Christopher Callahan, pictured on the right, spoke to the advisers at the Reynolds Institute today about the changes in journalism and how they are impacting journalism education, among many other things that the teachers questioned him on. I just finished writing the "real" article on that speech, but what I can't get out of my mind is that the dean of the Cronkite School of Journalism thinks going to an online format may be the way to go for high school publications. What? Did I just write that? A dean of journalism told teachers that they might want to quit putting out a paper and put the news online.
That's very liberating to me, and probably a lot of other advisers here who have to find a way to fund the printing of newspapers during an economic decline. The idea seems simple enough, but for an old reporter who doesn't think she has read the news unless she has black smudges on her fingers, it has been hard to swallow. Having the dean of one of the top journalism programs in America say this makes it go down a little easier.
The reality we all face? It IS practically free to create an online newspaper now, thanks to the ASNE and www.myhsj.org. And it's also reality that kids don't read paper; they read computer screens and text messages now. So an online newspaper makes a lot of sense. Callahan also alleviated fears about "real journalism" for me by reminding us that the delivery method of the news is not as important as the principles of journalism and the qualities of a journalist that will not change whether the news is on paper, online, or on an Iphone.
Lynne Schneider
Murrah High School
Jackson, MS
Posts
I am rather enthusiastic about an online newspaper only, with the budget crunch I think it just makes more sense. I will have to check with my principal, having a hard copy paper is a tradition but it might be something that is phased out over time.
ReplyDeleteI dread the day we stop printing newspapers and I hope it never comes. I agree that kids aren't reading papers, but maybe it's like Dean Callahan said: we're not giving our kids what they want to read.
ReplyDeleteThere are always story ideas that when we do assignments that nobody volunteers to do. Maybe instead of forcing the article on a kid who probably won't write it, we should scrap that idea. If a kid in my class doesn't want to write it, why would a kid outside of my class want to read it?
Jeff Fencl
Del Norte High School
Albuquerque, N.M.
I too was rather surprised to hear the Dean of Cronkite admit that very soon, the printed paper will reach "newspaper heaven" very soon. There is something to be said for the tangible paper in which students can draw a moustache on their not-so-favorite teacher, or a heart around the love-of-the-week.
ReplyDeleteThat said, is anyone truly surprised to hear the end is near. In an era where news is online and on your mobile device, not to mention the cost constraints everyone is under...it was only a matter of time before more trees are saved, we're all breathing a bit better, birds have more homes, and I will no longer be able to get a .75 cent credit for refusing the USA Today at the Sheraton.
Marc Garcia
Sunset High School
Dallas, TX
Reading Jeff's comment above, "maybe it's like Dean Callahan said: we're not giving our kids what they want to read," brought to mind an incident from a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteI suggested to students in one of my classes, the majority of whom were 15-year-old girls, to prepare a double-truck feature on the "quinceañera," a coming-of-age rite important to many Hispanics. It usually takes place when a young woman turns 15.
I was really surprised at their reaction. The girls did not want to do it because they had no interest in the topic, but rather, as I recall one telling me, "what's there to report? We all have one, so we already know all about it."
It simply was not "news" to this group of students, all of whom were excited about their own quinceañeras.
Mark Webber
Vidal M. Treviño School of Communications and Fine Arts
http://my.hsj.org/tx/laredo/vmt