stet
Michigan Interscholastic Press Association presents
JANUARY 2012 VOL. 38, NO. 2 WWW.MIPAMSU.ORG
in this issue President’s Column 02 Award Reactions 03 Adviser Watch 04 First Amendment Clinic 06
1st Place, Yearbook Feature Photo Division Four Michael Huspen Berrien Springs HS
Congress 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. January 2012 â– 1
PRESIDENT'S COLUMN
AWARD REACTIONS
We all become our advisers
(thank God!)
MIPA OFFICERS 2011-2012
C.E. Sikkenga, President Julia Satterthwaite, 1st Vice President Sue Spalding, 2nd Vice President Kimberly Kozian, Secretary Jesse McLean, Treasurer Sara-Beth O’Connor, Trustee Pam Bunka, Trustee Julie Price, Newspaper Chair Lynn Strause, Yearbook Chair Diane Herder, Broadcast Chair Gloria Olman, Legislative Chair Jeremy Whiting, New Media Chair Jeff Nardone, Hall of Fame Chair Rod Satterthwaite, Special Projects Chair Corey Ernst, Middle School Chair Chad Sanders, Summer Workshop Director Brian Wilson, JEA Liaison Cheryl Pell, Executive Director 2 ■ January 2012
ABOUT STET
C.E. Sikkenga Grand Haven HS
was a mentor, a dear friend and, in many ways, like an auxiliary parent. My case is not unique. Dozens if not hundreds of his former staffers feel the same way. The Blade was always like an extended family and Dale always regaled us with stories of past staff members and updates about their professional success. In some ways it was annoying, because we couldn’t help feel like we never measured up to those past legends. On another level though, it was comforting. I never met Paul Pretzer or Chip Rowe or Anne Jellema or any of the other former staffers he’d tell us about, but because of the way he talked about them, as if they were still part of the staff, I always felt somehow connected to them. In a way, I felt like I had to live up to their expectations. In much the same way, Dale always made us feel connected to other papers across Michigan. When we were at loose ends or just in a mood to goof around, he’d frequently toss a copy of one our exchage papers in front of us.
Stet is the newsletter of the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association, an agency of the School of Journalism at MSU. Stet is published online by the MIPA executive director and MSU students. This issue was designed by Gina Holder, a former MIPA student who just graduated from the MSU J-School. Send letters to the editor and advertising inquiries to mipa@msu.edu. www.mipamsu.org The MIPA website is maintained by Cheryl Pell. 305 Communication Arts Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 48824 Phone: (517) 353-6761 Fax: (517) 355-7710
GREAT MENTORS AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, GREAT FRIENDS,
“That’s the Tower,” he’d say. It’s Bob Button’s paper. His kids are doing a lot of great things. Try to learn something.” We’d usually grumble. We were 17, immature and frequently thought he was just on a power trip, but we also enjoyed it. The papers were good and we built an imaginary rivalry between our staff and The Tower or The Jay or others. But as much as we felt we were competing against them, we always felt sort of connected as well—by the knowledge that there were other bands of crazies out there who were just as passionate about journalism as we were. That was a gift Dale gave us. And the gifts just kept on coming. When Dale retired, he (wisely) got as far away from the Blade as possible. I was on my own. The one piece of advice he gave me? “Get as involved with MIPA as you can. They’ll teach you everything you need to know.” As usual he was right. Please see PRESIDENT, page 7
MIPA CALENDAR Contest Deadline
24
One Day Workshop
17 29
and if I’m considered at their level, I know I’m doing things right. I know I could never have accomplished this without the incredible support I receive each and every day in my position at Grosse Pointe South. I have always had a great deal of help from my colleagues, from my administration, from my parents, and most importantly, I’ve been
blessed with incredible students over the years.
There’s no way I would earn these kinds of honors without the backing I continue to get each and every day.
— Jeff Nardone Pioneer Award
As an adviser, a lot of times we forget how much
dedication, time, brain power and soul we put into our students’ publications. Hearing what was said about not only me, but all of the
AMAZING ADVISERS
in our nation, reminded me about how honored I was to be a journalism adviser at the high school level. I truly believe we are making a difference and I look forward to many years of keeping scholastic journalism alive and thriving.
— Sara-Beth O’Connor Rising Star
February
17
3
Y
ou know how they say we all grow up to be like our parents? For journalism teachers, I think it’s equally true that we all grow up to be a little bit like our old advisers. For me, this is year 20 of teaching and year 12 of advising. I’m in something of a weird position in that I teach at the school from which I graduated. As a student, I was a three-year member of The Bucs’ Blade staff. For the past 12 years, I’ve been its adviser, taking over for my old adviser Dale Brinks. This year, Dale’s granddaughter, McKenna is a first-year staff member and as a result, I’ve reconnected with him. He emails me from Florida and follows the class blog I make for my students. That he’s pleased with the current direction of the paper he built means a lot to me. He stopped by for a visit yesterday and, just like when I was his student, he’s got me thinking about all sorts of mystical connections. As a student and in the eight years we taught on the same staff, Dale was more than an adviser—he
Winning the Pioneer is incredibly special. To be put on the same level as MIPA greats like Cheryl Pell, Betsy Rau, Gloria Olman and Bob Button is something I never thought I’d accomplish. These people have been
I was surprised when I won because I didn’t have much journalism experience from when I was in high school, but I was
Judging Day
happy to be recognized for the work I’ve done since. It’s been amazing getting to become
April
more involved in scholastic journalism these last few years, with MIPA and JEA and my student teaching. This scholarship is just another
March
2012 Spring Conference
July–Aug. 2
MIPA Summer Journalism Workshop
STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION and I can’t wait to see where I am in a
few more years. — Kathryn Dodge Future Teacher Scholarship (comes with $1,000) October 2011 ■ 3
ADVISER WATCH
ADVISER WATCH
Adviser Watch: Lynn Waldsmith Q A
How long have you been advising publications?
This is my sixth year teaching at Mercy as well as my sixth year of serving as adviser to Newsprint– Mercy’s student newspaper.
Q A
How did you wind up advising?
Actually, I made a mid-life career change after spending most of my professional career in journalism. After graduating from Michigan State, I spent four years working in Detroit newsrooms as a writer for WXYZ news/ talk radio, then WXYZ and WDIV television. I had a double love for both journalism and English, but I ended up going back to school to obtain a master’s degree in English with an emphasis on writing from the University of Minnesota. After that I came back to Michigan and worked in public relations while doing freelance writing for various publications as well as teaching writing at Wayne State and U-M Dearborn. Finally I landed
a reporter’s job at The Detroit News and worked there for 7 years before, during and after the infamous strike of ’95. Over time I realized that I really loved teaching and that I would love to ideally teach both journalism and English, so I had to go back to school to get certified. I did my student teaching at Mercy and got incredibly lucky when they offered me a position once I had my credentials to teach high school students
Q
Most of MIPA’s members advise publications in public school settings. Do you feel that you face any additional challenges or are afforded any additional benefits because you teach at an all-girls Catholic school?
A
I think it’s a mix. Obviously since we are a private, Catholic high school we have stricter policies in general than public schools with regard to dress code or student misconduct. But I would characterize Mercy as progressive, liberal, and evening cutting edge in terms of our one-to-one computer tablet initiative and all the outstanding programs we have here. Since I’m a football fan I regret that we can’t provide coverage for that as a school sport. But we have every other sport you can imagine. And it’s great to work in an environment where girls gain more confidence and usually excel in the absence of boys. Another benefit is that we produce Newsprint as an actual advanced journalism class, which cuts down on the amount of time we have to put in after school.
Q
Do you have a favorite textbook or resource that you couldn’t do your job without?
A
I’ve used a lot of lesson plans from hsj.org and although no textbook is ideal because journalism and technology is evolving so rapidly, I like Who, What, Where, Why and How by James Glen Stovall.
QUESTIONS BY JAYNA SALK
4 ■ January 2012
Mostly I just make an effort to keep up with the news in order to use lots of real world examples to show students examples of good or bad writing, biased reporting, challenges to the First Amendment, etc. Our free subscription to the e-edition of the Detroit Free Press comes in real handy for this. And I’ve created a blog called
“Waldsmith’s Dispatch” for my journalism students that I update with weekly postings where I pose questions, or showcase articles or video clips to reinforce things we’ve discussed in class. (See mhsmijournalism.blogspot.com)
Q
What is one bit of advice you would want to give to aspiring journalism teachers?
A
Give and take. You need to teach students everything you can about how to approach and write a story. But once you’ve put them through “boot camp”, so to speak, you have to step back and let them shine (or sometimes fail) on their own. Give them the knowledge and the tools they need, but then don’t micro-manage. Then it’s time to learn from them.
Q A
What is your favorite part of teaching publications?
Seeing them smile when everyone is reading the new issue. Seeing the tremendous pride they take in their work -knowing their hard work and best effort has paid off.
Q
You usually send quite a large group of students to
MIPA’s summer workshop? Why do you view the workshop as important for your students and what do you feel they bring back to your program?
A
Since journalism is only a one-semester course at Mercy, I have to devote the vast majority of time to teaching students the basic fundamentals of journalism – in other words, writing journalistically. I simply don’t have much time to focus on the basics of design. So I highly encourage those new to the staff (reporters) to take the InDesign course at MIPA while I also encourage my seniors (editors) to take the course that’s the best fit with their job description. Those who attend come back incredibly motivated, which inspires other students to go.
Q A
What is your proudest moment as a teacher?
Probably graduation. Of course it’s great to win awards or to see how proud students are of their finished product. But at graduation it always hits me how some of those kids up on the stage couldn’t even write a headline just a few years ago and now they’re young adults who can write and think critically like journalists do. January 2012 ■ 5
FIRST AMENDMENT
COLLEGE JOURNALISM PREP
FIRST Amendment Clinic
M
ore than 700 student journalists at seven Michigan high schools participated in First Amendment Workshops offered by law students at Michigan State University College of Law in the last year. Faculty advisers gave high marks to the free workshops offered by the Great Lakes First Amendment Law Clinic at MSU College of Law. The workshops covered topics such as student press rights, Freedom of Information Act requests, privacy law, and copyright and libel matters involving Facebook and Internet postings. The law students were “knowledgeable and energetic people,” said Tara Mesyn, journalism faculty advisor at Mason High School. “They have more knowledge than I do about many areas of First Amendment Law, so it’s a huge advantage to have them
teaching my students.” “Some of my newspaper students were concerned about taking one class hour a week to do the First Amendment workshop because of our time restrictions with deadlines, however, they really enjoyed it and gained a lot of insight that I was not able to provide them,” Mesyn added. Law students presented eight First Amendment workshops in spring semester and eight in fall semester of 2011 at seven high schools. Schools participating in the workshops included Mason High School, L’Anse Creuse North High School, WaterfordKettering High School, Dexter High School, Plymouth-Canton High School, Grosse Pointe South High School and Plainwell High School. Besides offering First Amendment Workshops, law students also provide
pro bono legal representation to high school journalists whose free speech rights have been challenged. Law students also draft copyright contracts for high school journalism programs seeking to use material from the Internet and elsewhere in their student publications and broadcasts. Clinic students are also conducting a Freedom of Information Act survey of school district regulations that govern First Amendment rights of student journalists. The First Amendment Clinic is a collaborative effort of MSU Law College and MSU School of Journalism. For more information about First Amendment Workshops contact Director of the Great Lakes First Amendment Law Clinic Nancy Costello at ncostello@law.msu.edu.
A R admap
to Collegiate Journalism College professors provide tips on how best to prepare your students for a career avenue in journalism By Amanda Gilbert Oh, the places they’ll go! With seniors in high school making their college decisions and career paths, we know there will be heartfelt goodbyes. Before graduation approaches and Pomp and Circumstance ensues, many journalism teachers lead and encourage their students’ pathway toward journalism. And once, they get into a college journalism program, there are plenty of new and exciting opportunities for them to pursue. Here, two professors at Michigan State University give you helpful tips to transition your high school students to rise up to the challenges and expectations they will encounter in college.
A Real Responsibility
PRESIDENT'S COLUMN Continued from PRESIDENT, page 2 After a year of advising, I was ready to quit. I was in over my head. I was sure I couldn’t hack it. And then I called MIPA. I took an adviser class. I met Cheryl Pell. I met Betsy Rau and Bobby Hawthorne and Lynn Strause and a cadre of colleagues from across the state. I had support. I felt like I belonged. Suddenly, I had a new generation of mentors. Many also now rank among my most cherished friends. I’ve also met a lot of 20-something advisers who continually inspire (and intimidate) me with their knowledge and technological chops. They keep me young and inspire me to push forward and keep trying new things. I suspect Dale knew that would happen when he pushed me in that direction. I try to thank him for it every time we get to chat. 6 ■ October 2011
And now that I’m in Dale’s shoes, I find myself doing the same things. In our publication room, when kids are at loose ends, I find myself dropping other school’s papers in front of them. “That’s Brian Wilson’s paper, they’re fantastic,” or “here’s a link to the latest edition of The North Pointe,” that’s Andrew Taylor’s paper,” or “check out what Pam Bunka’s kids are doing. You better get it in gear if you want to keep up.” Now, when my kids attend MIPA functions, they’re seeking out those people and the circle keeps growing. In class, I’m always telling stories about the Hannah Rappleyes . Chris Eppletts and Lydia Coutres that came before. Some times I think it drives my kids nuts. Then again, at times, it drove me nuts when Dale did it. Hopefully, someday some of my kids will drive their staffs nuts the same way. I’ll be checking in on their blogs and stopping by their classrooms. They can thank me then.
The transition from a high school paper to college journalism courses is a brand new environment, one which requires new expectations for students. Joe Grimm, a professor at Michigan State University, sees freshmen transition every year. With his first degree having been a teaching certificate, he admits he has always had a calling for being in the classroom. For the past four years he has taught journalism classes ranging from reporting and online reporting to copyediting and magazine writing. He says one weakness he sees in his students is time management. “They have a lot of activities they want to do, we have way more activities than any high school has, and they are responsible for their own schedule,” said Grimm. “Students that do the best at Michigan State and other colleges have initiative to do things and they work hard.” Another issue of concern Grimm carries for new, collegiate journalists is their writing skills. “Some basic writing skills aren’t being learned in high school, and as an instructor, I’m torn between should I teach kids how to use a
modifier, or should I move on to higher level kinds of thinking?” said Grimm. “I don’t know the right answer. I think the right answer might be I should take time out to teach them those skills, but then time comes away from higher concepts.” This is the golden opportunity for students to learn about emerging journalism technology, and develop the skills necessary to deliver messages creatively and efficiently to the public. With this in mind, Grimm said that a large change in journalism from high school to collegiate level is the type of reporting students accomplish. In a high school classroom students interview students, whereas in college, the reporting becomes broader. In effect, the interviews are less likely to be a friend or classmate. “When you’re writing in college you really should be going out and talking to local business owners, non-profits, and citizens who have noticed some of the problems going on in their communities,” said Grimm. He said that often times, students never had to experience this type of reporting in high school. “I find that a lot of journalism students find it new and different to go out and talk to strangers,” said Grimm. “So that experience of getting an interview with a total stranger is a good one to get while still in high school.”
Pushing the Envelope Jane Briggs-Bunting has spent the past eight years at MSU, as former director of the School of Journalism and more currently, as a professor. With a degree as an attorney in media law, Briggs-Bunting is passionate about proper journalism ethics. With her past experience as Oakland University’s adviser for the college newspaper, and her recent position on the MSU newspaper review board, she has seen the woes of a college-run student paper. High School
journalism, she said, is key in preparation for this career avenue. “It gives you a leg up in your beginning classes, so getting involved in the student paper, or with the news broadcast and audio, is extremely important,” Briggs-Bunting said. However, she is weary of journalism classes in high school not yet teaching students their full rights as journalists and citizens. Just what would revoke such rights from your students? Briggs-Bunting believes it is censorship. “They should cover types of stories that may not endear the teacher or editors to the administration,” she said. “The biggest handicap I would have with the students back at Oakland as the adviser is the kids would come in with these story ideas during our story sessions and students would say ‘Oh, we can’t cover that! They won’t let us!’” “My question back to them always was, ‘Well, who are they?’” Self-censorship, she said, is an issue with students in an academic environment. They don’t push the envelope enough. “But you do have to do a responsible job,” said Briggs-Bunting. “Cover it fairly, accurately, and mechanically, the story should be flawless.” Another issue of concern for high school journalists she says is the use of social media. It is a term used with caution at most high schools, but here at MSU, it is an educational tool used in almost every journalism classroom. “College media is recognizing that everything is going digital,” she said. “The ability to use mobile apps, twitter as a reporting source, crowd-sourcing, and social media-those draw traffic to a site.” She said that although K12 schools are restrictive in accessing, with the fear of offensive sites being seen, students should look for other avenues.
January 2012 ■ 7
Long Live Strong Student Leads “Write the piece, find the best, juiciest piece, spice it up and lead with it,” said Spalding. For students with a brain freeze, this piece of advice may be the perfect cure. It gives them time to think and urges students to look beyond their notes-to think outside the box.
By Amanda Gilbert It starts with a shiver. A chilling sensation in the head, so numbing you squint in agony. Brain Freeze. It may happen from biting into an ice cream cone, or drinking a slurpee too fast. Perhaps, however, a brain freeze is any temporary inability to think. For journalists, especially beginners, the most common “brain freeze” is writing a lead. How an article begins, after all, has enough power to either catch a reader’s attention or turn that reader away. Teaching students to overcome and persevere with leads is a task in which every journalism teacher must face. However, through scaffolding methods of writing leads and leading by example, students will learn to overcome even the most dire “brain freeze.” Scaffolding Methods for Leads At Quincy High School, leads are taught through a process. The most important information comes first, but as journalism teacher, Sue Spalding, teaches, it is not necessarily the first piece of writing to think about. In fact, she tells her students to write backwards. Spalding said that when a student is having trouble starting with a lead, she tells them to jump ahead and return to it after writing their article.
Leading By Example For journalism teacher Sara-Beth O’Connor, teaching students to write great leads is all about example. By engaging students with diverse examples of how they might be written, students will see the creativity involved in writing. However, not just the good leads. Her students see the good, bad and the ugly. A strategy such as this will prompt students to categorize what qualities of a lead make or break an article. After putting thought into how the lead affects themselves as a reader, they may then have a better idea of how to critique a lead in their own articles. O’Connor said that it helps to make leads the last part of article writing in her classroom. “We find the best information in the story after it is written, move it to the top and revise,” said O’Connor. If students have been immersed with examples of leads already, then revision will be an easier task to accomplish.
What a Lead! Michigan high school journalists prove they can conquer the art of writing the lead The following leads are reprinted from some of the winning entries in the 2011 Individual Category Contests. Bieber Fever. Symptoms may include: being obsessed with a floppy-haired kid from Canada who thinks he can move like Chris Brown, listening to auto tune-produced pop music, and if it’s a really bad case, reading his autobiography First Step 2 Forever: My Story. (Dear Justin’s editor, that’s ‘to’ not ‘two.’) -Danielle Cywka, North L’Anse High School
“A Highlander investigation and police records confirm more than a dozen student lockers have been burglarized at Seaholm since March 1 of this year and that number seems to be growing almost daily. -Mary Hathaway, Seaholm High School
The night passed by in a surreal daze as sophomore Alexis Fital waited at the Fenton Police Station. It was the usual story: parents were not home, underage drinking, a small party got out of control and the cops were called.
Two generations brought closer together through a baseball team, and two magical seasons.
-Amy Rooker, Fenton High School
-Jordan Siden, Ann Arbor Community High School
-Tyler Scott, Ithaca High School
The clacking of keystrokes are the only sounds to be heard in the otherwise silent computer lab.
$160 for football. $150 for lacrosse. $100 for the musical. $40 for National Honors Society. An involved, enriched high school experience: not exactly priceless. -Sarah Dittrich/Sara Songeward, Stoney Creek High School
I thought I had a pulse. Two years ago, this was going through the head of senior Kately Walters after she found her mother lying on the floor. -Ty Buckingham/Morgan Groulx, Midland High School 8 ■ January 2012