Blend | Winter 2008

blend journalism starts right here Winter 2008 Issue 2 Volume 2 a publication from Ball State University distributed by the National Scholastic Press Association

FLAG CONTROVERSY! Minnesota student journalist discusses his First Amendment battle!

MONSTER THE

CARTOONING ISSUE

INSIDE: Getting involved in college • Work night fun • Elections & the law • more!

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Learn more about new Adobe InDesign CS3 software www.adobe.com/education/k12

blend

Winter 2008 Issue 2 Volume 2

Ball State University Journalism Workshops Muncie, IN 47306

SES DIRECTOR Brian Hayes EDITOR Tom Gayda MANAGING EDITOR Kim Green BLEND STAFF Candace Perkins Bowen John Bowen Kathy Craghead Ryan Gunterman H.L. Hall Jim McGonnell Amy Morgan Sarah Nichols Mark Newton Chad Rummel Wendy Wallace ASST. DIRECTOR / BUSINESS MANAGER Adam Maksl

welcome

Welcome back to another installment of Blend magazine. When we last published, we sought to inform you about such topics as journalism myths, media convergence, publication contests, careers in copyediting and scholastic journalism law. In this issue, we’re taking a significantly different look at journalism — the art of cartooning.

I had the opportunity to interview Andrew Wahl, a self-employed syndicated editorial cartoonist from the state of Washington. His job is something I have always wanted to do, but with a lack of any true artistic talent, it’s best I leave that to the professionals. Andy opened my eyes to many sides of the business I hadn’t really considered before. He was adamant about encouraging aspiring student journalists to gain as much experience as they can while they’re in high school and college, emphasizing that a little hard work now will pay off in dividends later.

Andy himself is a testament to this age-old adage.

Evan Mannweiler, a student at Indiana University, continued the cartooning theme in creating his “How the make Cartoons” illustration.

This spread provides even the novice cartoonist some great insight into the craft of cartooning.

I’m sure you’ll find the other information in this issue compelling as well. John Bowen adds some insight about political advertising and its place in student media. NSPA provided some examples and insight from the Best of Show competition in Philadelphia and H.L. Hall helps us get to know the recipient of the Student Press Law Center’s Courage in Student Journalism Award. Nonetheless, this issue has a little something for everyone. Enjoy!

OFFICE STAFF Ashley Cashen Stephanie Cope Jincy Gibson Shelby Murphy Becky Rother Blend Magazine is published by the Secondary Eduction Services office at Ball State University. Call 765-285-8900 for advertising information or questions. As well, you can always e-mail the staff at blend.mag@gmail.com.

FOR NSPA Logan Aimone • executive director Marc Wood • communications director Marisa Dobson • contest and critique coordinator Mike Gesellchen • administrative assistant Michael Wright • business manager

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

inside blend 3 • NSPA 4 • The Blender 6 • In the Business 9 • My Turn 10 • Best of Show Philadelphia 12 • Tips & Tricks 14 • Stand His Ground 18 • Juggling Act 22 • Night Shift 26 • The Law 28 • Diversity ON THE COVER

Cover illustration by Evan Mannweiler, junior at Indiana University.

Evan’s interests include journalism and art. He has a twin brother, Eric, and practices Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Evan’s tips for creating a cartoon are on page 12!

blend online Have a story idea or want to network with other student journalists? Join the Blend Facebook group today!

Unique content will be added to the group, giving you the chance to leave feedback and comment on what’s going on in the world of scholastic journalism. Plus, this is your best opportunity to have your own content appear in a future issue. See you online!

f

your journalism career

BALL STATE UNIVERSITY

starts here.

DEPARTMENT OF JOURNALISM We offer cutting-edge programs in journalism, public relations and advertising. Plus, students can gain experience in top-notch student media and organizations. www.bsu.edu/journalism

JOURNALISM WORKSHOPS Offering summer programs for students and advisers for more than 40 years, we’re here to help you gain the skills you need for a successful high school journalism program. www.bsujournalismworkshops.com

J-IDEAS We’re here to help you and your administrators develop a better understanding of your First Amendment freedoms. J-Ideas – making the First Amendment the first priority. www.jideas.org

art & journalism building

from nspa Hit your stride winter and spring It’s the second semester. By now you have worked out the bugs from your production cycle, you’ve learned to handle the basics of layout, photography, editing, sales or maybe everything. You’ve been through some deadlines (maybe missed one or two) and probably made some mistakes -hopefully you have learned from them, too. Basically, you’ve warmed up and stretched. It’s the second semester now, and you should be hitting your stride.

So what do you do for the rest of the year? How do you keep getting better and avoid the burnout and the boredom? These aren’t simple questions, but I want you to challenge yourself to push yourself as you continue toward the end of the school year. Here are some ways to do so.

•Kick it up a notch. Rework something from the past.

Take a look at how you’ve covered student government elections or a spirit week or spring sports. What does the reader want to know and need to know? What ways can your newspaper, yearbook or other media serve the reader? Think about sidebars, alternate forms of storytelling and online enhancements.

•Improve on an idea from an exchange paper. Take inspiration from what your peers are producing. Leaf through Best of the High School Press and see what else has been done. Look over the pages of publications from your area, state or the country. Challenge yourself to take a cool idea and make it better and for your readers or viewers.

•Take a risk. Try something new. In the fall issue of Blend, I challenged student journalists to try digital media.

Almost every story can be enhanced through some online component, even if it is just a poll or comments from readers

ad viewers. Start with the question “How can I best tell this story?” and work from there. Make this the year that your literary magazine includes original music performances or a poet reading his or her work aloud. Make this the year you add a photo slideshow from an event with audio captions.

Make this the year you include the audio recording of an interview to accompany a printed story.

•Build a foundation. Set up next year’s staff for success.

Most good programs evolved over years. As a senior or editor, you can lay some groundwork for your successors by breaking with traditions. As a student who will be returning, think about where you want to be next year and what you have to do to get there. Identify the roadblocks to your success and work to get them removed. Change happens incrementally, but it can happen.

At NSPA, we’re responding to changes in the landscape of student media. We’re revising our Guidebooks for newspaper, yearbook and magazine to reflect current trends and realities of digital production, comprehensive coverage and interactivity. We’ve added a Best of Show contest for Web sites at the Anaheim national convention. We’re bringing you this magazine to help you get better at what you do. We’ve identified areas where we can improve our programs at conventions and workshops in order to teach the skills that student journalists need for the 21st Century. We’re ready to hit our stride, too.

As you move toward the final months of school, push your fellow staff members to hit their stride. When contest time rolls around in June, I look forward to seeing the best student work ever.

Logan Aimone is the executive director of the National Scholastic Press Association.

easy as pie faster than fast today’s highest technology yearbook’s most innovative the new industry standard for online yearbook planning and page creation

• no software to buy • no upgrading hassle • your staff can work from anywhere, any time contact your hj representative for a hands-on, online demo!

the blender ask kim

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

Summer workshops are staff necessity Each issue, veteran adviser Kim Green answers questions you submit. Need help with an issue or solution to a problem?

Contact Kim at greenk@bcsc.k12.in.us with the subject “Ask Kim” or, visit our Facebook group and submit your question there!

Q: We’re starting to make plans to attend a summer workshop. Are there things to consider to pick the right one?

Kim: YAY! Summer workshops provide student journalists like you with the opportunity to branch out and try something new, get a new perspective on your publication or polish your skills and/or your publication. In addition, attending a workshop exposes you to a whole network of kids just like you.

Many of my students have met kids, and adults, from around the country they stay in touch with beyond high school. Most important, workshops on college campuses give you a taste of college life, especially if you think you might want to major in journalism.

Getting acquainted with the nuts and bolts of a journalism school can help you determine if it is a good fit.

Consider all of this when deciding on a workshop.

In addition, be sure to research all the options. Pretend money is no object and look all over the country. Do a Web search. And don’t overlook the opportunities in your own backyard.

Not to generalize, but workshops basically have the same mission: Bring in the best instructors to provide the best educational experience to inspire student journalists to return to their schools empowered to make their publications stand out. So that’s what you should be looking for as you narrow your choices.

1. Great instructors – Look for nationally-recognized professionals and advisers.

2. Educational experience – Look for computer lab availability and compatible software; call and ask if the brochures do not tout this; publications’ critique time is always valuable, too, so seek workshops that include staff meetings where an expert can help you pick out things about your publication you should keep, lose or reinvent 3. Empowerment – look for a balance of seat/instructional time and lab time; ask for syllabi of particular courses; these will help you find out what “product” you will end up taking with you at the conclusion of the workshop: an updated staff manual, a theme packet, a re-design of your

publication.

4. Stand out – Look for that “something different” experience to give your publication an edge. I can pinpoint the exact moment our newsmagazine turned around; it was the year my editor attended a summer workshop that offered a re-design session focusing on story packaging and infographics. The result was amazing. Editors, by their own personal choice, still take the session each year, giving the publication a new look every time.

5. Fun – Look for recreational opportunities; see if they are in line with your personality then get involved once you get there. I always say that creating a great product is the real fun of publications – and, yes, my kids roll their eyes, too – but I agree you have to take a break now and then.

Seek out workshops that provide a well-rounded experience with talent shows, scavenger hunts, Karaoke nights, dances, class competitions, etc.

As you can see, going to summer workshops is one of the best things you can do for your publication. It can also be a disappointment without attention to a few important details.

1. If you are going with several people from your staff, have a plan. What are your goals? What roles will everyone assume to meet your goals? Get it in writing!

2. Be open-minded. So many times, workshop attendees don’t get the most from the experience because they are not willing to change or to envision small changes to make their publications better. Avoid saying or even thinking “That’s not how we do it” OR “We could never do anything like that.” You may not be able to change it all, but you can and should change something for the better.

3. Include everyone on your staff who attends workshop in all you do. Workshops are fantastic bonding opportunities and go a long way to establish the tenor of your staff and publication for the entire school year. You don’t have to love everyone, but you do have to work with them.

Start at workshops!

Did you notice I didn’t mention the price of the workshop as a factor in your planning? Again, most workshops’ fees fall within the same range and nearly all offer scholarships.

And the experience itself? Well, it’s PRICELESS, of course!

Hope your summer workshop experience is all you want it to be!

journalism etiquette

The rights and wrongs of press pass usage A student journalist lives for his press pass. That powerful piece of lamination gives regular students incredible power. But with great power comes great responsibility.

While most student journalists rightfully use their press passes — to cover athletic events, walk the halls to conduct an interview or attend an important meeting — some students see their press pass as a golden ticket to crazy antics.

Two yearbook staff members use their press passes to visit the cafeteria during class time to buy drinks. Remember, don’t abuse your press pass!

Hall wandering, trips to the vending machine and free admittance to an athletic event are just a few of the ways sketchy student journalists abuse their press passes.

Remember, when you abuse your press pass or any special privilege granted a student journalist, you cast yourself and all your peers in a negative light. To be taken seriously you must act professionally and not take advantage of something special.

Don’t be afraid to hold your peers accountable. Like anything, your staff is only as strong as the weakest link, so if someone abuses their press pass your entire staff might feel the repercussions. And, building back trust can often be a long, long process.

Kent State University’s School of Journalism & Mass Communication offers plenty of opportunities in a new high-tech facility

A wide range of bachelor’s degrees

Advertising, electronic media, news for magazine, newspaper and broadcast, public relations, photojournalism and information design www.jmc.kent.edu/students/current/mjr01.htm

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

The Center for Scholastic Journalism, offering

• An online master’s degree in journalism for teachers and media advisers • Workshops and conferences for student journalists and their teachers • Mark Goodman, the new Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism, who will promote a national focus on the First Amendment and outreach to administrators, newsroom professionals and others • A Web site to highlight news, curriculum and networking opportunities: www.jmc.kent.edu/csj

Want more information?

Contact Candace Perkins Bowen cbowen@kent.edu

in the business

by Brian Hayes

In recent years, Andrew has made a tradition of doing a positive cartoon for the Fourth of July. Also note that he’s used himself as a character: “I’ve done that several times over the years, and have found that that technique almost always generates reader response.”

Professional cartoonist got start on high school publication Andrew Wahl, 37, is a self-syndicated editorial cartoonist and graduate student. His company, Off the Wahl Productions (www.offthewahl. com), features much of his work.

Where did you go to High School? Lake Stevens, Wash.

Did you work on HS publications? Which one? What positions? I was the features editor and editorial cartoonist for the student newspaper, The Valhalla.

Where did you go to college? AA (emphasis in journalism and political science) from Everett Community College; BA (dual emphasis in comparative American and international studies) from the University of Washington-Bothell; current graduate student via distance education (master’s in liberal studies with an emphasis on history) though Fort Hays State University.

Did you work on college publications? Which one? What positions?

I was the editor-in-chief and editorial cartoonist for the Everett Community College student newspaper, The Clipper. UW-B didn’t have a student paper at the time, so I self-published my own, The Shooting Star.

Some people know at an early age what they want to do in life.

When did you first realize you had a knack for cartooning?

It was actually journalism that came first for me. I self-published my first newspaper, The Shooting Star, when I was just 5 years old. I used an old ’40s typewriter my dad let me haul home from the dump and a stack of carbon paper. I peddled the first issue up and down my block.

(The Shooting Star would return several times during the years, most recently in 1995 between my junior and senior years in college.)

About the same time as I got the journalism itch, I also fell in love with comic books. That’s where the cartooning itch came from.

Political cartooning came later, during my senior year in high school, as I became more politically aware. It was a nice marriage of my two passions (though I’ve done comic-book work, too, and plan to tackle another comics project this summer).

To be an editorial cartoonist, you must have some natural artistic talent. But, what other things have you done that have helped develop your cartooning skills?

I care a lot about the craft, and I think my cartooning has gotten better over the years, but artistic skill is really a secondary consideration.

For me, it’s always been about the content. The key to being a good editorial cartoonist is to become as knowledgeable as possible, and to develop the ability to apply that knowledge critically. I’m a political

wonk and history junkie, both of which feed the cartooning beast. My recent return to grad school to study history is part of an ongoing effort to improve the content of my cartoons.

end of the day, I’m a patriot at heart.

Have you ever been sent hate mail or been the subject of a letter to the editor for a particular cartoon that you drew? How did you handle that situation?Oh, yeah!

For the last three years I did editorial cartoons for The Wenatchee World in North Central Washington. That region is “redder” than most of Texas. So my often left-of-center toons developed a nice “fan club.” For a while I had several people praying for me, but eventually most were OK with the idea that I was going to Hell.

As an editorial cartoonist, your job is to make people think. If people are taking the time to write hate mail, you’ve done your job. And if people on your side of the issue write letters to the editor in your defense, a dialogue has been started.

You can’t ask for better than that.

How did you get your first big break?

I’ve made almost all of my breaks for myself. This is a trait I picked up from my dad. He’s a commercial artist, and he always told me that while there are plenty of other artists out there who are better, he was never going to let anyone outwork him. Dad made a career out of hustle and working hard. It’s a great philosophy that I’ve tried to make my own.I marched into the office of the local daily paper when I was 9, looking for a job (I didn’t get one, but they did do a feature on my publishing of The Shooting Star).

My community college journalism program didn’t have internships Obviously, you available, so I can’t please put together everyone all of a portfolio of the time. So, in editorial cartoons general, what and worked with advice would you the college and give an up-andthe local daily coming cartoonist Above: “I tend to be a wordy cartoonist,” Andrew says, “so when I can nail the image-only cartoon, I to set one up. on how to handle feel like it’s a home run.” This cartoon was well-received, earning Andrew a second Citation of ExcelAnd I again selflence in Ranan Lurie Political Cartoon Awards, an international competition sponsored by the United criticism and published The public scrutiny?

Nations.

Shooting Star Develop a thick Right: The first in a series of cartoons Andrew did protesting the surge of additional troops to Iraq in while finishing skin. Keep it about 2007. “I used iconic toy soldier figure to suggest that our government was dismissing the human toll college to make the issues and on our soldiers,” Andrew says. “And the use of red, black and white gives this series a unique look with sure I’d have good don’t ever let high contrast punch.” clips when I got it get personal. out. And those Remember the old clips did prove pivotal in getting my first full-time job, as the axiom that you’ll hear from ten upset readers for every one editors where impressed with my entrepreneurial attitude. happy one; that doesn’t mean there aren’t more happy ones out there, just that upset people are more eager to raise There are all kinds of things reported in the news these their voice. And, again, if you’re getting people to respond days that could be the subject of a good editorial cartoon. and talk about the issues, you’re doing your job well.

How do you sift through all the stories and decide what is best to draw? Where do you get your inspiration?

What advice would you give someone who is thinking Every time I sit down to come up with a new editorial about a career in cartooning? cartoon, I start with the same basic question: “What’s the Be prepared to do something else to pay the bills. Editorial most important (or interesting) issue in the news today?” cartooning is a brutal, brutal field to break into these In most years, this question prompted many answers — days. By most accounts, there are fewer than 100 full-time, and cartoons on a wide range of topics. But, recently, two paying, editorial-cartooning gigs in the country. To put answers just kept popping up: 1. George W. Bush, who I that in perspective, there are more than 400 players under firmly believe to be the worst president in U.S. history, and contract in the NBA. The best advice I received about 2. the war in Iraq. By mid-2007, I feared I was becoming a breaking in was to develop the widest set of journalism two-note commentator (one really, as those two topics are tools possible. My first full-time job was as a graphics editor so inextricably linked at this point). Thankfully, now that at The (Longview, Wash.) Daily News. Once in the door, primary season is here, other topics have again wedged I started doing editorial cartoons within a few weeks. In their way into the mix.

Wenatchee, I was a copy editor and then the features editor, As for inspiration, I find it in my great love for our nation. but was able to get editorial cartooning added to my job The American experiment is a unique one, an attempt to description. I won’t lie: It’s tough going in today’s market. form a national identity not out of ethic similarity but from But if you’re willing to bring something else to the table, a shared belief in freedom, liberty and democracy. I’m a true you can still make a go of it. believer in that American dream, and editorial cartooning gives me a voice to reveal whatever nightmares try to More examples of Andrew’s work appear on the following page. corrupt it. I hope that doesn’t sound too cheesy, but, at the winter 2008 blend magazine 7

m

Above: Andrew says this is one of his favorites from recent years: “This editorial cartoon neatly sums up the political backdrop that my generation has grown up against.”

Right: One of Andrew’s earliest editorial cartoons, from the Lake Stevens High School student newspaper, The Valhalla.

This cartoon protested an age-based cruising ban in the nearby city of Everett, Wash.

Andrew believed the law was unfair then and nine years later still does!

8 blend magazine winter 2008

my turn

by Junifer Mamsaang

Stagg High School

Staff celebrates each other’s differences Laughter and conversation are audible over the repetitive strains of distinctions.

Haddaway’s one-hit wonder, “What is Love?”

The differences that make each and every one of us an individual The smell of food tantalizes every hungry reporter. Today, it might make the staff more colorful and interesting. It enriches each one of us be chicken casserole, beef enchilada, to learn and understand other cultures and spicy tuna roll, or pork lumpia. Though the gives us the ability to approach and interact knowledge that food is here is enough to with others who aren’t necessarily exactly announce a dinner break, the smell just like us without feeling intimidated or makes everything better. intimidating. Needless to say, it motivates A message to newbies: “You’re not an us to move beyond ourselves when we official part of the staff until you eat at late look for story ideas and write the stories day.” themselves.

Or so we like to say.

These lessons continue through our Right after school until 8 o’clock, three everyday lives. Daily interactions with those times a month, every month, throughout who are different, whether it is ethnicity, the entire school year. belief or behavior, is a reality for people We call them “late days.” who live and learn in an already diverse Yes, the first order of business is community. Yes, we live in California, journalism and the newspaper, and no, not one of the most diverse places on earth. everyone stays through the whole six hours Junifer Mamsaang was born in the Philippines and spent But California today is the United States all three days, but it’s still quite a lot of time. most of the first 10 years of her life there. Nevertheless, tomorrow.

Enough time to finish every issue of the As members of the newspaper staff, this she has a gift for understanding different cultures and Stagg Line. Enough time to get to know diversity not only enriches every individual blending in with any new environment. The senior, who other staff members. And enough time to but also the staff as a whole. New ideas, has been part of the Stagg journalism program all four bring together a group of widely diverse perspectives, and contacts are established years of high school, served as both opinion page editor teens, from widely diverse backgrounds with every new culture and every new and co‑editor‑in‑chief. Her future plans definitely involve and create a family. environment that a staff member brings writing. photo contributed We have reporters who come from to the table. And despite our many traditional two-parent households. differences are similarities that need only We have reporters who come from semi-traditional two-parent to be recognized for someone to understand that regardless, we are so households, where they are from a mixed culture. We have nonmuch the same. traditional households of all types. One of our seniors is even living Remember “My Big Fat Greek Wedding?” with a boyfriend.

“Put some Windex on it,” they said.

For some of our reporters, their first language isn’t English. In fact, My Filipino family says, “Put Vicks on it.” my first language is Tagalog.

And my Mexican friend’s family says, “Put spit on it.”

We have European-American, African-American, Latino, and Asian If there’s one thing that makes our staff great, it would be the reporters but the camaraderie and relationships within the staff is so respect we have for each others’ differences. Because of that respect, easy and familiar that you probably wouldn’t even notice these ethnic we see so many more possibilities.

This is a tower @ Ball State University come to Ball State and see Roy Peter Clark and his book at this year’s High School Journalism Day.

This is

Roy Peter Clark He is the Vice Pres. & senior scholar at the Poynter Inst. where he has taught writing skills for three decades.

This is Roy Peter Clark’s book every school that attends J-Day will receive a free copy. bsujournalismworkshops.com

BEST OF SHOW p h i l a d e l p h i a Why wait to see what is cutting-edge? Here’s what’s hot right now in the best publications. These images are from the 2007 JEA/NSPA Fall National High School Journalism Convention in Philadelphia.

Each was a First Place winner in NSPA’s Best of Show contest.

Take a few minutes to look at the design, story concept, use of color and entry points.

Commentary by Logan Aimone, NSPA Executive Director

SINGLE-TOPIC SERIES The cover had a picture of just a pair of ruby slippers. Instantly, readers associate the image with the phrase “There’s no place like home.” That’s the topic of a five-page in-depth section inside.

Each story tells about a different aspect of the concept and the places people call home. Newspaper coverage has to include more than just school.

Newsmagazine • North Star, Nov. 8, 2007 • Francis Howell North High School, St. Charles, Mo. Leah Carter, editor • Aaron Manfull, adviser

DETAILED COVERAGE Using the theme “if/then” the top left folio begins “If I believe” and each of the nine small packages continues “then…” to provide coverage on beliefs students held. Color and white space treatment unify the spread that really bucks the notion of a traditional yearbook yet has impact and depth.

Yearbook 1-224 pages • Details, 2007 • Whitney High School, Rocklin, Calif.

Grace Lee, Allison Ricigliano and Brianne Roudebush, editors • Sarah Nichols, adviser

STRONG VISUAL, DIVERSE TOPICS A story about a student organizing a fundraiser to help cancer patients anchors the page with a dominant image. Other stories and the folio quote are about devastating flood that damaged the community a few weeks earlier. Solid localized coverage attracts the reader.

Newspaper 1-8 pages • Blue and Gold, Oct. 26, 2007 • Findlay High School, Findlay, Ohio Ashley Lazar, editor • Jim McGonnell, adviser

CREATIVE MOTIF In this side-bound literary arts magazine, the staff pairs a colorful illustration on the left with a short poem that uses the phrase “Crayola spectrum of mind.” Continuiig the motif, the right page uses colored images to evoke the art.

Literary magazine • Vibrato, 2007 • The Hockaday School, Dallas, Texas Sarah Harris, Caroline Robb, Allie Hayes, Anna Simon, editors • Kyle Vaughn, adviser

REAL PEOPLE, REAL STORIES Dynamic graphics and photo shapes grab the reader instantly. Selective coloring highlights the center of interest. Compelling copy delivers the goods about a student-athlete who struggles to balance studies and practice. It’s clear the staff really investigated the topic and spent time with the subject.

Yearbook, 325+ pages • Lair, 2007 • Shawnee Mission Northwest High School, Shawnee, Kan. Liz Jackson, editor • Susan Massy, adviser

FINDING THE GOOD IN PEOPLE To combat stereotypes of apathetic and listless teens, the staff showcases six students from varied backgrounds who demonstrated going “Above & Beyond.”

Creative environmental portraits and the students’ signatures add a flair of informality to accompany the long captions.

Newspaper 9-12 pages • The Spartana, Oct. 19, 2007 • Homestead High School, Fort Wayne, Ind. Luke Chase and Erin Quinn, editors • Rod Kuhn, adviser

For a complete list of publications that placed in Best of Show in Philadelphia, visit:

http://www.studentpress.org/nspa/winners/f07bs.html

COLORFUL INTERACTIVITY What happens when you plan a spread around spending $10? You get a creative presentation with colorful graphics that is easy to read and includes several students. A comparison to the past helps cement the “Then & Now” theme.

Yearbook, junior high • Surfer, 2007 • Coronado Middle School, Coronado, Calif.

Sarah Rose Cass and Chealsea Somers, lead editors • Amanda Casares, adviser

tips & tricks by Evan Mannweiler

g censchool principal to ponder exercisin This is the pictured that caused a high spaper. sorship over his school’s student new

Meet Eric Sheforgen, a student journalist who was not afraid to. . .

STAND HIS GROUND

16 blend magazine winter 2008

by H.L. Hall

It took courage, but in the end, his disagreement with Paul that someone is always there watching over what they’re doing, and Neubauer, his high school principal, paid off. He not only received the that person doing the watching is the one taking responsibility. It’s Student Press Law Center’s Courage in Student Journalism Award, important for the students to make the decisions, so they can learn he also gained recognition from Neubauer as the Best All Around the meaning of being responsible.”

Student at St. Francis High School in St. Francis, Minn.

Sheforgen said he learned a lot about leadership during the Eric Sheforgen, last year’s editor-in-chief of The Crier, the student confrontation. newspaper at St. Francis, received the SPLC award for his efforts in “I learned how important it is to have input from all sides,” he said. trying to maintain the public forum status of the paper.

“I think a good leader must always “I was out of breath,” Sheforgen keep things in perspective. I know said, “when I learned I had won that often there was so much going the award. It was an amazing on that I had to prioritize everything feeling. The first thing I did was and keep detailed lists.” call my adviser (Glenn Morehouse Sheforgen had four other Olson). suggestions for other editors who Sheforgen is now a freshman might face the same dilemma he at St. Olaf College in Northfield, did. They are: Minnesota, where he is majoring 1. Take slow and careful steps, in political science and economics. but don’t be afraid to question an He found out about the SPLC authority figure. award last fall.

2. Use the Student Press Law “I was actually lucky,” he said, Center. It is a valuable resource. “because I happened to go home 3. Pick the right battle. Don’t from Olaf the weekend I received fight for something that’s not the letter announcing the award. It worth it, as it will take a lot of work was an honor reading the letter, and and a lot of time.

I was psyched. My principal never 4. Trust your adviser and know directly congratulated me, but then who to trust on your staff.

I wasn’t at high school any more. Last “I really appreciated my adviser June, however, we did end things on a good note when throughout the ordeal,” Sheforgen he awarded me the Best All Around Student Award.” said. “We knew each other through The incident that sparked the disagreement between church long before this time. She was Sheforgen and his principal started in January 2007. and continues to be very influential in Sheforgen had decided The Crier would run a photo my life.” taken during a school play which showed a girl ripping This issue did take a lot of time, an American flag.

Sheforgen said, but besides being The theater department, according to Sheforgen, editor of The Crier, he did find time had for the past 10 years hung a picture of every play it to serve as student liaison to the had presented on the performing arts center hallway.

School Board of District 15, and he Neubauer took the photo down, so The Crier decided was also active in DECA, serving that to write a story about the situation. organization as vice president and “I told the principal,” Sheforgen said, “ that we president.

As a high school journalist, were going to run a story and an editorial about the “DECA holds a dodgeball Eric worked with local elementary-aged children. picture. He seemed to be fine with both. However, tournament at St. Francis each year,” In November, Eric recieved the SPLC Courage when I told him we were going to run the photo, he in Student Journalism Sheforgen said. “I was responsible for it Award. became upset. I then requested a meeting with the my senior year. All proceeds go to the superintendent, but the superintendent also said the Muscular Dystrophy Association. We photo was not to run. The principal then froze our funding. The only raised a record amount of money when I was in reason he ever gave for not wanting the picture to run was that it was charge. I was proud to be part of such a great group. It was always a community standards thing.” difficult to get students involved, but when over 500 showed up for Sheforgen said the Student Press Law Center informed him that the event, I knew we were doing something right.” taking the picture off the wall was a violation of the First Amendment.

Since high school, Sheforgen said his interests have changed The news article about the principal taking down the photo, somewhat. and the editorial about the issue did run. The editorial focused on “In high school,” he said, “I didn’t enjoy reading books, but now any students being denied true democratic values if they did not have book I pick up and the first line draws my attention, I will read it.”

First Amendment rights.

He expects more changes in his life in the future.

“My intention was to never create trouble,” Sheforgen said, “but “In five years, I see myself still in graduate school, either law or when I felt the school was suppressing student voices, I thought I business. In 10 years, I would like to be a contributing writer to a state had to take a stand. For the past 30 years, The Crier had operated as newspaper, and in 20 years I will probably be working as a lawyer or an open forum for student expression. The statement that it was an an economist. open forum was printed in our policy book and in the newspaper for “If I were to go crazy and have the biggest dream, I will have at least five years.” bought my parents a new home, be working with schools around Because The Crier had operated as a forum for so long, Sheforgen the country encouraging First Amendment rights and working with said he thought the battle to keep it that way was important. states on legislation to give students more free speech rights. I would “Telling students they can write whatever they want,” Sheforgen also be married with kids and enjoying every minute of life.” said, “but then reviewing it before it is printed is teaching students

Professional cartoonist Kirk Anderson created this cartoon for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune about the St. Francis incident. Cartoon used with permission.

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Phoenix newspaper, asked me to pick up g out if the world that does is vital, rec on reporter on that ati uc nt ed Ke An ” ily e.

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ge media, visit ht for more about colle

the gallery 2007 NSPA Cartooning Awards co-sponsored by Universal Press Syndicate Comic Panel/Strip • First Place • Tyler Weber • The Echo • Saint Louis Park High School • St. Louis Park, Minn.

Comic Panel/Strip • Second Place • Craig Malamut • Eastside • Cherry Hill High School East • Cherry Hill, N.J.

Comic Panel/Strip • Third Place • Quinn Burrell • Communicator • Community High School • Ann Arbor, Mich.

Editorial Cartoon • First Place • Nathan Yaffe • Silver Chips • Montgomery Blair High School • Silver Spring, Md.

Editorial Cartoon • Second Place • Shannon Ashley • The Lion’s Tale • Oviedo High School • Oviedo, Fla.Silver Spring, Md.

Editorial Cartoon • Third Place • Jon Laing • Inkblot • Communications High School • Wall, N.J.

NIGHT SHIFT Mark Newton, MJE, newspaper adviser at Grand Junction (Colo.) High School, collects stories of staff worknights from across the country.

6:40 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 22 Details yearbook • Whitney High School • Rocklin, Calif.

Adviser: Sarah Nichols, MJE

Deadline 3 for yearbook. Jason Mraz on the iPod speaker, but before that it was Red Hot Chili Peppers and before that, techno nobody could understand. The editor-inchief is correcting names on the underclass people pages since the copy editor left early for her AP world history review party.

Trash is everywhere, plus frosting from today’s cake we ate in class.

We found two dummy quotes on proof pages tonight, designed the overall plan for the clubs reference section and lamented the loss of one of our favorite actors, Heath Ledger. That took about half-anhour, honestly. We had about 20 kids in here until the tailgate party for basketball began in the cafeteria at 6…they were offering free pizza, so everyone took off.

It’s OK, though…they’re “doing interviews.”

6:59 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 22 The Viking Vanguard • Puyallup High School • Puyallup, Wash.

Adviser: Sandra Coyer, MJE

8:31 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 22 The Pioneer yearbook • Kirkwood High School • Kirkwood, Missouri Adviser: Mitch Eden The staff just finished our baby photo contest over salad, bread, toasted ravioli and mostaccioli.

Smells of the fry-daddy linger from the toasted ravioli. Unfortunately, a staffer sprayed some Pimp cologne to try and mask the smell and made it worse. Photo editor just found a new desk area for himself in the “morgue”…er… basement. Mug page spreads are being designed then edited by the editor-in-chief while she brainstorms her Opening copy.

Lots of work, texting and laughs in SJ tonight.

3 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 23 The Gyre • Hanford High School • Richland, Wash.

Adviser: Nancy E. Smith, CJE The junior boys are making a quick check of their deadline pages before they head home.

Finals start tomorrow, and they’re beginning to crack.

“What’s your favorite silly song?” Bryce is eating chips and distracting the others.

“The one with Larry,” Nat says.

“I hate ‘You are his cheeseburger,’” Kyle says.

They begin to sing.

Silence for the first time in hours. Four students stare intently at their computer screens, the fifth hunched over two separate drafts with pink pen in hand looking up occasionally to passionately express, “The reader doesn’t care who said it more than they want 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 23 to know what was said.” Then, The Bell newsmagazine • Liberty with renewed passion, he bends High School • Liberty, Missouri back over the drafts, his pink Adviser: Jennifer Higgins pen scratching feverishly at the drafts as if releasing frustration.

The room suddenly seems One junior associate op/ed editor devoid of people, so I walk around Spruce Creek (Port Orange, Fla.) High School student journalists spend time after school working on deadlines. moves her face inches from the to investigate. I find eight or nine screen, “Is that a pica? It looks like of my kids out in the hallway, a pica.” Her editor looks over at taking turns pushing each other her, turning her head to the right down the hallway in a chair and starts laughing to the point that she was hyperventilating. “Look at with wheels. I stand back and watch for a few minutes, enjoying their Chelsea, look at Chelsea!” she breathes. excitement over something so simple. Apparently the goal is to make it Suddenly the door bursts open to a loud “PIZZA!” shout as two staff to the end of the hallway without stopping. For one particular student, it members stroll in, pizza slices in one hand and boxes of pizza for the doesn’t end well — he must have his eyes closed, and runs smack into a remainder of the staff in the other. row of lockers.

All production stops.

Members hit save and walk to the long conference table at the front 6:09 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 23 of the production lab, each grab a piece of pizza and a plate before Evergreen Yearbook/Pinnacle Newspaper • Klein Forest High School • sitting at the table together. Conversation reverts from deadline talk to Houston, Texas the news of the day.

Adviser: Sue Blackmon, MJE

Yearbook editor-in-chief is working on proofs, while her sister, who came running in announcing she just made the softball team, is watching the news on TV. The newspaper EIC just left after placing stories and making lists of business to call for ads. A photographer is working on another computer in Photoshop and is getting frustrated because he can’t remember how to unlock a layer and when he goes to Photoshop help, all he gets is how to lock a layer.

6:15 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 23 The Squall • Dexter High School • Dexter, Mich.

Adviser: Rod Satterthwaite The editor-in-chief and the entertainment editor are rocking out to Poison’s “Talk Dirty to Me” on Guitar Hero while the head designer, frustrated with people shouting her name, tries to hide under a table at the front of the room. Another designer spreads out grains of rice on a table and tries to find the right lighting conditions to create a graphic about a story on freerice.com. The phone rings and it’s an overprotective parent calling to remind her son that he has basketball practice at 5:30. And everyone seems excited that the parent support group has provided food for a make-your-own sub night. Our motto on work nights? “Come for the food. Stay for the fun.”

7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 23 The Rock • Rock Canyon High School • Highlands Ranch, Colo.

Adviser: Jack Kennedy, MJE Adviser got back with five pizzas at 7:20 p.m. About 20 editors and staff are all over the lab, page editors hunched over keyboards with a variety of earbuds allowing them some separation from the chaos. Three students are poring over page printouts, marking final proofs. One guy, who is not on the staff, has pitched in to help with some final proofing on one of the game night pages.

He eats pizza with the same gusto as everyone else. Two girls ask for the key to the bathroom, since the custodians seem to have already locked up.

5:18 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 24 Bruin yearbook/Bruin Tribune news magazine • Pulaski Academy • Little Rock, Arkansas Adviser: Beth Shull Grace is in charge of the iHome. The iPod is set to shuffle and the rule is there can be no playing nine seconds of a song then switching. You must just let it play. It’s her iPod so she is singing along to every song. Loudly.

Emily is on the phone with a senior’s mom getting directions to their house to pick up senior ad photos. The mom doesn’t know how to send them attached to an e-mail. No one can believe a person would not know how to do this.

Kate and Tiffany just rolled in from soccer practice — cute in their tall socks and cleats.

Lauren needs a quote from a freshman boy. She asks Hannah to call him because Hannah has had a crush on this kid for three years. Hannah and Bailey are the only two ninth graders on staff this year. They were recruited because the older kids never could identify the ninth graders in pictures.

Rachel is yelling at Tiffany to come fix another photo. Tiffany is the photo editor. The other kids think she knows where every photo is on the network. She probably does.

Travis wants to know how long until dinner is here. Lea’s mom is on duty tonight and bringing Corky’s BBQ. Bailey doesn’t like BBQ; but got voted down because…she is just a 9th grader.

Parents take turns providing dinner for deadline nights. Some cook, some pick up. We always love it all! We work 4-8 p.m. and dinner arrives around 5:30 p.m.

When the custodian for our building sees the kids coming back in around 4 p.m., he knows to bring several large heavy-duty trash bags for the dirty plates and cups.

5:34 p.m., Friday, Jan. 25 Tiger Times newspaper/The Spud yearbook • Idaho Falls High School • Idaho Falls, Idaho Adviser: Ryan N. Hansen In the yearbook lab across the hall, two editors are finishing editing senior pages (adding quotes and spell checking) while listening to “Hairspray” soundtrack and singing — loudly.

I’m in my office across the hall fixing pica spaces.

ArtsEnt editor tweaking his movies column while news editor and sports editor (who just finished their papers) are battling it out on “Guitar Hero III.” Editor in Chief is drinking his Coke Zero and collecting pages to switch into pdfs.

In about 15 minutes (turns out to be an hour), we’ll all have a quick Guitar Hero tourney before heading to the basketball games to shoot photos and cheer on staff members.

At top, Whitney (Rocklin, Calif.) High School yearbook staff members update the Details ladder.

Below, Details staff members play “Ha Ha,” creating a chain of stomach pillows.

6:42 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 30 Pelladium newspaper • Pella High School • Pella, Iowa Adviser: Ann Visser, MJE winter 2008 blend magazine 23

Melville (East Setauket, N. Y.) High School students take a dinner break during an afterschool work session.

Fourteen members of the Pelladium staff are finishing off the six pizzas ordered for supper. One girl has a migraine. One has lost her cell phone and is frantically searching for it. Pages appear to be in questionable shape for Monday’s deadline, but they’ll come through… they always do.

The pizza is gone, so the crew has started to disperse. Many of them have fulfilled their twohour minimum layout requirement. Some page editors are back at work, trying to figure out what to do with their pages.

From the Students Point Of View Friday, Jan. 25 Peninsula Outlook • Peninsula High School • Gig Harbor, Wash.

Adviser: Derek Smith 4:42 p.m.

Richard Brantner, photographer The A&E editor appears to be doing a tribal dance with a scarf she just obtained from a nearby staff member. Another staff member sports tanning goggles as she tells another editor how close to a bug she truly looks.

Most staff members are sitting at their computers diligently typing, reading, editing, or contemplating their articles. Right now “The Way I Are” by Timbaland is surging through the speakers, filling the room with a “We are here to have fun and work” vibe.

5:19 p.m.

Ashley Barrientos, reporter The A&E Editor gazes vacantly at the floor 24 blend magazine winter 2008

while making a phone call. Managing Editor and Features editor work intensively on the layout for the Features page. The Art Editor beats his pencil three times with ease after scribbling a note. The Co-Closer Look editor and the Photo Editor let in a cold breeze from outside after running an errand home for photo equipment.

6:55 p.m.

Loren Johnson, Copy Editor It’s chaos. Absolute chaos. The Opinions editor and the Features editor huddle together in a corner with a carrot cake. Art staff sprints back and forth, probably looking for the correct pica size of the front page graphic, but the last time I saw the News editor he was banging his head against the bricks outside. Some sort of strange transaction is taking place between the Features associate and two general staff members. I think it involves…

— and my adviser is looking over my shoulder suspiciously. The end.

7:02 p.m.

Laura Stevens, Features Editor An eerie yet temporary calm settles over the room as the process of digestion kicks in. Instead of crazy dance tunes, soft indie music flows caressingly over everybody. The song changes. It’s a little more upbeat.

The Copy Editor, sensing the ending of the lull, begins to look suspiciously over his shoulder at every passing Outlooker, quickly acting as if he Melville students find time to play with old boxes is actually doing something. Paste up is actually in addition to working on publications. starting again, the voices slowly rising in volume above each other. Time to get back to work.

Introducing the new Get the Picture photography curriculum from Jostens

Contact your Jostens yearbook representative to learn more!

the law

by John Bowen

scholastic press rights chair • JEA

ABC’s of political reporting Although recent studies indicate high school students don’t of the goals of good journalism in a democracy. Running political know enough about political and citizenship issues, that has not ads can be one way to do that.” stopped student journalists from reporting and commenting on Additionally, there is no requirement for student media to run these issues. ads for all candidates in order to run any.

Rightly so.

“As the federal First Circuit Court of Appeals said in the Yeo v.

Reporting political issues as they affect teens can only help Lexington case,” Goodman said, “as long as students make the improve student journalists’ knowledge and better inform content decisions, not an adviser or school officials, students do communities of student voices. not have to run ads on both sides.”

But hopping on the political However, he added, a publication coverage bandwagon requires should think about the journalistic and thought and planning, verifying and ethical implications of rejecting ads for analyzing what and who is credible. only one side of a political viewpoint.

Web sites to get fact checking and other political In short, it’s back to the ABCs of “That action could do damage to information: Political Reporting so audiences the publication’s credibility with the understand issues and candidates. community,” Goodman said, “given • Annenberg Political Fact Check the publication still has opportunities http://www.factcheck.org/ A is for advertising and adversaries to make its own views clear on the • FactCheckEd.org editorial page.” http://www.factchecked.org/ One question is whether student

• Columbia Journalism Review Campaign Desk media can or should run political ads. http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/ The answer is relatively simple: It B is for biographies and background • Poynter High (Which has some interesting political depends. coverage ideas) It depends on whether your Once student journalists have http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=89 media outlet is a forum for student decided to engage in political • PolitiFact (A service of the St. Petersburg Times and expression. It depends if student reporting, no matter what level, Congressional Quarterly) http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/ editors feel it is important to run biographical and background • The Fact Checker political ads. information becomes essential so http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/ Former SPLC executive director audiences understand candidates and • Policing the Pols (Why fact checking is important) Mark Goodman said forum status issues. http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4444 could make a difference as to whether The worst thing student journalists • The Numbers Guy (checking the fact checkers) school officials could censor any kind can do in political reporting is to grab http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/checking-the-canof ads. and paste. Just copying candidates’ didates-numbers-192/ “If the publication is not operating positions from a national magazine • Check your facts ( Humorous look at fact checking as a designated public forum, it’s much does nothing to help local readers, teen and news) more likely that school officials could or otherwise, understand candidates’ http://www.checkyourfacts.org/ prohibit all political ads,” Goodman, positions or their local effects. Student • Blog on how to verify how credible blogs and sites are now Knight Chair of Scholastic media should, at least, provide access http://sugarandsplice.blogspot.com/2004/07/politicalJournalism at Kent State University to local sources or national Web sites fact-checking.html • Evaluating Web pages said. where political gobbledygook can be http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/InterHowever, he added, even if the thoroughly assessed. Questions could net/Evaluate.html media are not forums, administrators include: • Evaluation criteria for Web sites should not be able to censor ads for • What does a platform mean? http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/evalcrit.html one candidate while allowing ads for • Do politicians keep political that candidate’s opponent. promises?

Such restraint would be viewpoint • What do candidates’ promises discrimination. mean?

“Recent court decisions that have found high school student • Do they speak the truth, or is what they say so convoluted it newspapers to be public forums (Draudt v. Wooster and Dean v. means nothing?

Utica) have both noted the presence of advertising in the student • Can local sources, like a political science professor or publication as a sign that it was operating as a forum,” Goodman politician(s) demystify the terminology so audiences can use the said. “Thus there could be some legal benefit in running political information to decide their vote? ads.”

• Who, or what resources, can student media provide to help Goodman also said it should be entirely up to the student staff answer these questions? of a publication whether to run political ads.

Student reporters must decide how much time they are willing “I would defend a staff that made either choice,” he said. “I do to spend gathering information. think encouraging readers to engage in the political process is one • Will they simply reprint from political literature?

FYI

26 blend magazine fall 2007

Ina Herlihy of Convent of the Sacred Heart High Schools’ the broadview interviews Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee during his campaign stop at a San Francisco North Beach restaurant. Herlihy has interviewed or photographed over half of the candidates running during the primary season, having registered with the local major political parties to get updates on when candidates in her area and to receive press credentials. Photo by Celine Curran, Convent of the Sacred Heart High School Dean of Students

• Will they rehash information from the local party headquarters?

• Will they only focus on major candidates and parties?

• Do they know what their communities need?

They have to decide whether to just offer political views or to do enough research and reporting so viewpoints are rooted in something tangible. And, most emphatically, they need to make the information-gathering process transparent.

• Who and what were the resources?

• Do sources have a stake in the outcome?

• Do sources make broad, sweeping commentary or incisive and supported statements?

Most importantly, student journalists should ask themselves what type political reporting they do best that no other media offers.

Ideally, answers to all the questions will focus on locally relevant information, demonstrating ways students can make a difference.

C is for copyright and coverage Merely summarizing others’ media reports about candidates and issues creates nothing significant for their audiences.

Worse, such coverage may duplicate images or content, leading to copyright issues.

Avoid using artwork or visuals student journalists did not create. Consider collaborating with other scholastic media to share original images. Subscribe to MCT Campus through ASNE. NSPA executive director Logan Aimone suggested checking presidential candidate Web sites, but to “make sure you check that the photo is available to use freely, and to credit appropriately.”

Once student editors determine how they will handle copyright issues, they need to focus on how best to localize their reporting.

Localization means doing stories like these: • Interview sources about how candidate positions would change communities, schools or people’s lives • Interview elected government officials: Why did they choose to serve? What did they gain from it? What did they give to the community?

• Examine previously made local political promises: What really happened after the promises?

• Seek interviews with the candidates for profiles or with depth question-answer sessions on issues and goals • Publish human interest stories about students, faculty or community members with political memorabilia collections • Publish a sidebar of political terms, what the terms have meant historically, explained by experts talking about what the terms mean to today’s candidates • Localize your coverage with school board elections and issues Bill Kovach and Tom Rosentiel in The Elements of Journalism emphasize journalism’s growing role in synthesizing and verifying information, thus demonstrating a journalist’s first loyalty – to citizens.

The first element of journalism, the authors write is truth, “to provide people with the information they need to be free and selfgoverning.”

Covering political candidates and issues accurately provides scholastic media’s audiences something they cannot get anywhere else: journalism from student voices providing verified and responsible information.

diversity

by Keith Woods

The Poynter Institute

Ten Tips for Better Stories

About Race & Ethnicity

1. Make sure the story offers voice, context and complexity. Include the fullest range of voices and opinions as possible when writing stories about race/ethnicity. Remember that context explains facts.

Expect every story to have a layer of complexity. Pursue it.

2. Avoid turning people into primary colors by using race as a noun. “A black.” “Many whites.” By reducing a person to a color, you dehumanize. Use black/white as adjectives. Add a humanizing noun: black man; white student.

3. Pursue precision. Avoid euphemisms and coded language.

“Inner city” is not a synonym for “black” or “brown” or “poor.” It’s a geographic reference. “NASCAR dad” is a poor substitute for “working-class white man.” Watch for the other euphemisms and codes: Mainstream (white), exotic (Asian), local (Native Hawaiian).

4. Use the active voice when talking about events in which race/ ethnicity is a factor. Things don’t just happen. People do things to other people. Consider the difference. “She hurt him.” [active] “He was hurt.” [passive] The former places the action where it belongs.

The latter leaves out the person responsible for the action.

5. Be thoughtful about using slurs. If a slur is the reason there’s a story, it probably should be spelled out. Avoid euphemisms whenever possible. For example, if someone said the word “nigger” and it’s crucial to the understanding of the story, don’t use “the nword” or “n----.” The more powerful the person uttering the word or the more profound the context for its use, the stronger the case for spelling it out (“The teens called him a ‘spic’ just before striking the fatal blow.”)

6. Minority is not a synonym for black, brown, Asian or Native American. It’s a numerical reference. A person is a minority only

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in relation to a majority. To use “minority” as a synonym for “Asian” or other ethnic groups is to perpetually speak of those groups in relation to white people. Be specific: “Racial and ethnic minorities” when speaking of all people of color. Black, Latino, Vietnamese, Cherokee, etc., when speaking of individuals.

7. “Alien” alienates. “Illegals” dehumanizes. When referencing people in the country illegally, remember you’re talking about people.

Consider the person’s status before choosing language. One way to think about this: a. “Undocumented immigrant” presumes legal entry but lapsed or incomplete documentation. A student or worker who came to the country legally but overstayed a visa is undocumented. b. “Illegal immigrant” presumes a person unintentionally violated U.S. border laws by coming into the country without documentation. c. “Illegal alien” presumes a visit from E.T. 8. Be careful when conflating. Illegal immigrants come from many countries. If you mean those coming from Mexico and the rest of Latin America, say so. Avoid using “immigration” as a synonym for “illegal immigration.” Don’t switch between “Hispanics” and “immigrants,” lest you intend to suggest that all Hispanics are immigrants.

9. Use race/ethnicity when it’s needed. Explain why it’s relevant. Put it where it belongs.

10. Use descriptions that truly describe. Skin color and hue; features and textures. Race/ethnicity adds no true, reliable information to any physical description.