. Seeing other people’s methods of communicating (teaching) in a different setting is helpful to me in my endeavors here.

Q: What advice would you have for new advisers?

A: New advisers should set reasonable goals and if you don’t make it, reset those goals to a new reasonable level. Contact a mentor through MIPA if you don’t have someone to talk to about advising. Most teachers will sympathize with you, but only

another adviser will truly understand.Q: What professional associations or other

support networks do you find helpful to your work as an adviser, and in what ways do they help you?

A: MIPA has been a great resource for me, and the summer workshops were amazing. The Student Press Law Center is also a great resource, and the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) has been very helpful as well. Both have great Web sites with wonderful tools for students and advisers. Did I mention that MIPA rocks? It does!

Q: What about these organizations have you found most beneficial? What resources do you use?

A: I am still fairly new to the advising game.

Jamie Flanagan relaxes near his advising chair. Kyle Snarski, a 10th grade journalism student at Fraser High School, took the photo of his teacher.

Career change benefits studentsJamie Flanagan came to advising later than some, but brings lots of experience to the advising table

ADVISERWATCH

Please see ADVISER WATCH, page 10

10 ■ March 2006

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advisers mentioned two publications: Journalism Education Association’s maga-zine C:JET, and “The School Newspaper Adviser’s Survival Guide” by Patricia Osborn. The Journalism Education Association (JEA) listserv was also mentioned as a sort of real-time textbook because it provides a forum for advisers to ask questions and provide feedback to one another about challenges and issues that arise day-to-day. Additionally, it provides a means for advisers to share links to online articles relevant to the classroom. As Satterthwaite pointed out, “I know the listserv isn’t a text, but it certainly acts like it sometimes.”

The Final WordUltimately, because journalism—writing, photography and design—is made up

of hands-on activities, most advisers pointed out that the real learning comes from production.

“Of course beginners need focus, structure and examples,” Satterthwaite said. “But once they’ve been taught the basics, it’s time to sit back and let the real learning begin. Journalism, to borrow a cliché, is not a spectator’s sport.”

* To inquire about no-cost newspaper delivery to your classroom, contact your local newspaper and ask about the Newspapers in Education program. For more information, visit www.nieonline.com.

Last year was my first in a formal position. I found myself turning to my mentor several times throughout the year for help, advice and a kind ear. The mentor was important; not just as a mentor, but as someone I could really feel comfortable with and could confide in to help me through the early bumps. The ASNE les-son plans are a great resource, and ASNE also helps with an extremely affordable way of getting school newspapers online. The class at MSU over the summer through MIPA (media law) was very informative and empowering. I luckily work in a district where they allow a true open forum for student expression, but I now know how to help preserve it if administration or attitudes ever change.

Q: What inspires you as an adviser?A: A smile, a thank you and simple acknowl-

edgement in and outside of class goes a long way.

publication; there are more opportunities in journalism to meet others just like yourself than there are in any other field of teaching.

One of those great advisers that I’ve met will be stepping in as your next president. Rod Satterthwaite, from Dexter, has become a good friend and will be an outstanding MIPA leader. Rod and I met when we were both voted onto the board as trustees several years ago. He doesn’t know this, but at the time, I campaigned against him on the basis of his name being impossible to pronounce. Luckily for both of us, there were two spots available. And luckily for you, the MIPA member-ship, he will be passionate about this job. And that part about me campaigning against him, I just made it up. But his name is impossible to pronounce.

I’m going to continue to become more involved, too: at the national level, and through various summer workshops, and hopefully still in some capacity with the MIPA board, for which I’ve already become nostal-gic, even though my term isn’t up for a couple of months. I’ll miss every aspect of this position. I’ll miss having people (OK, not hundreds of people or anything, but still…) tell me that they’ve enjoyed reading these columns, of which I’ve written seven, which must be a MIPA record. I’ve gone to board meetings every couple of months for the last five-or-so years, and I know that I’ll miss them, too. See? Where else but in scholastic journalism are you going to hear somebody say that they’ll miss meetings? I never would have known if I hadn’t gotten involved.

So, that’s my advice to you. Get as involved as you can. You’ve already joined MIPA, and that’s a good start. Taking your participation even further will help to get you out of the vacuum that your classroom may have already become. Believe me, there are others out there just like you, and you’ll be so happy you took a chance and got to know them. It will benefit you, and it will benefit your students because of the lucky opportu-nities that might appear, seemingly at random. After all, you make your own good luck, right? TEXTBOOKS, continued from page 4

ADVISER WATCH, continued from page 9

PRESIDENT, continued from page 3

201 E. Exchange St. • Owosso, MI 48867

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Great Prices,Tabloid orBroadsheet

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March 2006 ■ 11

Detroit journalism conference focuses on environmental writing M IPA teamed up

with the Detroit Free Press and the MSU Knight Center for Envi-ronmental Journalism in February for a one-day conference held at the Detroit Science Center.

Detroit high school students and teachers were invited to attend the event, which featured speakers from area media outlets and experts in various fields.

“The idea is to inspire these students to write more and better articles that touch on science, health and the environ-ment,” said Jim Detjen, director of the Knight Center.

Radio and TV person-alities included Jerome Vaughn, WDET-FM; Andrew Humphrey, WDIV-TV; Carolyn Clif-ford, WXYZ; and Charles Pugh, WJBK.

Detroit Free Press speakers included Hugh McDiarmid Jr., Pat Anstett, Kelley Carter and Emilia Askari.

Experts included Anthony England, a for-mer Space Shuttle Chal-lenger astronaut and associate dean of engi-neering at the University of Michigan; David Janda, founder of the Institute of Preventative Sports Medicine; and Kenny Carroll, a sales representative from Nike.

Students were encour-aged to write an article and submit it to a contest sponsored by MIPA.

Two students listen intently to a discussion about how to write a news article.

Hugh McDiarmid Jr from the Detroit Free Press moderates a discussion on bottled water.

Tanya Moss, adviser at Cooley HS, enjoys the session on sports science.

Carolyn Clifford of WXYZ shares the story of her rise to success.

Charles Pugh from WJBK flashes his famous smile.

Students make a natural facial toner with lemon juice, water and witch hazel while learning that an environ-mental journalist could write an article about the use of questionable ingre-dients in cosmetics or other products that consumers use.

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MIPA Calendar

96 attend one-day workshop MIPA sponsored its second annual

InDesign/Photoshop workshop on Friday, Feb. 24.

Two locations were set up for the event, one at MSU and one at Dexter HS.

Last year’s workshop filled up really fast, and this year MIPA sent out special invitations to those schools that couldn’t get in.

Pam Thiel, newspaper and yearbook adviser at New Lothrop HS, was one of those who was turned away.

“I knew last year when the Photoshop workshop filled up so fast that we couldn’t attend that I was missing a good thing, Thiel said.

“Wrong. I was missing a GREAT thing!

“The two students who went with me and I learned so much we began to use the information immediately. Brian [Roberts] taught the class efficiently and expertly, with humor and ease. I highly

recommend this workshop and thank MIPA for sponsoring it.”

Dustin Fulton, a senior at Laingsburg HS, got a lot out of the day.

“My Photoshop knowledge went from a space the size of Rhode Island to the size of Texas,” Fulton said.

“Not only that—Ike’s presentation skills and humor were superior. He really knew how to keep his audience.”

Photoshop instructors included Ike Lea from Lansing Community College and Brian Roberts from Central Michi-gan University. InDesign instructors were Jeremy Van Hof, Grand Ledge HS; Brian Wilson, Waterford Kettering HS; and Rod Satterthwaite, Dexter HS.

MSU assistants included Susana Dominguez, Brian Feeny, Carrie Hoover, Tara Ward and Krissi Xenakis.

Dexter HS assistants included Kend-all Goode, Spencer Ryan, Mike Sayre, Michelle Svetkoff, Kim Wiesner.

Jeff Salisbury, yearbook and newspaper adviser at Wayland Union HS, learned InDesign at the one-day workshop. He brought three students.

Lunchtime brings a smile.

InDesign/Photoshop Workshop

jWorld!MIPA Sum

mer Journalism Workshop

July 30–Aug. 3, 2006

March 30, 2006Tim Harrower Workshop

April 25, 2006 MIPA Spring Conference at Lansing Center

May 5, 2006J-Ideas Business Workshop at MSU School of Journalism

May 16, 2006MIPA Photojournalism Conference, Flint Institute of Arts

July 15, 2004Spring delivery yearbook Spartan contest entries dueLiterary magazine Spartan contest entries due

July 17–21, 2006Publication Advisers Workshop ■ Week OnePhotoshop for AdvisersPower Advising

July 24–28, 2006Publication Advisers Workshop ■ Week TwoNewspaper Advising Yearbook Advising Designing with InDesign Writing with BobbyPhotojournalism for Advisers

July 30–Aug. 3, 2006High School Summer Journalism Workshop(Watch for your brochure in late March)

Aug. 15 (late deadline)Yearbook Spartan contest entries dueLiterary magazine Spartan contest entries due

Oct. 16, 2006Fall Conference at Lansing Center

Nov. 2, 2006Junior High Journalism Day

Nov. 15, 2006Fall delivery Yearbook Spartan contest entries due

A student concentrates on InDesign.