Blend | Winter 2009

WINTER 2009 // ISSUE 2 // VOLUME 3 // JOURNALISM STARTS RIGHT HERE // BALL STATE PRODUCED // NSPA DISTRIBUTEDBLEND

NSPA AWARD-WINNING PHOTOS

Gallery of the best inside!

PLUS: Covering obama • Tinker anniverSary • PHoTo FLiPPing • HeaDLineS & TiTLeS

BLENDWinter 2009

Issue 2 Volume 3

Blend Magazinec/o Department of Journalism

Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

SES DIRECTORBrian Hayes

EDITORTom Gayda

MANAGING EDITORKim Green

ASST. DIRECTOR / BUSINESS MANAGERAdam Maksl

BLEND CONTRIBUTORSCandace Perkins Bowen

John BowenH.L. Hall

Sarah Nichols

OFFICE STAFFJincy Gibson

Shelby MurphyBecky Rother

Blend Magazine is published by the Secondary Eduction Services office at Ball

State University. Call 765-285-8900 for advertising information or with questions.

You can always e-mail the staff at [email protected].

FOR NSPALogan Aimone • executive director

Marc Wood • communications director Emily Griesser • member services director

Kathy Huting • contest and critique coordinator

Mike Gesellchen • administrative assistant Michael Wright • accountant

FIRST AMENDMENTCongress shall make no law respecting an

establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom

of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition

the Government for a redress of grievances.

WELCOME l brian HayeS

Brian Hayes is the director of Secondary Education at Ball State University. He is a former adviser of student publica-tions at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis. Hayes has worked professionally for several newspapers.

As a high school student look-ing to pursue a career in media, your experience and exposure to the journalism industry shouldn’t stop once you leave the student pub room at 3 p.m. every day. You should be out there knocking on doors, making phone calls and sending e-mails to people in the professional news industry asking to work, job shadow and volun-teer for their organizations.

It may take a while before you’re able to get your foot in the door someplace — so don’t get discouraged if you don’t land something quickly. Most of the time, it comes down to three factors: 1) Timing (how desperate they are for help), 2) Personnel (who you know and who you end up talking to) and 3) Luck. If I was to include a forth factor in this list, it would be your ability to “persevere.” There’s no other way to show someone how commit-ted, enthusiastic and serious you are about something other than demonstrating it to them person-ally. So even if someone turns you down this month, they may be more receptive to your offer next month.

Another thing you can do to gain journalistic experience out-side of high school publications and the professional media is look for opportunities in the commu-nity — especially in the not-for-profit sector. There are literally hundreds of organizations in your own backyard that need people to write, design and edit newsletters, bulletins, flyers, posters, mailers, magazines and other print and Web material. Some ideas here would include neighborhood associations, churches, the parks department, recreation cen-ters, school corporations, youth organizations and various other volunteer organizations. All of these groups publish information intended for a large audience. Get involved with them now and get the experience you need.

John Strauss, longtime profes-sional journalist and college journalism professor, shares this same sentiment in this issue’s “in the business” profile. Read more about John and how he got his start in the journalism profession armed with a bachelor’s degree in business on page 6.

INSIDE l BLEND

ON THE COVERSee NSPA award-winning photos, page 14

3NSPA

Logan Aimone

4 The Blender

6 In The Business:

John Straussby Brian Hayes

11Go Ahead, Take It!

12 Just Because

13 Reflections

by Wendy Wallace

14 NSPA award-winning

photos

22 On The Scene

24Covering Change

26 Legal Issues

by John Bowen

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NSPA l LOGAN AIMONE

Logan Aimone is the executive director of the National Scho-lastic Press Association.

A situation occurred recently where a teacher was under police investigation and thus placed on admin-istrative leave from school. The newspaper adviser and staff questioned whether this could be covered in the school newspaper. They should realize this is exactly the time when the school community will turn to stu-dent media for answers.

The newspaper didn’t break the news, probably because of printing schedule, but that doesn’t mean it should be ignored or avoided. In fact, embrace the time between issues to delve into the story and report, report, report. A Web presence will allow updates sooner, even when classes are not in session.

INFORM students about the situation. The news-paper has the highest readership among the school community of any other form of media. This is a good opportunity to dispel rumors and to print only what is known or can be disclosed (and perhaps explain why other material cannot be disclosed). Follow the story completely, including charges filed, any court proceed-ings and the resolution.

ANSWER the questions. What is the impact on the classes and curriculum? Explain to the readers how the process works, what is next (use an alternate form like a glossary or a timeline), and what to expect in the future.

EDUCATE readers on why the newspaper is han-dling this story this way. A letter from the editor — adjacent to the coverage or on the opinion page — is an appropriate way to do this. Acknowledging the principal for responsibly handling the matter and for not impeding the newspaper’s coverage is an easy way to gain some goodwill, too.

CREATE a forum on your Web site or letters page where readers can hold the newspaper accountable for its coverage. Some people will question and criticize. Far more will appreciate the newspaper for providing a complete sense of the situation.

All of this works to establish and build CREDIBIL-ITY. Responsible coverage of all events, routine and exceptional, helps the staff of next semester, next year and down the road. Irresponsible, incomplete or sloppy coverage can erode that credibility. Passing by a huge story on your campus leads to irrelevance. Make covering news a habit, and few will ever question the motives of publishing. In fact, they will expect your students to cover it.

I have so much respect for a student news team that tackles the news every issue — and it is obvious at first glance when they do. I’m looking forward to seeing more of it.

Kent State University’s School of Journalism & Mass Communication

o�ers plenty of opportunities in a new high-tech facility

Want more information? Contact Candace Perkins Bowen [email protected]

A wide range of bachelor’s degrees Advertising, electronic media, news for magazine, newspaper and broadcast, public relations, photojournalism and information designwww.jmc.kent.edu/students/current/mjr01.htm

Award-winning student media you can join as a freshman Daily Kent Stater, TV2, Black Squirrel Radio, �e Burr and niche magazineswww.KentNewsNet.com

The Center for Scholastic Journalism, o�ering

on the First Amendment and outreach to administrators, newsroom professionals and others

www.jmc.kent.edu/csj

The following scrambled words spell out words often found in newspaper names. Can you unscramble the following words using your journalistic know-how? Answers below.

1. estmi____________________

2. lanojur____________________

3. rats____________________

4. derelg____________________

5. etagetz____________________

6. tirbnue____________________

7. spot____________________

8. telret____________________

9. ladiy____________________

10. uns____________________

11. semgersen____________________

12. ralhed____________________

13. swen____________________

14. steat____________________

15. resps____________________

Clean work areas are happy work areas. You’ve probably heard the old adage of “somebody made the mess, anybody can pick it up.” All true, but perhaps a better piece of advice is to simply mind your own area. Journalism advisers don’t want to yell at you to clean up a mess, nor do they want to clean it up themselves. So, when work time is finished, take a minute and clean up your area. Sure, the publications room is going to be a mess no matter what, but do your part to keep it from getting too sloppy.

Messes make no one happy

MIXED l MEDIA

BLENDER

JOURNALISM l ETIQUETTE

Mixed Media1. Times2. Journal3. Star

4. Ledger5. Gazette6. Tribune7. Post

8. Letter9. Daily10. Sun11. Messenger

12. Herald13. News14. State15. Press

COLOR l TRIADSWe at Blend like to blend colors. Here are four triads that you might enjoy using. As more publica-tions go full-color, it’s important to use color wisely.

C 20 M 55 Y 30 K 0 C 15 M 0 Y 0 K 10 C 0 M 5 Y 70 K 10

C 40 M 5 Y 50 K 40 C 30 M 70 Y 100 K 40 C 0 M 5 Y 20 K 10

C 0 M 100 Y 80 K 20

C 100 M 70 Y 0 K 0

C 0 M 100 Y 80 K 0

C 0 M 0 Y 0 K 100

C 0 M 70 Y 50 K 0

C 0 M 0 Y 0 K 30

4 blend magazine winter 2009

Mixed Media1. Times2. Journal3. Star4. Ledger5. Gazette6. Tribune7. Post8. Letter9. Daily10. Sun11. Messenger12. Herlad13. News14. State15. Press

Each issue, veteran adviser Kim Green answers questions you submit. Need help with an issue or solution to a problem? Contact Kim at [email protected] with the subject “Ask Kim.”

Brrrrrrr! It’s time to snap out of winter writing hibernation and focus on crafting stories kids will want to read!

Q: I think I’m a pretty good writer and am considering jour-nalism as a career. What are some ways I can strengthen my skills?

Kim: Good for you! Journalism is a noble pursuit! Remember, many really talented people have written books about this topic (I’ll mention this again later), so I’ll keep my humble advice simple. Here goes!

• Read! Read! Read!

Read #1 – Being knowledgeable about the world is crucial to a writer. Read to know important things and read to know trivial things. Immerse yourself in journalistic realms — newspapers, blogs, newsmagazines, essays. Read to broaden your scope by exposing yourself to all points of view with an open mind.

The greatest ideas come from these sources; your job, then, is to localize them for your audience. Find sources in your own community, conduct a survey to compare your audience to the national averages, and most important, put a student face on the topic.

Read #2 – Read for structure, cadence, pacing, repetition, voice, literary devices — all the “goods” great writers employ.

Former governor of Oklahoma and children’s book author Frank Keating emphasized this point while speaking during a luncheon at an International Reading Association regional conference I re-cently attended. He related how he was editor of his high school newspaper and fancied himself a pretty good writer. Instead of dazzling his college journalism professor with his skills, however, his first story barely earned a D. The professor’s recommendation: read Hemingway, paying attention to his way of writing simple, declarative sentences and write like that. Great advice!

Some journalistic storytellers you might want to check out: Rick Reilly, Rick Bragg, Hank Stuever, Tom French. Your journalism teacher will have some recommendations. Ask.

Another productive reading exercise comes from imagining the questions writers asked to get the stories they told. Keep a list of intriguing questions; add to it regularly. Draw from it for interviews.

And don’t overlook your favorite pleasure reads either. Some experts may poo-poo the Harry Potter or Twilight series, but they speak to your audience like no other writing. Re-examine them for their craftsmanship. Emulate it in your own writing.

Read #3 – As I mentioned in my introduction, plenty of folks write about writing. One of my favorites is Roy Peter Clark. His “Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer” is a must-read, a re-read, a memorize-it-all gem every aspiring writer should own and use. In fact, Clark is a driving force at the Poynter Institute, a very important resource for everything writing. Check out its Web site www.poynter.org regularly. Commit to employ-ing one tip in your writing every day/week/month.

• Write! Write! Write!

Write #1 – Keep a journal. And not only at home in your bedside table drawer, but also on your person. Writing on demand keeps it fresh and free of the influences of time and daily interruptions.

Some ideas: Jot down cool phrases you hear in the halls and unique ways kids and adults alike express themselves. Play with words. Create little plays in which dialog drives action. Sit somewhere common; observe it using all your senses. Take good notes, then craft a snapshot that captures the essence of the place in that moment.

If you find yourself stuck for ideas, books like Bonni Goldberg’s “Room to Write” and Bonnie Neubauer’s “The Write-Brain Work-book” contain writing prompts and exercises. (These and others are available through the JEA Bookstore.)

And remember, writing, like exercise, can be done in short spurts and still be effective. The key is making it a habit.

Write #2 – Don’t wait to be assigned. That’s so passive! Writing is active. Take initiative. Always be on the lookout for wonderful stories. Be curious about everyone around you. Ask them about themselves. Listen to their answers. Observe how they answer. Write their stories. Give them a voice. Write about people in the same way you would want your story told.

CBS’s Steve Hartman perfected the idea by throwing a dart at a map of the country, traveling there, locating a phone book, randomly selecting a name and telling that person’s story.

Also, check www.poynter.org for an interview with Brady Dennis, who wrote a series entitled “300 Words,” which told everyday folks’ stories in the St. Petersburg Times. And be sure to read some of his stories (both for content and composition). Powerful!

Write #3 – Write, then whittle — get your message down to the most effective words, the best words, the strong words that hold up a story.

Write, then piddle. Experiment with different perspectives, with different leads, with different story structures.

Read your writing aloud to yourself. Have others read your writ-ing aloud to you.

Write for an audience, not for yourself. Always question “why should readers care about this?” and make sure your story pro-vides a slew of solid reasons. Publish in your local paper; create your own blog.

Good writers are not lazy; they don’t do their best work at the last minute. They don’t cheat their audiences out of a great story sim-ply because they can collect quotes and sandwich them between transitions. Great writing is not easy; if it were, everyone would be a great writer. Being a student of great writing, though, builds a solid foundation.

I’d close with “Good Luck!” But luck has nothing to do with your aspirations, so instead I’ll leave you with “Work Hard!” It will pay off.

Kim says: read & writeASK l kim

Kim Green directs the student publications at Columbus (Ind.) North High School. A 2006 Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Distinguished Adviser of the Year and 2009 JEA Distinguished Year-book Adviser of the Year, the pub-lications Green’s students create are consistent award winners.

winter 2009 blend magazine 5

IN THE BUSINESS l brian HayeS

Q: You originally graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in business. How did you get started working in the professional news media? A: I worked in student radio freshman year as an engineer — climbing through the steam tunnels under campus to service our equipment — and then looked for a radio job that summer in my hometown of Mobile, Ala. My job-hunt strategy was simple: I went through the phone book and called or visited every station in town. Most had no inter-est in even talking to me, but I got in the door somehow at WLIQ-AM, a daytime country-and-western station. I was so green that I didn’t know that real station engineers needed a 1st-Class Radiotelephone License from the FCC. But it turned out that WLIQ needed someone to run the control board and read news on weekends, so I got a break. I came back to South Bend for sophomore year and began working for WNDU radio and television during the last three years of school and for six years after gradua-tion.

Q: What attracted you to the journal-ism field? Why did you decide to make it a life-long career? A: I came from a family of six kids, and my dad — perhaps to maintain order during dinnertime — would have everybody take turns speaking during his nightly “current events discussion.” It was a tough crowd, but you got extra points for being able to cite an actual news account. We also came from sort of a Southern tradition of great story-tellers, and I later became a fan of great columnists such as Mike Royko, Lewis Grizzard and Steve Lopez. I never actually decided to stay in news all this time, but it was too fun to leave.

Q: You’ve experience working in a variety of news areas, including newspaper, radio, TV and for The Associated Press. How hard was it to move from one news medium to another? Was there a large learning curve for you? A: Any new job comes with a learning curve. It’s a bit steeper when you move from print to online, as I did three years ago. But I’ve always thought it was much more fun to be constantly learning new things than to be stuck in a rut.

Moving from broadcast to the AP came with a big learning curve. I read the AP Stylebook completely through, took notes and made myself a study guide so that I could pass the style test that was required of all probationary hires. I know other editors who did the same thing, and that tends to make style errors jump off the page when we see them in copy.

Q: Tell me a little more about your job working as an online editor. How do you think news organizations are

going to use this medium more in the future? A: As an online editor for The Star, it was my primary job to post updates on the Web site, including stories and updates from the reporters, photos, video and links to documents and other items that we referred to as “assets” — extra items that help tell the story. With an article about a big criminal case, for example, we might get the first details in a short dispatch from a reporter stationed at the police department. The story would grow throughout the day as more in-formation became available. As soon as possible, we would work to get a copy of the indictment or the probable cause affidavit with extensive details about the case. By posting documents, sidebar stories, photos, video and other assets, we put the reader in charge of the story, giving them the opportunity to drill down for as much detail as they wish, and in whatever order they choose. In a way, we’re taking the story apart and presenting it in pieces for the reader to reassemble as they see fit. Someone

might be attracted to the video first, then read the article for more information, a file story for background, a sidebar for details on a secondary issue, the documents to see origi-nal source material, a photo gallery of pictures from the area, and perhaps a searchable database to organize and explore large amounts of information. News organizations of every kind are trying to do more of this. As much con-traction as there is in the media now — some companies reducing staff or even going out of business — the number of people needed to do this kind of work is growing. It’s fun, interesting work with plenty of opportunities to learn new things and take on new challenges.

T H E B A L L S T A T E

MUNCIE, INDIANA B S U D A I LY N E W S . C O M

DAILY NEWSDAILY NEWSDAILY NEWS

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Ball State Daily News adviser John Strauss is a former Associated Press correspondent and editor in Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky and New York City who spent the past three years at The Indianapolis Star as a digital-news and multimedia editor. John also previously worked in local television as a reporter and anchor, and he remains active in broadcasting as a host on WIBC-FM in Indianapolis, the state’s largest news/talk station. John is a specialist in “backpack journalism” — the practice of updating news Web sites from the field with text, photos and multimedia using portable digital gear. He recently presented at the Society of Professional Journalists national conference in Washington, the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., and in Portland, Maine, St. Louis and Sioux Falls, S.D.




■

ENTERTAINMENTHEALTH

■

HOLIDAYS

■


While still active as a professional jour-nalist, Strauss now advises Ball State’s Daily News and works with student journalists preparing for the field.

Q:. I know you’ve been interested in teaching for quite some time. What inspired you to make the move last fall to teach college journalism and advise student media? A: I was a part-time substitute high school teacher in the South Bend Community School Corporation as a young reporter. I worked nights covering crime and other mayhem for WNDU-TV, and the school district would call every other morning or so with a half-day assignment at one school or another. It was a great experience. Later I was a volunteer writing coach at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis. More recently, I was on the News-Editorial Sequence Advisory Board at Ball State and presenting at Journalism Day each year. So when the chance came to actually teach here, it was a won-derful opportunity.

Q: What has been the toughest challenge you’ve faced in transi-tioning to teaching at the university level? A: Organizing the classes and grading papers. The whole point of someone like me being here is to give good advice and feedback to young writers. That’s a very individual, time-consuming process when done right. It’s fun, but pulling together the lessons and grad-ing for even a small class gives me a much greater appreciation for the dedication and skill of these faculty members.

Q: What has been the most gratifying part of your new position? A: It’s a privilege to work with the incredible people in CCIM and the students who’ve chosen to make this big step forward in their education at Ball State. At The Daily News, especially, I’m impressed by the dedicated, fun and hip students who put out their own newspaper five days per week. The 14,000-circulation Daily News, if it were compared with professional newspapers across Indiana, would be 20th in size among the state’s 67 daily papers. And while I look after the business matters and offer journalism advice, it’s the DN students who make all the decisions about what goes in the paper, how stories get covered and how to grow their Web site with news, photos and multimedia. It’s truly their paper, and they take a lot of pride (and have a lot of fun) in putting it out every weekday.

Q: What advice would you give others who are considering a career teaching journalism, whether that would be at the high school or university level? A: Get as much practical experience in journalism as you can. Having worked at least some time in a professional environment gives you a greater appreciation for what a privilege it is to work with students in a classroom. All of us are the product of good teachers we’ve had. In striving to step into that mentoring role ourselves, I think we owe it to future students to bring them the broadest possible experience we can obtain.

Strauss meets with students at the JEA/NSPA convention in St. Louis last spring. Photo by Megan McNames

change

high school journalism day 2009

Ball State University

register online at bsujournalismworkshops.com

A world of possibilities.

DesignMADEEASY

1-866-435-7577www.jsprinting.com

Log inPlug in

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PUBLICATION

www.yearbooks.biz

Memories fade. Yearbooks last. Your staff has power and responsibility.

You teach design, writing and editing, storytelling, technology and

business.But the most important lessons your staffers take from

involve working together to create yearbook

No one else’s work matters as much or lasts as long. That’s where we come in; we get it.

the school’s only permanent

record.

www.yearbooks.biz

Memories fade. Yearbooks last. Your staff has power and responsibility.

You teach design, writing and editing, storytelling, technology and

business.But the most important lessons your staffers take from

involve working together to create yearbook

No one else’s work matters as much or lasts as long. That’s where we come in; we get it.

the school’s only permanent

record.

GO AHEAD l Take iT!

A headline is used to tell the reader what a story is about. “Students per-form poems in Pruis Hall,” lets the reader know the story is about students performing poems. Pretty straight forward, eh? Most news stories and more serious types of articles will use a headline. Headlines typically follow subject/verb agreement and are straight to-the-point.

A title is a kind of headline often used with feature stories and those that are more playful in nature. Titles don’t follow the typical subject/verb agree-ment. Many times, titles are plays on words, puns and based on clichés. Entertainment Weekly ran “Pot Luck” when covering Michael Phelps’ recent controversy after being photographed smoking marijuana. “Evan can wait,” a play on “Heaven can wait,” was used in an article about Sen. Evan Bayh deciding not to run for president.

HEADLINES

Titlesvs.

Now for some examples. . .

Obama inauguRatiOnTitle: Day of Change (Fresno Bee)Headline: Obama takes charge (Post Register, Idaho Falls)Why? Change all around! Obama is the first African-American president and a Democrat taking over for a less-than-popular Republican two-termer.

muSiC gROuP HanSOnTitle: Mmm Bop! (Paper)Headline: Brothers sell out coliseum (Blend-created)Why? The group Hanson was known for their first hit, “Mmm Bop.” Their popularity arguably made them hot.

COmEDian CHRiS ROCKTitle: School of Rock (Entertainment Weekly)Headline: Comedian’s humor keeps audience in stitches (Blend-created)Why? Rock’s last name and the success of a movie starring Jack Black help create a play-on-words title.

aCtRESS bLYtHE DannERTitle: Mother’s Day (Entertainment Weekly)Headline: Actress finds success with new role (Blend-created)Why? Danner is Gwenyth Paltrow’s mother. Paltrow has had a great string of box office success. After being off the radar for several years, Danner returned in “Meet the Parents” and “Meet the Fockers,” and was discovered by a new audience.

amERiCan iDOL REtuRnSTitle: Rock the Vote! (TV Guide)Headline: American Idol ends season Thurs-day (Blend-created)Why? The success of American Idol depends on the viewing audience voting. Idol con-testants sing rock music often. Put those concepts together, and voila!

RaPPER 50 CEntTitle: Hard Candy (GQ)Headline: Rapper drops new album next week (Blend-created)Why? Rapper 50 Cent had a hit song, “Candy Shop.” As a rapper, he has a “tough” reputation.

nba StaR gREg ODEnTitle: A big hand for Portland (Oregonian)Headline: Ohio stand-out newest Trailblazer (Blend-created)Why? NBA star Greg Oden is 7 feet tall. He has a large hand, literally. Figuratively, he is able to provide his team a lot of help.

bREtt FaVRE JOinS tHE nEW YORK JEtSTitle: Jet Favre! (New York Newsday)Headline: Packer packs bags, heads to NY (Blend-created)Why? “Jet” rhymes with “Brett” (Favre).

aCtRESS tina FEYTitle: One Fine Fey (TV Guide)Headline: SNL vet shines in new sitcom (Blend-created)Why? “One Fine Fey” is a play on the song “One Fine Day.”

JUST l BECAUSE

‘Why can’t I just flip that picture?’Is it illegal to flip a photo? No. Is it unethical? Yes!

Never, ever, ever flip a photo. There is never a legitimate reason to commit such an act. Right-handed people turn left-handed. Married people are now single. The English language is now alien.

You might think it is harmless, but it is not. Flipping a photo is like making up a quote. Both are not true. As a journalist, it is up to you to tell the truth and be accurate. Even if the viewer can’t detect the flip, it is still unethical.

The National Press Photogra-phers Association’s Code of Ethics states, “Editing should maintain the integrity of the photographic images’ content and context. Do not manipulate images or add or alter sound in any way that can mislead view-ers or misrepresent subjects.”

For more photography informa-tion, visit the NPPA Web site at www.npaa.org.

Watch out, the pros have flipped!

bad!

good!

In an effort to be fair and balanced this issue, we bring you this photo taken at a Sarah Palin rally last October. The top photo is as-is. But what if your design needs the ladies in the back off to the right instead of the left? Tough! Change your design, but never change your photo!

Professional publications have been known to take liberties with photos, too. The following spreads featuring TV personality Ty Pennington at home in his bathroom are using the same photo. However, in one Ty is looking right, and in the other he looks left. Both appeared in In Touch magazine — the one at right on Feb. 23, 2004, and the other on July 5 of the same year. If photo-flipping didn’t take place, Ty is capable of some truly extreme makeovers!

I remember the hotel ballroom thick with teenagers. Hundreds of us at a student journalism convention, posing and posturing at the big dance with kids from schools from across the country.

Mostly, I remember a single song and a lone dance with my first crush. The DJ played the Commodores’ “Three Times a Lady,” and the lights went down. Bronwyn came up behind me and grabbed my arm, and I boldly ventured, “You know what that means, don’t you?” and asked him to dance. “I’ve known worse punishments,” he said, and took my hand. I pressed in close to his tall, lean frame.

He was the opinion editor of the school paper, a senior with a sensitive soul and sharp mind, rebellious enough to be a bit edgy and dangerous. I was a sophomore, a new reporter on staff for just a few months. I’d never had a boyfriend, never kissed a boy other than my dad. For years after that dance, the mere mention of that song brought back feelings I couldn’t name but that sent a warm rush up my spine that stood the nerve endings behind my temples on end.

Thirty years later at the same dance, in a newer hotel in the same city, 2,500 teens danced on a ballroom floor engineered for less weight and sent three ceiling tiles falling onto high school journalism teachers gathered on the floor below. The dance ended abruptly. I was in St. Louis at the convention, as a teacher this time, but skipped the dance. Instead, I drove to the suburbs with Debbie, a friend since elementary school who had flown in from Kansas to spend the weekend with me. We headed to Casey’s house, not far from our old high school, to spend the evening with friends who still lived in town.

Had I asked any one of those friends, they could have told me the name of that song three decades before. It was the kind of thing we all knew about each other.

We told stories about teachers from our school days and the kids who bullied us or turned our heads. We shared news of our jobs and our children. We talked about our parents — some who had died, others in nursing homes. One mom lived in an addition on the house where we gathered, our host’s mother, recovering from a broken hip. I told of my divorce and that I was dating someone, and my friends admired my new look and new outlook.

Debbie, always our social nucleus, had arranged the gathering. She brought notes we had passed in high school and letters we had writ-ten her after we parted ways for college. She gave each of us a manila envelope with pages of our own handwriting, our musings about boys we liked, girls we didn’t and the minutia of what seemed then to be our big, big worlds. Debbie had saved them all these years, but now they were ours once more.

Around midnight, Debbie and I drove back downtown and I fin-ished preparing for the teaching I would do the next morning. Thirty years ago, I came to this convention the greenest of cub reporters. After a career at the St. Petersburg Times, I started teaching at Poynter five years ago and returned to these conventions with an ease I never expected, thanks to introductions by my journalism teacher from Kirk-wood High. Mr. Hall still attends these conventions, leading workshops, judging contests and handing out awards he has already won. He made it easy, he made it possible, for me to slip back into this world as a credible teacher, a legitimate contributor to student journalism.

I entered that world at age 15. Now 45, I see it from a new perspec-tive. The teens around me know all about that rush I felt on the dance floor with Bronwyn. I just hope they’re capturing the stories my friends and I told that night around the dinner table, tales of friendship, loyalty and betrayal, growing up, giving up and living it up as only teens can do.

I hope they believe as my friends and I did that those friendships can last forever. Because ours have.

And I hope they know that some moments they’ll never, ever forget.

Wendy Weyen Wallace runs the High School Journalism Program at The Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla. She graduated from Kirkwood (Mo.) High School and Indiana University, and the convention she attends is the Journalism Education Association/National Scholastic Press Association convention, held twice a year. And yes, she showed Bronwyn this story. They’ve stayed in touch all these years..

REFLECTIONS l I WAS A HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALIST

Wendy Wallace with her friend Debbie, above, at

the St. Louis JEA/NSPA convention and on the staff

of Kirkwood High School’s Call at right. Wendy is

in the middle row, third from last. Bronwyn is in

the top row, fourth from the right. Adviser H.L. Hall

stands at the beginning of the back row.

Lasting friendships start on publications


I M A G E S

The Photo Excellence contest honors student photographers in the categories of general news, spot news, feature, sports, environmental portrait and picture story. Judges selected finalists based on technical quality, artistic value and journalistic content. Out of the 866 entries, judges from the following organizations selected 36 winners: Panorama Productions & Digital Services, National Press Photographers Association and Discovery Communications.

Presented here are the honorees in the Sports Action (SA), Sports Reaction (SR) and Environmental Portrait (EP) categories.


Honorable Mention EPRobert Boag,Lafayette HSWilliams-burg, Va.

Clockwise from top left: Honorable Mention SA Chao (Jerry) Wang, Lawrence HS, Lawrence, Kan. Second Place EP Hannah Brewer, Shawnee Mission East HS, Prairie Village, Kan. Honorable Mention SA Michael Dixon, Thousand Oaks HS, Thousand Oaks, Calif.


Clockwise from top left: Second Place SA Tyler Zoeller, Shawnee Mission North HS, Overland Park, Kan. Honorable Mention EP Elizabeth Robins, Bloomington HS North, Bloomington, Ind. First Place SR Hillary Kunz, Westlake HS, Austin, Texas. First Place EP Aleesha Alston, Puyallup HS, Puyallup, Wash.


Clockwise from top left: Second Place SA Amy Gleaves, Francis Howell North HS, St. Charles, Mo. Third Place SR Chelsey Brummett, Bryant HS, Bryant, Ark. Honorable Mention EP Allison Harp, Midlothian HS, Midlothian, Texas. First Place SA Natalie Miller, Thomas Downey HS, Modesto, Calif. Honorable Mention SA Hillary Kunz, Westlake HS, Austin, Texas


Clockwise from top left: Honorable Mention SR Emily Schrieber, Duncanville HS, Duncanville, Texas. Honorable Mention SR Leah Kron, Johnston HS, Johnston, Iowa. Honorable Mention SR Katie Sauer, Minnehaha Academy, Minneapolis, Minn. Third Place SA Rhianna Lee, Oxnard HS, Oxnard, Calif.


Third Place EPAnnabel

NaishThousand

Oaks HS, Thousand Oaks, Calif.

c o M M E n t SSports action and reaction — one is on the field and the other is off the field. Easy, no brainer, right? Wrong. Becky Tate, adviser to the Indian yearbook and The Mission newspaper at Shawnee Mission North High School in Overland Park, Kan., has some suggestions for knowing when and how to get good sports photos: • Sports action shots are an integral part of most publications — they show the student athlete in action competing. • Long lenses, great light and a superb sense of timing (or a little luck) all help the photojournalist capture the action.• A smart photojournalist finds sports reaction shots both on and off the field of action. In high-stakes games, shooting reaction shots is easy — with a win or a loss tears or smiles surround the photographer. The stronger photographer watches a team and knows where to look for reaction. Some players or coaches are more emotional — follow them with your camera and you’re bound to get a winning shot. • You need both action and reaction to tell the whole “sports” story. Come back with photos that describe the whole scene. (This is the long-range shot.) Then get a shot of one or two players in an action shot. Lastly, don’t forget to get a detail shot — for example, a shot of the student’s hand being wrapped by the trainer.

Good Action Shots:• If possible, two camera bodies, one with a short lens (24-70 mm) and the other with a long lens (300mm). Hopefully all lenses have a minimum f2.8 aperture.• Learn the sport — anticipate the play and the action. You can only do this by going to practices and games. You may not have the playbook, but you’ve scouted the situation and know who’s going to get the ball and run or who’s going to take the last minute shot. Every sport is different and each requires its own homework.• Stay for the entire game. Don’t go hang out in the stands, or take time to text your best friends, focus on the action.• Pay attention to the light. If there is a day football game, make sure you are there. Shoot night football early in the fall season as the light is usually beautiful in August (at least it is in Kansas).

good Reaction Shots:• Find the player or coach with the dramatic flair – follow him or her with your camera.• Arrive early and stay late. Consider yourself one of the team and arrive when they do. Get shots of the team preparing and then stay until the end. Don’t just

show up and shoot for 10 minutes, you’ll never get the shots that show what the players are really feeling.• If you almost get “the shot” at one game but don’t quite have it, go back to the next game. Chances are players or coaches will react in similar ways to similar plays.• You really need to anticipate reaction. A last-second free-throw that wins the game or the one-yard run picture is worthless most of the time … look to the sidelines for the best reaction then.

Environmental portraits:• PLANNING. Think ahead. Check out the place where you want to take the portrait ahead of time, if possible. That way, you already know if there’s a big muddy place the subject might step in, or if there’s only one decent angle. Stay in control of the shoot — your portrait subject will look more relaxed and natural when you feel like you are in charge. Remember the details: If you are shooting a star athlete on a soccer field, be sure you remind the athlete to wear a uniform, not street clothes.• CONTEXT. The central point of the environmental portrait is to reveal additional facets of the subject’s character by showing him/her in relation

to his surroundings. Choose the right “environment” to reflect the character of your subject, then be sure you are including enough of the background to let your viewer understand context.• ANGLE. Avoid eye level angle, if possible. This portrait is a great place for using a low angle or getting high above your subject and shooting down from above. Because these portraits are staged, they benefit from more creativity on the part of the photographer in setting up a striking angle to provide more dramatic impact.• LIGHTING. The photographer has full control over the situation with these types of posed portraits, unlike a “photo grabbed on the fly.” If you are shooting with natural light, think about what the light looks like during various times of day and plan your portrait session accordingly. If you like the quality of light near sunset, make sure you start early enough so you don’t lose the light, especially during the winter months when the lights fades so quickly. Interior shots provide a good chance to try your hand at using off-camera flash or modeling lights.Tips from Ellen Austin, adviser to the Viking news magazine at Pal Alto (Calif.) High School.

Environmental portraits are planned photos of a person designed to illustrate something about a person in his or her natural surroundings, including props or other objects. Examples might include the cafeteria worker amid the kitchen equipment, the librarian posed among stacks of books, the stage manager back stage with the light board, or an exchange student surrounded by items from the native country. The portrait itself helps tell a story as well as show the person. Sometimes an action photo is not available, or it’s not the right mood for the accompanying story. Environmental portraits should be used with feature stories, and sometimes with “softer” news stories.


ONTHE

SCENEIna Herlihy of The Convent of the Sacred Heart’s the broadview staff was off to D.C. with her classmates to cover the presidential inauguration. The result? Great photos from the inauguartion event and the Saturday concert. Adviser Tracy Anne Sena said, “The girls kicked it out of the park. Not just the pics and collages, but the commentary — and not all a lovefest.”

SCENEThis page: Top: The Bidens and Obamas wave to the crowd during Saturday’s concert. Bottom: “The Boss,” Bruce Springstein,

performs at the concert.

Facing page: Top: The newly sworn-in vice president and president enjoy the parade with their families. Bottom: The crowd gath-

ered for the inauguration parade.

Covering Change

Papers across the country, including those distributed on college campuses, covered the swearing in of President Barack Obama in their Jan. 21 editions. Here are a handful of college papers and how they covered the historic day. The Pendulum from Elon University; Minnesota Daily from the University of Minnesota; The Daily Kent Stater from Kent State; The Northern Star from Northern Illinois University; The Baylor Lariat from Baylor University and The Shorthorn from the University of Texas at Arlington. Pages used with permission from the Associated Collegiate Press, the college arm of NSPA. Several more examples can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/studentpress/tags/inauguration/

Former Student Press Law Center Executive Director Mark Goodman likes to explain the differences be-tween the 1969 Tinker U. S. Supreme

Court decision and the 1988 Hazelwood decision as two separate railroad tracks that don’t cross.

And, despite what some believe, the Tin-ker track has not been torn up for a bicycle path.

“The Tinker decision reflects the funda-mental belief that youn g people are a vital part of our national debate and are no less deserving of basic civil rights than any adult,” said Mark Goodman, Knight Chair in Scho-lastic Journalism at Kent State University. “In more recent years, some have forgotten that, including some on the Supreme Court. But our future as a nation depends on it.”

Goodman said its importance lies with the understanding that students are not closed-circuit recipients of only that which the state chooses to communicate. Tinker ensures that they could learn by example what free expression and press freedom mean.

Feb. 24, 2009, marks the 40th anniversary of the Tinker decision and the Journalism Education Association urges everyone to celebrate the occasion.

By wearing armbands. “Scholastic Journalism Week is especially

exciting this year because it coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Tinker decision,” said Tom Gayda, Scholastic Journalism Week committee chair. “So, not only can we cel-ebrate all that’s good about what we do that week, we can also remember and celebrate the courage of three students who exercised their First Amendment rights.”

And the Journalism Education Associa-tion will give everyone attending the spring JEA/NSPA convention keynote speech by Mary Beth Tinker, who wore an armband in 1969 to protest the Vietnam War, a black armband to celebrate the importance of that decision.

The decision, Tinker v. Des Moines, established the concept that students, and teachers, do not lose their First Amendment

protections at the schoolhouse gate. Writing for the majority, Justice Abe

Fortas penned the famous phrase, “First Amendment rights, applied in light of the special characteristics of the school environ-ment, are available to teachers and students. It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their Constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

Those words still carry as much weight today as they did 40 years ago, despite the misconception Hazelwood superseded Tinker.

“Tinker prompted the renaissance of scholastic journalism in American high schools in the 1970s and 1980s,” Good-man said. “Today, largely because of the influence of the Tinker decision, secondary school student media in many places rivals or surpasses its professional counterparts in terms of depth of coverage, relevance and professionalism. Tinker allowed students to be real journalists. The Hazelwood ruling was a setback, but the impact of Tinker is still felt to this day.”

Despite increasing limitation as seen in the Bong Hits 4 Jesus decision in 2007 and other attacks on it by arguments made in Layshock, Tinker still stands not only as protection for student expression, but as a strong protection of civic involvement.

” Tinker reminded us that students have First Amendment rights they can exercise,” Gayda said. “Something we should not forget.”

Temple University journalism professor Tom Eveslage, in a 1993 lecture to a group of scholastic journalism researchers and advo-cates, recognized Tinker’s value.

“ Freedom, the right to speak,” Eveslage said, “is then an instrument of self-gov-ernment, of decision-making, intended to preserve a balance of power, to encourage the governed to govern. And the Supreme Court has said--and continues to say--that our young citizens, too, must be allowed to experience the process.”

That process, we would argue, is the one on the right track.

LEGAL ISSUES l JOHN BOWEN


STriCTLySPeaking

Why should students wear black armbands this spring?

to celebrate. Not to protest the war. Not to protest cold winter temperatures, nor how the economy is affecting their college plans.

But they wear them to honor a 40-year-old U. S. Supreme Court decision.

tinker v. Desmoines, originally about the right to wear black armbands to protest an un-popular war, laid the framework for successes in scholastic journalism since then.

It was the spirit of the Tinker decision that contributed to these:n A New Jersey student was allowed to publish

his inoffensive movie review of the R-rated “Mississippi Burning” after his principal had refused to let him.

n Katy Dean successfully fought against censor-ship in Michigan so she could report about the possibility of fumes from a bus garage contributing to cancer among neighbors.

n Citizens throughout the nation became more aware of the importance of student freedom of expression because of censorship

n That awareness contributed to the founding of an organization to help students, advisers and school officials better understand the importance of free student expression, the Student Press Law Center.n Then the SPLC and others developed policies

that recognize the importance of students learning by using their critical thinking and decision-making skills.

By honoring Tinker and encouraging students to wear black armbands this spring, we reinforce the heritage and civic responsi-bility our forefathers began by taking a giant chance that we, as a country, could govern ourselves through citizen involvement and decision-making.

Mark Goodman, Knight Chair for Scholastic Journalism at Kent State University, called Tinker the most important Supreme Court precedent supporting the future of the First Amendment.

“The Tinker decision reflects the fundamen-tal belief that young people are a vital part of our national debate and are no less deserving of basic civil rights than any adult,” Goodman said. “In more recent years, some have forgot-ten that, including some on the Supreme Court. But our future as a nation depends on it.”

And that is why principals should allow and encourage students to wear black armbands this spring.


Tinker CaSe HigHLigHTS:n “First Amendment rights, applied

in light of the special characteris-tics of the school environment, are available to teachers and students. It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the school-house gate. . . .”

n “ . . . The Fourteenth Amendment, as now applied to the States, protects the citizen against the State itself and all of its creatures - Boards of Education not excepted. These have, of course, important, delicate, and highly discretionary functions, but none that they may not perform within the limits of the Bill of Rights. That they are educating the young for citizenship is reason for scrupu-lous protection of Constitutional freedoms of the individual, if we are not to strangle the free mind at its source and teach youth to discount important principles of our govern-ment as mere platitudes. . .”

n “ . . . In order for the State in the person of school officials to justify prohibition of a particular expres-sion of opinion, it must be able to show that its action was caused by something more than a mere desire to avoid the discomfort and unpleasantness that always ac-company an unpopular viewpoint. Certainly where there is no finding and no showing that engaging in the forbidden conduct would “ma-terially and substantially interfere with the requirements of appropri-ate discipline in the operation of the school,” the prohibition cannot be sustained . . .”

n “. . . the record fails to yield evi-dence that the school authorities had reason to anticipate that the wearing of the armbands would substantially interfere with the work of the school or impinge upon the rights of other students . . . [and] the school officials banned and sought to punish petitioners for a silent,

passive expression of opinion, unaccompanied by any disorder or disturbance on the part of petition-ers. . . .”

n “The Court stressed the fact that school officials had permitted other political symbols to be worn. For example, some students wore politi-cal campaign buttons, and others wore the Iron Cross, a symbol of Na-zism. But only the black armbands protesting American involvement in Vietnam were singled out. Thus the regulation was directly related to the suppression of a specific view on a given sub-ject, and the Court struck it down as not constitution-ally permissible. As the Court put it, “state-oper-ated schools may not be enclaves of totalitarianism,” and “students may not be regarded as closed-circuit recipients of only that which the State chooses to com-municate” (p. 511).

n “It is also relevant that the school authorities did not purport to prohibit the wear-ing of all symbols of political or controversial significance . . . Instead, a particular symbol - black armbands worn to exhibit opposition to this Nation’s involve-ment in Vietnam - was singled out for prohibition. Clearly, the prohibi-tion of expression of one particular opinion, at least without evidence that it is necessary to avoid material and substantial interference with schoolwork or discipline, is not constitutionally permissible. In our system, state-operated schools may not be enclaves of totalitarianism. School officials do not possess ab-solute authority over their students. Students in school as well as out of school are “persons” under our Con-stitution. In the absence of a specific showing of constitutionally valid reasons to regulate their speech, students are entitled to freedom of expression of their views. “

Tinker SUmmary:John tinker, 15, his sister Mary Beth Tinker, and Christopher Echardt, 16 years old, decided along with their parents to protest the Vietnam War by wearing black armbands to their Des Moines schools during the Christmas holiday season. Upon learning of their intentions, and fearing that the armbands would provoke disturbances, the principals of the Des Moines school district resolved that all students wearing armbands be asked to re-move them or face suspension. When the Tinker siblings and Christopher wore their armbands to school, they were asked to remove them. When they refused, they were suspended until after new Year’s Day. from oyez.org

BEOURFan!

Lesson plans for teaching tinker v Des moines -Freedom Forumhttp://tinyurl.com/awcou8

Play: the tinker case -uni.eduhttp://tinyurl.com/det947

Fora.tv: bong Hits 4 Jesus: What’s left of free speechhttp://tinyurl.com/apuyjn

Fora.tv: implications of the tinker casehttp://tinyurl.com/dc79el

On 30-year anniversary, tinker partici-pants look back at landmark casehttp://tinyurl.com/b9fmzy

Exploring constitutional conflicts: Free speech rights of studentshttp://tinyurl.com/hnont

Supreme Court weighs free-speech case (bong Hits)http://tinyurl.com/ah5f3q

Rulings emphasize tinker standardhttp://tinyurl.com/24pvfr

Case may chip away at students’ speech rightshttp://tinyurl.com/com24c

Punishing students for extracurricular online activities: crossing the line?http://tinyurl.com/co3raw

bong Hits 4 Jesus: Student rights and the Supreme Courtteachablemoment.org

tinker and viewpoint discriminationpapers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1137909

First amendment lesson plan..aSnEhttp://tinyurl.com/cmwel7

aCLu: banning of “Free the Jena Six” t-shirt in tn school not censorshiphttp://tinyurl.com/bkqn2q

Judge upholds student’s suspension for fake MySpace pagehttp://tinyurl.com/45f9a6

Judges in the classroom lesson (PDF)http://tinyurl.com/agvby7

bong Hits 4 Jesus: Have students’ First Amendment rights to free speech been changed after morse v Frederick?http://tinyurl.com/cxttoe

Student Resources | Tinker v. Des MoinesLooking for more information below are a links to related cases:


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