Why advisers advise, how Twitter can boost your journo cred, and more on the First Amendment: this week’s Fresh Powder report

Spreading the love with a hashtag:

Advisers, we know you love your jobs. We’re aware how rewarding and exciting your day-to-day operations in student media and journalism can be. We also know that sometimes it helps to be reminded why you’ve landed the best job ever– and Twitter is here to help you with that. A recent trending hashtag #whyiadvise has journalism instructors and advisers supporting each other, their position, and student journalism in general. Ranging from free pizza to being permitted to share the truth, advisers from across the nation have shared all of the reasons they keep advising. Feel free to add to the conversation on Wednesday, a day Nicholls State University adviser (and SNO customer) Nicki Boudreaux is hoping will become #WhyIAdvise Wednesdays.

Tweeting for legitimacy:

We’re sure we’ve said something like this before, but just in case you missed it,here’s further proof that using Twitter well actually makes you a more credible journalist. Journalists who interact with their followers are generally rated more positively than journalists who are off the Twitter-grid; of course, interacting with followers and starting arguments with followers may not be the same thing, but showing an engagement with your readership will definitely help you out in terms of exposure, especially with younger audiences.

Best design practices:

If you’ve been waiting for a brief video lesson on how to make some really nice-looking charts to share your comparative data in your stories, you’re in luck! Here’s this week’s free episode on charting your data with images from Lynda.

The First Amendment in 2015:

The Newseum Institute has released a long, in-depth look at the state of the First Amendment in 2015– you can find the 17 page survey in its entirety here. The report contains a lot of data, pie charts, and bar graphs, but scanning through should give you a good idea of the role the First Amendment has played in journalism and media this past year.

These things also happened last week:

The 2016 Grammy nominations were revealed on Monday, and you can check out the full list of all 83 categories here.

A conservative political blogger responded to a New York Times editorial in a very visual way.

Kim and Kanye welcomed a new member to the West family this weekend— and no, they’re not naming him South.