Blurring boundaries, digging up data, and journalistic rights: this week’s Fresh Powder Report
Respect the boundaries:
Matt Carlson and Seth Lewis wrote a book titled ‘Boundaries of Journalism: Professionalism, Practices and Participation.” In this article, they give you a taste of what that entails; a deep discussion on what counts as journalism, what doesn’t, and why that line isn’t actually very clear at all.
Dig up data:
Adding solid data to a story only enhances its validity. Haven’t been doing much of that lately? No worries– this article tells you where you can find data, how to know your sources, how to really interrogate the data, and how to manage your data. It’s a lot of data-related information, but don’t underestimate the importance of including relevant statistics in your stories. As boring numbers may be, they tend to make stories stronger.
Know your rights, journalists:
One student photojournalist recently experienced being unjustly arrested in the midst of a Baltimore solidarity protest. Sam Bearzi, with NYU’s Washington Square News (hosted proudly by SNO), was arrested without being read his rights, without anyone being informed of his arrested, and, after his release, without any record of him even being at the precinct they took him to. Taking photos in the streets to document a protest isn’t illegal; which says a lot about the state of journalism– especially photo and video journalism– in Baltimore right now.
Paying students who work hard, should be a no-brainer, right?:
Students at California State University, Northridge are taking a stand against unpaid internships. Senior Alex Corey realized, while raising money to send students from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists to a media conference, that he and his journalism team couldn’t afford to work for free anymore. His solution? Raising money to fund their own internships. Corey states that a lot of fellow young journalists have donated to the cause, due to the sense of solidarity they feel having gone through similar experiences. If you have ever doubted journalism’s ability to implement real change, think again.
Collegiate-level Journalism stand-outs:
We love showcasing the exceptional talent in the SNO Network on Best of SNO, but we also enjoy recognizing (and getting inspired by) student journalists outside of it.Here are 5 standout pieces by student journalists from a variety of different universities. If your staff is looking to keep writing in college, these articles are a good place to start getting ideas.
These things also happened this week:
+ John Oliver explains on his show Last Week Tonight why standardized testing is the absolute worst, and why, unfortunately, it’s probably not going away anytime soon.
+ A new royal baby was born, and a lot of people seem to really care about that.
+ It’s teacher appreciation week, so students, please let your teachers know how much you appreciate the fact that they continuously put up with you. It takes a lot of courage. They’re real heroes.