Scholastic Journalism 1998 Abstracts
Scholastic Journalism Division
Education for Scholastic Journalism Revisited: Are We Doing Enough? • Tom Dickson and Mark Paxton, Southwest Missouri State University • The Journalism Education Association in 1987 said high school journalism programs were at risk. We surveyed all colleges and universities in the country with communications-related programs to try to determine to what extent they were preparing future and current scholastic journalism teachers. We concluded that few journalism and mass communication programs were involved in scholastic journalism education and that those that were involved weren’t doing enough.
Job Descriptions and Responsibilities of Scholastic Press Association Directors • Julie E. Dodd, Florida • A 25-item questionnaire was e-mailed to directors or presidents of 40 state, regional and national scholastic press associations, with 26 (65% responding). Of the 16 state SPA directors who were university employees, five were in tenure-track positions, and only two said they were expected to conduct scholarly research. The SPA directors reported the most enjoyable and most difficult part of their SPA work was working with the teachers in the association. The second most difficult part of the job was their overall workload.
Look Who’s Reading Newspapers: The Impact of a Citywide High School Newspaper on Student Media Use • Elinor Kelley Grusin and M. David Arant, Memphis • In fall 1997 the University of Memphis began publishing a monthly citywide high school newspaper, a joint effort with the Memphis daily newspaper, The Commercial Appeal, and the Memphis City Schools. This paper reports the launch of The Teen Appeal, its first year of operation and the results of a survey designed to measure high school student media use and the impact of the citywide high school newspaper.
Factors Affecting the Degree to Which the Student Press of Michigan is Subjected to Prior Review and/or Prior Restraint • Kimberly A. Lauffer, Florida • A 55-item questionnaire was sent to 350 randomly selected high school publications advisors in Michigan. The response rate was 55 percent after the third wave. While an adviser’s experience was not significantly correlated with incidence of censorship, an adviser’s perception of administration as likely to censer was. Size of school was significantly correlated with how advisers perceived administrators’ views of prior review as was size of school and whether that school had an editorial policy regarding student publications.
Learning to Do the Right Thing: Assessing Knowledge of Media Ethics of Leading High School Journalism Students in Louisiana • Joseph A. Mirando, Southeastern Louisiana University • The study is composed of an assessment of journalism students’ knowledge of media ethics. Results of an achievement test administered to 116 of Louisiana’s top-rated journalism students showed that students were able to recognize general moral concepts but demonstrated little sensitivity concerning issues of media ethics. School administrators and curriculum planners in school districts in Louisiana are urged to carefully study the results and re-evaluate state-mandated lesson plans on ethics.
Student Internet Rights • Megan Moriarty, Wisconsin-Milwaukee • What rights do students have to use school computers and related computer networks to access the Internet? What right do they have during such computer use? The is little to understanding of the Internet at schools, which is likely to lead to rash decisions by school officials to protect students. To comprehend student Internet rights, a clear understanding of the following is necessary: Internet, analogies for the Internet, constitutional rights about these analogies, and students’ rights with regard to these analogies.
Incorporating Media Studies in the High School Social Science Curriculum: Perspectives of South Florida Teachers • C.A. Tuggle, Florida International University; Don Sneed and K. Tim Wulfemeyer, San Diego State University • This study reports the results of a mail survey of high school social science educators. Respondents gave their views on the need for systematic study of the media at the high school level. The teachers in the nation’s fifth-largest school district also offered their views on where in the curriculum media studies might most appropriately be placed, whether they consider themselves adequately prepared to teach about the media, and which types of media and/or media-related industries should be studied.
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