Marty Kaiser tells high school teachers to have students write, write, write

In the first Monday morning session, ASNE president Marty Kaiser told the assembled journalism teachers to have students follow what interests them, learn how to get (and understand) government documents, and then "write, write, write." It is only through the repetition of writing stories that students will get the proficiency they need to become good at what they do.

Also, Kaiser noted that a good journalist needs some luck, the courage to take a risk, supportive editors, and the cooperation of sources and those the story is about, plus they need the ability and the time to do the story. If we as journalism teachers can provide as many of these ingredients as possible, we will be helping our students succeed.

To illustrate good journalism, Kaiser referred to an award-winning series conducted by his paper, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, on the dangers posed by the chemical BPA in plastics. Interestingly enough, the series took months for the investigative team to complete. This is an important lesson for both journalism teachers and their students: write it until it is correct, not until you are tired of writing about it.

Kaiser told the assembled teachers that he was in favor of the old-fashioned idea of a newspaper crusading for a cause. Telling people things they can't find out anywhere else is one way to ensure continued readership. But teachers (and editors) need to be careful that all the right questions have been asked. If we're wrong, what happens? This is the question to use to help make a decision to run or not run a story. One of Kaiser's final bits of advice was don't be afraid to pull the plug on a story that isn't a story, no matter how much time and money have been invested in it.

Juli Stricklan
Rigby High School
Rigby, Idaho