Advanced Journalism operates on a three week cycle.
The first week students are critiquing the previous edition of the
paper, coming up with story ideas, assigning stories and getting
started writing; in the second week students are writing and revising
their stories; in the third week students are in production laying
out the newspaper in PageMaker and shipping it off to the printer.
Each of these weeks has its special set of challenges for the students
and the teacher.
Week One - Critique
The critique is a critical part of the learning
process for students. To make progress students must be must be
willing to look at their mistakes and open to suggestions for improvement.
How do you get them to think and behave this way? (see section on
trust building). The methods for critique are first taught and modeled
in the beginning journalism program when students work is put on
an overhead projector for everyone to examine and discuss and revised
repeatedly. Students learn through revision; they learn that it
is always possible to improve writing and that all professional
journalists revise and revise.
In the advanced program, these methods of critique
are applied to the newspaper as a whole. The critique process includes
the following aspects:
Students first find the good aspects of the
page
Then students discuss the areas for improvement
The aspects of the page that are discussed
include: layout, story location, and story content
The paper is critiqued in numerical order;
all students are on the same page at the same time
Critique is made in the spirit of making the
paper as a whole better
Students are taught to be sensitive to other
students feelings
Students are taught not to take the criticism
personally
Students are broken up into small groups the
day before to critique one aspect or section
Small groups then report to the large group
the next day
Following the critique, students then come up
with story ideas for the next edition.
Students must be allowed to brainstorm and come up with all kinds
of crazy ideas, knowing that the ones which are too unusual will
probably not be used.
End of Week One - Story Ideas
Sessions are lead by editors
Students first start in small groups; then
go to boards, write down ideas
Then students report to large group
Story idea sessions must take at least two
days
Good story ideas are the foundation for good
stories
The day before students are given story idea
sheets to fill out at home
Anything goes, even crazy ideas during brainstorming
Editors sift through ideas and pick usable
ones when assigning stories
Students are required to read a weekly newsmagazine
Students required to read a daily newspaper.
Students taught to be "the first to know
something"
Students come up with editorial topic
Week Two - Writing the Stories
Each student is responsible for a separate story.
Sometimes students work in pairs, but most of the time they need
to work individually to cover all the news.
Students work individually on stories but collaborate
Students work collaboratively to help each
other
Students turn in stories for revisions by the
editors
Students are given 5 days to write their story
Editors and Associate Editors work with reporters
Photographers and artists coordinate with editors
Students discuss editorial issues on a daily
basis
Week Two - Editorial Discussions
The editorial discussion is the most significant
story idea discussion of the paper. Students usually become polarized
by the topic which makes for exciting discussions. Making students
aware of the power of the editorial is key to getting students involved.
Editorial topic is selected by the students
Writing of editorial is done by students only
Advisors and Administrators are in the advisory
position only
Students should be allowed to write editorial
which are critical of the school if they do not violate journalistic
laws of libel or inciting to riot
Week Three - Production Week
Production week is a time when each student's
work in the previous two weeks becomes a significant piece of a
larger project. Each student plays a critical role in the production
of the newspaper: reporters, editors, ad managers, artists, photographers.
They all realize how dependent they are on each other to produce
this product. It is like a football game; each person has a defined
role on the team and without that person, the game is flawed.
Editors organize and are in-charge of production
week
Final revisions of stories are turned in to
addresses on the Internet
All photographs are gathered and organized
and emailed to the addressed on the Internet
All art work is gathered
Page editors work with Associate Editors and
Editors-in-Chief
It is a collaborative effort on many fronts
The adviser supervises, but does NOT control
Students learn from making mistakes
Advisers who are in control, prohibit students
from learning from their own mistakes
If students miss a deadline for the printer,
then there is no paper
If students failed to take a photo, then they
should take one themselves, get it off the web or forget it and
change their layout
Deadlines should be strictly maintained or
students will not learn to deal with deadlines
Food is provided during production week
Students collect money at the beginning
of the school year
Students then organize the food distribution
themselves
Students learn to budget and shop for
specials
Students learn to clean up after themselves
(parents love this one)
Eating together provides a sense of
community and excitement
If the food distribution is poor, students
complain to the Food Manager, not the teacher
