Quill & Scroll Fall 2012 Magazine

Quill & Scroll Fa

l l

2012

Journalism

beyond

high school how high school journalism can set you apart in college tips and useful for high

sources

school

newsrooms Fall 2012

1

Quill & Scroll

s u m m e r journalism c a m p s northern television center

the

northern

star

C h i c a g o m e d i a internships

www.comm.niu.edu/futurestudents

the foundation for your future Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science

Quill & Scroll

• • • • 2

Journalism Media Studies Organizational/Corporate Communication Rhetoric and Public Communication Fall 2012

Quill & Scroll Volume 87 * Issue 1

In this issue

Editor and Business Manager Vanessa Shelton Executive Director, Quill and Scroll Society

Fall 2012

Assistant Editor Sarah Larson Senior, University of Iowa Contributing Editors Julie E. Dodd Professor, College of Journalism and Mass Communication The University of Florida, Gainesville Bruce E. Konkle Professor, College of Journalism University of South Carolina, Columbia Book Editor Barbara Bealor Hines Professor, Mass Communication and Media Studies, Howard University, Washington, D.C.

On the Cover The featured photo placed second in Photography News/Feature in the 2011 Quill and Scroll Writing and Photo Contest. Shawnee Mission Northwest High School, Kansas, student Andy Wickoren took the photo titled “Life with Siblings.�

Want to see more contest winners?

Order a copy of the Quill and Scroll contest winners PowerPoint presentation on CD. Ordering information is at http://quillandscroll.org/.

Be sure to enter the 2013 Writing and Photo Contest by Feb. 1. New divisions and a blogging competition have been added. Who knows? Maybe your photo could end up on the cover of Quill & Scroll.

Fall 2012

Features 4 Teen press club

6 journalism is

8 twitter chat

10 Notes from

a family practice for the carrolls

leader recalls historic interviews

grammy camp for journalists

interview with a college journalist

Columns 14 journalistic 11 Considering ethics advising

standards by state

in journalism

15 six reasons

journalism will set you apart

17 looking at

media to select a college 3

16 18

why do you do what you do?

9 blog posts to create variety Quill & Scroll

A Moment in Time

Chicago Keen Teen Press Club leader recalls historic interviews

By Val Lauder

It is a pleasure to look back on what high school journalists have achieved over the years, with particular attention to a group in Chicago I knew and worked with.

Indeed, they are a featured part of the recently published memoir, “The Back Page,” recounting my years at the Chicago Daily News.

I was a teenager myself when I went to the Daily News as a copygirl, fresh off the campus of Northwestern University. It was my trip down to the Chicago Theatre to get an interview for the Northwestern Daily with singer Lena Horne that planted the seed for The Keen Teen Press Club. The man at the Chicago Theatre stage door said I’d have to ask her manager. When he came down from the dressing rooms, he flicked his cigar and said, “Honey, if I let you interview her I’ll have to let 130 other school editors interview her.”

At the Daily News, however, I discovered writers received invitations to interview the celebrities appearing at theatres or passing through town. And when I started to write a column for high school and college students, I proposed that the Daily News sponsor a press club made up of editors of the school newspapers.

The first interview was with the actor Pat O’Brien. There were only 13 student

The Back Page

editors and the interview was held in the sitting room of his suite at the Ambassador East Hotel.

I remember him sharing a story with the students about the troubles he had getting his daughter to practice the piano each day, as she was supposed to do. Not an unusual parental problem, of course. But he had help. He lived next door to the great concert pianist Arthur Rubinstein and, he said, whenever his daughter was not practicing her scales, he would throw open the doors to the veranda and let the practicing across the way drift over to her.

During the goodbye-thank you farewell, I asked him what he thought of the budding project, teenage press conferences.

“It’s very good for them,” he said. “A lot of these supposed-to-be prominent people are placed on pedestals by the kids.

They don’t get close to them, and are timid and shy when they do. If you go half way with them, they’re wonderful.”

He would not be the first to think that.

The student editors, 109 by then, interviewed President Harry S. Truman six weeks later at the Blackstone Hotel – April 6, 1946 – the first formal presidential press conference ever granted a group of student newspaper editors. When it ended -- 27 minutes later, far exceeding the time allot-

ted – the President told the students that their questions had been very intelligent. He hoped the answers had been of the same caliber.

Out in the corridor, he was heard to remark that it was one of the stiffest press conferences he ever had, that, in fact, “some of the White House boys could take a few pointers from the kids.”

This was no casual remark, or one the president made just to be kind, as I learned two months later from Chicago Daily News Publisher John S. Knight, after he returned from a conference in Washington, D.C. Knight told of a conversation with President Truman during a glittering reception in the East Room of the White House for leaders of the publishing industry. Truman approached Knight, giving him the equivalent of an elbow in the ribs, and said: “Now ask me about the good questions those kids put to me in Chicago last month.”

The professionalism of high school journalists was further validated in their coverage of a press conference the following January with yet another high-ranking public official, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Then-General Eisenhower talked about his role with U.S. troops in World War II.

A student’s question – the last question of the press conference – resulted in a story published and copyrighted by the Chicago Daily News, with the headline: IKE’S GREATEST WAR DECISION.

It was the first time the General had publicly revealed it.

He had no reason to hold back, if asked. So, apparently, no one had thought to ask him until Myrna Ephraim of Bowen High School did.

It involved the airborne landings that were part of the Normandy invasion June 6, 1944 – D-Day – and one of the iconic photos of World

Val Lauder’s book, The Back Page: The Personal Face of History, is on sale now on Amazon.com. The memoir tells Lauder’s many stories as a young journalist at the Chicago Daily News during the post War World II era. Below is an excerpt, in which a journalism student’s immigrant mother reacts to her son asking the president a question.

She’d found her voice now.

“We are so proud,” she said.

“Our son … asked the President of the United States a question … and got an answer.”

No hesitancy now.

“That could never happen in our country,” she said. “Only in America.

Read a full excerpt at http://quillandscroll.org/.

Quill & Scroll

4

Fall 2012

War II shows Ike with men of the 101st Airborne at the airfield just before take-off. It was from a later interview with his driver, Kay Summersby, that we learned he surprised his aides by coming out of his office, saying he wanted to go out to the airfield to see the boys off.

Some of the high school and college newspapers had a single editor attend the press conferences each school year. Others sent different students, spreading it around. A few of the student editors, those assigned in their sophomore or junior years, remained in the press club for two, even three years. As did some of the student photographers that we added at the start of the 1946 fall semester.

Other historical figures the students interviewed were Governor Adlai E. Stevenson, Vice President Alben Barkley, Admiral William F. “Wild Bull” Halsey, U.S. Senator Robert A. Taft.

Hollywood stars included Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Jimmy Durante, Jack Benny, Danny Thomas, Jane Powell, Peter Lawford, Rosalind Russell, Richard Widmark, Cecil B. DeMille, Esther Williams, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

Quill & Scroll magazine featured an article on the Keen Teen Press Club in 1948.

A nice mix of history and humor … music and movies.

And memories.

For so many.

Fall 2012

5

(Far Left) The cover of Val Lauder’s book, The Back Page is on the left. To the right, Lauder shows a picture of herself at the Eisenhower press conference.

Photo contributed by Jack Lauterer.

(Above) Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower sees off paratroopers.

A student journalist asked the general what his greatest decision was during the war, to which he replied that moment with the troops. Lauder and students found out Eisenhower decided to see the men off on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Photo contributed by the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

(Left) Lauder displays the Chicago Daily News headline that resulted from a student journalist’s question at a press conference with Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Photo contributed

by Jack Lauterer.

Quill & Scroll

All in the Family Three generations of journalists continue as the youngest pursues international reporting

By Sarah Larson

For the Carrolls, journalism is the family practice. Beginning with Charles Carroll and continuing on with his sons, Paul and Tim, Charles’ granddaughter, Shannon, is now carrying on the tradition.

It began with Charles Carroll, who started his time in the newsroom by taking high school sports scores at The Des Moines Register. After enlisting for World War II shortly after his 18th birthday in 1945, the war ended. Charles then ended up at the University of Iowa after a year at Drake University.

He wrote for the campus newspaper, The Daily Iowan, where he eventually became the editor-in-chief while earning his master’s degree.

“He (Charles) liked stirring up trouble,” Paul said of his dad’s many stories about the newspaper. As editor, Charles managed to get a visit from an upset mayor, sued for defamation after printing a controversial story, and was even threatened with expulsion by the president of the school. Charles also convinced Paul Conrad to draw editorial cartoons for The Daily Iowan. Conrad went on to work at The Denver Post and the Los Angeles Times, winning three Pulitzer Prizes for his editorial cartoons.

“Dad caused a little bit of a ruckus around campus,” Paul said. “He was now well and thoroughly hooked on journalism.”

Charles went on to work at The Des Moines Register, Wall Street Journal, and the New York Herald Tribune. He then took a job in Pittsburgh at Westinghouse in public relations, so he could support his family, which included eight children– three boys and five girls.

Of the three boys, two went on to pursue journalism and both worked at the Wall Street Journal. Tim, the youngest of the boys, still works there as the news editor on the foreign desk while Paul, the second eldest, is now involved with various projects including writing a follow up to his best seller, Billion-Dollar Lessons: What You Can Learn From the Most Inexcusable Business Failures of the Last 25 Years. Both attribute their passion for journalism to their father and his stories about his time in the field.

“He (Charles) just went on and on about how each word added something

Quill & Scroll

to the sentence, something to the story,” Tim said of his father. “There were no extraneous words. Each thought was clear, precise and it was like a wine connoisseur talking about how wonderful a wine is but he was talking about a four-paragraph story in a newspaper.”

Between the three of them, 48 years have been spent at the Wall Street Journal.

“Being at a place like the Wall Street Journal is great training because it forces you to think about stories and it forces you to understand how to use numbers but in a supportive way,” Paul said.

When Tim received a Pulitzer certificate after the Journal won the Pulitzer for breaking news coverage for its reporting of Sept. 11, 2001, he framed it and gave it to his father, who has since died. Paul was also a Pulitzer finalist in 1996.

Paul and Tim’s illustrious careers in journalism and passion for words extend to their siblings, who each have had success in various fields and appreciate good writing.

“We all know and appreciate words,” Tim said. “To this day, we take a perverse pleasure when someone writes something they don’t mean in an email.”

This delight in writing has passed on to the third generation.

Paul’s daughter, Shannon, is now pursuing journalism at The Daily Californian as a freshman at the University of CaliforniaBerkeley, where she is majoring in political science and hopes to one day be an international reporter at a major metropolitan newspaper. As a student at Granite Bay High School in California, Shannon won two first-place awards in the 2012 Quill and Scroll Writing and Photo Contest – one in General Columns and the other in the InDepth Individual reporting category.

Like her father, Shannon grew up listening to stories about how interesting journalism was.

“It never seemed like a boring job,” Shannon said. “He wasn’t just sitting behind a desk. He got to go out and meet these re-

6

ally cool people and travel to these really cool locations. As a kid and even now, that idea has always appealed to me.”

(Top) Shannon Carroll with her dad, Paul Carroll, on a trip to London when she was 11 years old. Shannon said, “I think the fact that I was lucky enough to get to travel when I was young really instilled in me a desire to see the world. Hence, the international part of international journalism.”

(Bottom) Shannon Carroll and her father continue their travels, more recently to Lake Tahoe. Shannon won two first-place awards in the 2012 Quill and Scroll Writing and Photo Contest. Deadline for the 2013 contest is Feb. 1.

Fall 2012

Fall 2012

7

Quill & Scroll

Twitter Chat Interview

Journalism professor Julie E. Dodd interviewed University of Florida senior Meg Wagner via TweetChat. Wagner interned at Breakingnews.com in Seattle last summer. She selected and posted news, making editorial decisions in real-time. The article is in Twitter format, with the first tweet at the bottom andhttp://tweetchat.com/room/quillchat the most recent at the top, replacing the lead paragraph.

TweetChat - #quillchat

meg_wagner @profdodd Don't be afraid to try new things - blogging, social media, photography, design, etc. Never know what you might like. #quillchat -2:03 PM Oct 11th, 2012 profdodd What tips do you have for hs students who are interested in a media career? #quillchat -2:00 PM Oct 11th, 2012 meg_wagner @profdodd Helped me discover passion for media. I was the @FSPA student journo of the year in '09. Learned journo skills early! #quillchat -2:00 PM Oct 11th, 2012 profdodd You got your start as hs columnist for local newspaper & on hs newspaper. How did that help you as college journalist? #quillchat -1:57 PM Oct 11th, 2012

meg_wagner @profdodd Seattle is an artsy & techy city. Much to do Pike Market, Space Needle & a lot of coffee http://t.co/6ZVTfmy3 #quillchat -1:56 PM Oct 11th, 2012 meg_wagner @profdodd I was on my own for the 1st time. Had to find housing & get to work by myself. Scary not knowing anyone in the city! #quillchat -1:50 PM Oct 11th, 2012 profdodd What was fun & challenging about interning in Seattle, a city you’d never visited before? #quillchat -1:48 PM Oct 11th, 2012 meg_wagner @profdodd Broke late at night & 4 editors worked to fact check each other. Made sure we got the story first and correct. #quillchat -1:47 PM Oct 11th, 2012

profdodd One of your big stories was jury’s verdict on Jerry Sandusky case. How were decisions made about tweeting that story? #quillchat -1:42 PM Oct 11th, 2012

meg_wagner @profdodd Being more of an editor, less of a writer.

Sometimes you have to commit grammar sins to meet 140 characters. #quillchat -1:41 PM Oct 11th, 2012

Quill & Scroll

8

Fall 2012

profdodd You’d written for @ufnow & @gainesvillesun. What was challenge of going from writing articles to posting tweets? #quillchat -1:39 PM Oct 11th, 2012

meg_wagner @profdodd News wires such as @AP and @Reuters for national stories. Local papers, websites & TV stations through Twitter #quillchat -1:38 PM Oct 11th, 2012 profdodd Much of your work was tweeting breaking news & including links to stories for context. What news sources did you monitor? #quillchat -1:36 PM Oct 11th, 2012 meg_wagner @profdodd Here's my cubicle in the newsroom - hub of Breaking News! http://t.co/VpLuprHx #quillchat -1:34 PM Oct 11th, 2012 meg_wagner @profdodd Monitored news wires & updated http://t.co /GiwJjqYe w/ stories 24/7. 2 weeks of training before I could tweet by myself #quillchat -1:33 PM Oct 11th, 2012 profdodd Meg, congrats on internship with @BreakingNews in Seattle.

What did your duties include & how did you get trained? #quillchat -1:30 PM Oct 11th, 2012

meg_wagner This is a test - working on a chat about internships with @profdodd this afternoon #quillchat -1:26 PM Oct 11th, 2012 judyrobinson7 Quill &

(Left) Meg Wagner took this photo by the Space Needle in Seattle, and linked it to in her tweet at 1:56 p.m., Oct. 11. Photo contributed via Twitter by Wagner.

Scroll, it is! #quillchat -5:57 PM Oct 8th, 2012 (Below) Meg Wagner’s cubicle in the Breaking News newsroom during her internship. This is the photo Wagner linked to in her tweet at 1:34 p.m. Oct. 11 for the interview. Photo contributed via Instagram

by Wagner.

Trying out the hashtag for Quill & Scroll

profdodd #quillchat conversations. #quillchat -5:56 PM Oct 8th, 2012

For more information on Quill and Scroll follow us on Twitter @QuillandScroll or like our Facebook page, Quill and Scroll Honor Society for High School Journalists.

2 of 2

Fall 2012

10/12/12 11:13 AM

9

Quill & Scroll

Tips from GRAMMY Camp

One college student shares her experiences in the music journalism program.

By Nicole A. Powell When I look back at my experience at the GRAMMY Foundation’s GRAMMY Camp, I am in awe that I was able to participate in such a unique program in music journalism.

I had the privilege of being surrounded by the nation’s most talented youth vocalists, songwriters, audio engineers, instrumentalists, electronic music producers, and music journalists.

We were all there to be mentored by industry professionals and to feed off of each other’s own creativity and talent. I was lectured on journalism by writers from Rolling Stone and the Associated Press. From the experience, I learned how to become a better writer and how to communicate questions clearly and effectively during interviews.

Because I was awarded this opportunity to sharpen my skills for a future career in music journalism, I feel a responsibility to pass on some of the knowledge I was given to other aspiring journalists.

The most important things I learned about interviews are to be unscripted and assertive, to take risks, follow your instincts, and always have follow-up questions.

• Being unscripted allows the interview to become more conversational, which may lead to more interesting answers and prevents the interviewer from forgetting prepared questions.

• Being assertive during an interview will help you receive the information you need from the interviewee, and shows the interviewee that you are serious about the topic.

• Taking risks in posing questions is a way to get unexpected responses. If you ask a question no other reporter is asking, or if you touch on a little-known subject, and step out of your comfort zone, you may receive more interesting answers.

• Following your instincts can help guide you as well.

If you feel the interviewee is uncomfortable or angry, then you should gradually move away from the touchy subject.

• Finally, follow-up questions are essential to keep an interview flowing. In order to get past awkward silences and pauses from one-word answers, ask a follow-up question related to the initial question to keep the interview going.

Hopefully, these tips will be as helpful to you as they were to me. I am grateful that I could pass on the information I learned to others.

Nicole A. Powell is a student at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where she is majoring in communication studies. A graduate of Bishop Montgomery High School in Terrace, Calif., Powell also is an intern at the Hollywood Reporter.

Quill & Scroll

10

(Top) Nicole Powell interviews Grammy campers after a performance. Photo courtesy of Tiffany Lo/The Recording Academy.

(Bottom) Music journalism students awaiting an early morning television taping.

For more information about GRAMMY Camp or other GRAMMY Foundation initiatives, visit www.grammyintheschools.com.

For breaking news and exclusive content, Like “GRAMMY in the Schools” on Facebook at www.facebook.com/grammyintheschools and follow the GRAMMY Foundation on Twitter @GRAMMYFdn or www.twitter.com/GRAMMYFdn.

Fall 2012

SPLC Notes Considering legal and ethical pitfalls of coverage Student reporters at Central High School were curious. Every afternoon, underage kids gathered in the woods across from the school parking lot and enjoyed a smoke.

But none were old enough to buy cigarettes legally. Where were they getting them?

At Bailey’s Convenience Store right around the corner, the reporters were told.

Old Mr. Bailey is so nearsighted that he doesn’t bother checking ID’s. He’ll sell cigarettes to just about anybody.

So the student reporters at Central decided on a test: They’d send a visibly not-18 reporter into the store to make a purchase without showing a driver’s license.

It seemed like the kind of story you see all the time on “Dateline” and other newsmagazine shows – and a valuable public service, if Mr. Bailey really is breaking the law. But there were lurking dangers. Under the law of their state, it wasn’t illegal just to sell cigarettes to a minor. It was also illegal to buy them. And that meant the reporter – good intentions or not – would be committing a crime to get the story.

The school isn’t really Central and the store isn’t really Bailey’s, but this story is otherwise real. It’s typical of the kinds of stories that make the attorney hotline at the Student Press Law Center ring some 2,000 times a year.

Students want to take on “real” community news – and they should. But like all journalists, they must consider all of the legal and ethical pitfalls when they push boundaries and take risks.

Legally, doing an undercover “sting” type of story carries risks. Ask ABC News, which was successfully sued by the Food Lion grocery chain because its producers lied on employment applications to get jobs in the grocer’s meat and deli departments, where they secretly videotaped deceptive labeling practices.

There also are ethical considerations that may be decisive. For instance, in the underage-cigarette story, one option that the students considered was cooperating with police as part of an officially approved sting.

Fall 2012

But many professional news organizations won’t make that deal. They are ethically wary of creating the impression of too-close cooperation with law enforcement. Sources need to know that, when they confide in a journalist, the journalist can be trusted to keep confidentiality – not run to the police and spill the beans.

Consider another real SPLC case, of a high school where a student-athlete bragged to someone on the newspaper staff that he and several teammates regularly got stoned on drugs before practice. He even invited a camera crew to come videotape him lighting up – with his face blurred – and then going out onto the practice field.

That athletes are practicing underthe-influence is an important story that deserves to be told. It puts their safety and others’ at risk. But this storytelling method was flashing a bright red “danger” sign.

The athlete is admitting to committing a crime – on school grounds. The students have the crime on video. Can they keep their promise of confidentiality?

Every state except Wyoming has some type of a reporter’s privilege law that allows journalists to refuse to turn over confidential information – including the names of sources – if asked to do so by police or attorneys.

But some states’ laws don’t protect unpaid student journalists – Texas and Florida are two notable examples. And they’ve never been tried in a situation where the demand for information comes from a principal for use in school discipline, not in court.

So it isn’t 100 percent clear that a student would have a legal right to refuse the principal’s demand for the identity of the source – though a student in that situation should never break a promise of confidentiality without consulting a lawyer.

Complicating the issue even more, the camera probably belongs to the school and is kept on school premises, where the principal can get access to it anytime. (For this reason, no student journalist should store anything with confidential notes, photos or audio recordings on school grounds.)

And complicating it even more, once the faculty adviser knows the identity of

11

By Frank D. LoMonte, Executive Director Student Press Law Center

the dope-smoker, he may be under a duty to report the behavior. In many states, teachers are legally required – under penalty of firing – to report student behavior that poses a risk to physical safety. (For this reason, student media should always have confidential-source policies and consider whether, in extreme cases such as this one, it is safest to wall off the adviser from knowing too much.)

Those are the legal questions. But then there’s the ethical one. Why does someone invite media coverage of his foolish and illegal behavior? Is it possible that the student is a bragger and attention-seeker, who just wants to be in the paper?

There is a fine ethical line between recording news and creating news. In this situation, had the students gone ahead (they didn’t), the line might have been crossed. It is one thing to capture a photo of students who are spotted doing something illegal on school grounds. It’s another thing to cooperate in staging the illegal behavior for the benefit of the cameras.

Consider, too, whether the student may be exaggerating. Might he have a grudge against the coach, and believe that this is a way to embarrass the athletic program? When someone admits to behavior that is against his best interests, it’s always wise to consider hidden motives.

These types of judgment calls are commonplace throughout journalism, and they’re in no way limited to the school setting. Journalists wrestle constantly with such ethical dilemmas as whether to “out” a news source as being an illegal immigrant, for example.

Learning to make sound ethical decisions is part of becoming a true “professional,” and that learning opportunity is what makes scholastic journalism so uniquely valuable – even for people who never plan to work in the news business.

If you are embarking on a project that has the potential to reveal damaging private information about people, or put journalists in harm’s way, it is always a good start to consult a lawyer. But in the end, it is most important to consult your conscience.

Quill & Scroll

NEWEST B O O KS I N JOURNALISM THE

Media companies consistently encourage their staff members to work on professional development to make them work smarter and better. Scholastic journalists can do the same with the books featured in this issue.

Barbara Bealor Hines Howard University Washington, D.C.

Briggs, Mark. Entrepreneurial Journalism: How to Build What’s Next for News. CQ Press. 2012. $22.95.

Noted Internet guru Jeff Jaris, director of the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism, believes this book provides a plan for those who want to build the future of news.

No one is in a better position than student journalists to create options for their readers. After reading Entrepreneurial Journalism, some new chapters may evolve. Each chapter uses a real person’s experience from Mike Orren’s Pegasus News to Douglas McLennan’s ArtsJournal.com. Throughout the book, there are examples of startups that have changed the face of news while helping individuals pursue their dreams of business ownership.

Entrepreneurial Journalism is graphically pleasing to follow with its lists, photos and Web shots of the sites Briggs chronicles. This is not written in “business speak;” it guides readers through each step of their adventure. The reader learns to size up the market, harness technology, develop ideas into products or services, explore revenue streams, estimate costs and finally, launch.

Briggs, who wrote Journalism 2.0, is an associate at the Poynter Institute and has been a presenter at journalism and media conferences throughout the U.S. and Europe. He clearly wants to help journalists be innovative in creating sustainable news businesses.

Cron, Lisa. Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence. Ten Speed Press. 2012. $14.99.

Do not let anyone tell you otherwise: writing is brain science. And there’s no better way to understand how to be successful with developing and crafting stories than Lisa Cron’s Wired for Story.

Are there stories that make a lasting impression on readers? Backed by recent breakthroughs in neuroscience as well as real-life writing examples, this book offers a unique look at stories as the brain understands them. It is filled with fascinating facts about what draws the reader into stories – always involving the brain.

In 12 chapters, the writer dissects the brain, stimulating the reporter to go one step further in unlocking the potential of the story. The book focuses on the fact that storytelling achieves greatness when it intrigues the brain.

The author has a diverse background in writing: as a producer for Showtime and Court TV, as a story consultant for Warner Brothers and Village Roadshow. She’s worked in book publishing, television and film, and worked with writers, producers and agents developing book and movie projects.

She shows the reader how to make a story great, to zero in on an aspect of the brain to reveal story and how to turn it in to powerful writing.

Each chapter opens with a cognitive secret and story secret. Each ends with four to seven checkpoints to guide the writer to greatness. There are case studies and examples throughout the book that make important points for the writer and prove that the brain is always looking for a lesson.

Crossman, Anne. Study Smart, Study Less: Earn Better Grades and Higher Test Scores, Learn Study Habits that Get Fast Results, and Discover Your Study Persona. Ten Speed Press. 2011. $10.99.

Anne Crossman’s paperback delivers customized learning tips useful for students at any educational stage. Her writing is concise, humorous, and encouraging. The layout engages the reader and models her study recommendations; this is a quick, memorable, and enjoyable read.

Quill & Scroll

12

Fall 2012

Crossman’s guide begins with brief quizzes that allow students to identify their study persona (which may include the unperfected perfectionist, deadline daredevil, mack slacker, or brain trainer) and learning style. She also describes the memory process, revealing why the process creates frustration and removing guesswork from academic performance. The opening chapters motivate students to increase their learning self-awareness before reading the tips provided throughout the book.

The tools described by the author are useful for both struggling and successful students who want to reach their full academic potential. Crossman writes of the possibilities for study becoming quick, effective, and fun. She suggests techniques that will enhance the learning experience including study patterns, locations, colors, games, long-term repetition, rewards/motivations, goal setting, group collaboration, and even clothing choice. Her tips are accompanied by icons noting the tools most relevant to specific learning styles, tailoring the guide to each reader. Crossman identifies multitasking and distractions (such as music) as common barriers to studying. She also shares personal stories from her experiences as both a student and a teacher.

Crossman’s guide concludes with practical suggestions for two types of students applying tips from the book: (1) those experimenting with new study techniques, and (2) those with limited study success in the past. First, she offers approaches to note taking, note use, attentiveness, reading comprehension, stress relief, and group work. Then, Crossman shares encouraging anecdotes for students who have faced previous learning challenges. She includes eight sample study tools and a list of learning disability resources in the appendices.

Tiphané Turpin is a public relations and corporate communications assistant professor at Georgetown University.

Christian, Darrell; Jacobsen, Sally and Minthorn, David (eds.). 2012 Associated Press Stylebook. Associated Press. 2012. Print publication $20.95 (spiral-bound) or $26 for one year of Stylebook Online.

First published in 1953, The AP Stylebook is the definitive resource for journalists. Now also available online

and with mobile applications, the Stylebook provides guidelines for spelling, language, punctuation, usage and journalistic style.

This year’s print edition includes an expanded social media chapter with up-to-date terminology and practical advice on how to use social media tools for reporting. It includes a new broadcast chapter with best practices in creating radio, television and online video content.

There are more than 270 new and updated entries, including revisions to Stylebook listings on age, race and Olympics, as well as updating the definition of “hopefully.”

AP Stylebook Online takes all the standards from the Stylebook and adds Internet functionality to make it a more convenient tool. As the Associated Press updates its style throughout the year, users can get email updates and check new and recent changes online.

Pronouncers include phonetic spellings of hundreds of words and audio files to provide the user with the right way to say the names in the news.

Hayden, Joe. The Little Grammar Book: First Aid for Writers. Marion Street Press. 2011. $9.95.

Need a little brush up with your grammar? The Little Grammar Book is written by an award-winning journalism professor at the University of Memphis and uses his experience to teach others.

This guide covers the 12 most common grammatical mistakes and demonstrates how to correct them with a variety of fresh examples. It’s an easy read – providing “first aid” to writers with material explained using a readable, graphical format.

Tompkins, Al. Aim for the Heart: Write, Shoot, Report and Produce for TV and Multimedia, 2nd ed.

CQ Press. 2011. $29.95.

With more and more campus media communicating across multiple platforms, Aim for the Heart: Write, Shoot, Report and Produce for TV and Multimedia fills a real need. This book provides the fundamentals needed to be successful in developing content that hits the target, with practical know-how that can immediately be put to use.

Tompkins is a popular journalist and teacher, now affiliated with the Poynter Institute. He did awardwinning work as a news director in Nashville, Tenn., and continues to train journalists to grab their viewers and keep them watching.

In Aim for the Heart, Tompkins explains how to learn to listen while interviewing, how to write an inviting lead, how to get a memorable sound bite, how to light, crop, frame and edit compelling video, how to be a one-person band and how to translate the broadcast story into an interactive online story.

Fall 2012

13

Quill & Scroll

CSJ Notes Charting journalism credentials by state

What someone needs for teaching journalism or advising student media is like apples and oranges and rutabagas when comparing licensure requirements in 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Without any national guidelines, some states have NO requirements, others have a handful of specific courses, and a few – very few – have standards that mean teachers must actually know something about Tinker and typefaces, picas and Pantone, credibility and collaboration.

But if you’re a high school teacher, wondering if you’d be able to get back in the journalism classroom if you moved to Hawaii, or if you’re a student, planning a career as a scholastic educator and curious about what that would take, research in the past was time-consuming. It required checking individual departments of education, and their website set-ups vary greatly and are often even tough to find.

In an effort to take some of the challenge out of that, the Center for Scholastic Journalism at Kent State University in Ohio began a project in 2007 to make this process easier. This fall it has been updated, and a new state-by-state certification map has been relaunched.

The project began when graduate assistant Audrey Cunningham and I, as direc-

By Candace Perkins Bowen, Director Center for Scholastic Journalism Kent State University

tor of the Center for Scholastic Journalism, along with the others in the Center — Mark Goodman, Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism and John Bowen, CSJ assistant director — decided information like this needed to be readily accessible for teachers and future teachers. Cunningham was intrigued with Google Maps, which were pretty new in those days, and started collecting information.

The project was launched on the CSJ website as a “Certification Map” and provided useful information to those seeking information about teaching journalism in the United States. But times change and information gets dated. With a new site in process, we needed to do some updating.

In late 2011, graduate assistant Shelley Blundell revisited the project, contacting each state’s department of education to find out what was required to teach scholastic journalism within each state. The project, “Scholastic Journalism Accreditation Information by State,” is now available at http:// www.csjkent.org/.

As no national certification for teaching scholastic journalism exists currently, and no two states are alike in what is required to teach it, “Scholastic Journalism Accreditation Information by State” allows both current and future educators to peruse

scholastic certification and licensure information and requirements, wherever they are considering teaching.

“I believe the fruits of this project will be valuable to anyone looking at transferability of teaching credentials,” Blundell said.

“In addition to state requirements, where possible, each state has information on which other state’s credentials it will accept for teaching scholastic journalism.

Linked department of education websites and contact details provide further avenues for information for visitors to ‘Scholastic Journalism Accreditation Information by State.’”

We’ve found newsroom professionals who are thinking about moving to the classroom can use this feature too.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to the dynamic nature of teaching, it is best to confirm credentialing information with the relevant state’s department of education when considering a transfer. “Scholastic Journalism Accreditation Information by State” is meant to serve as a beginner’s guide to this information only, though we hope to continue updating periodically.

Scholastic Journalism Certification in the United States The map to the left shows scholastic journalism regulations by state. The yellow signifies the state has a scholastic journalism endorsement. The blue signifies the state either: a) offers journalism as a supplemental subject endorsement; b) requires a certain amount of credits needed to add a journalism endorsement, or; c) lists a subject endorsement (for example, English or language arts) in which journalism can be taught.

Quill & Scroll

14

Fall 2012

CSpaa Notes Six reasons journalism will set you apart

The day before she left for college this fall, we sat at a window table in the Taj Cafe in downtown Ventura, Calif. It was a sunny Monday in September, a school holiday for me and the last day of summer for her. The restaurant’s most visible booth – chosen by her; I was a few minutes late – projected out onto the sidewalk, and so it felt a bit like eating in a storefront display, a teacher and her former student nibbling at sahih paneer and basmati rice, stopping every so often to wave at friends and colleagues as they walked past, feeling no rush to say goodbye.

The younger of us was leaving the next morning for a new life at UCLA, but we pretty quickly slipped back into our favorite topic, the online news website we created the year she was a sophomore, way back when neither of us knew anything about scholastic journalism.

We’d worked together for three intense years, building a publication from scratch, growing a program from a handful of semiinterested students to this year’s vibrant staff of 44. There were trips to distant states and hours in a cramped office wrestling with a content management system that seemed diabolical. There were hundreds of days of laughter and one day with tears.

There were disasters (our own and those we covered) and mistakes and donuts, too.

She is the last of my first, I thought to myself as I listened to her talk brightly about dorms, plans to join the campus paper, and the work-study job she had just interviewed for. The interviewers weren’t exactly looking for a freshman, she said, and one of the questions had been “how do you feel about the Oxford comma?” We laughed about the randomness of that and at how she’d answered by referencing the Associated Press style guide.

Two hours later we hugged goodbye on the corner of Chestnut and Main – she turning back to take one last lingering walk downtown, me moving up the street towards home – and I had no doubt that she would successfully navigate her university years.

Fall 2012

By Melissa Wantz, 1st Vice President Columbia Scholastic Press Advisers Association

Later in the week she Facebooked me from college that she got the job because of how impressed the supervisors in the communications office were with her work and experiences and the digital footprint I was always talking about. And just maybe, I thought, because she had a definite opinion on the Oxford comma.

It was just another example of how working on a journalism or yearbook staff sets students apart from their peers and gives them opportunities they might not otherwise have.

Need convincing? Alright. Here you go ... six ways journalism has changed you (possibly without your permission):

to stand to get the best angle for a photo.

You know the faces and voices that will tell the story best. Your work will stand out.

1. You’ve worked through fear Thanks to all those reporting assignments, approaching people you don’t know is easy now. You understand that principals are just people, teachers feel insecure about their looks and reputations, older students aren’t jerks, younger students aren’t babies, and awkwardness among strangers is a temporary thing. You got over the “I’m shy” or “I don’t really care” excuse and went for it. A lot of people your age didn’t. This is big.

5. You realize you’re stronger in a team

At one time you thought you wanted to do it alone. But then came the newsroom, the yearbook room, the broadcast room, that place with those people back in sophomore year who you reluctantly learned to trust and who had the nerve to tell you – in so many words – that you could do better.

Your team, your tribe, your family away from home. You did more because of them.

It was a rare thing, and you might even look for a place like that and people like them for the rest of your life.

2. You ask the right questions

Look, trust me that you’re going to be the adult who knows how to ask interesting questions, ones that kindle meaningful conversation and encourage people to confide in each other. Your questions are the ones that get to the heart of the matter and get people to spill their guts. Your genuine curiosity is contagious, addicting and more rare than you know. People will remember you for it.

3. You know how to get attention

You know how to write a killer lede that gets people to take notice. You’ve learned to string words or images or data together to keep people on the hook with a story they didn’t realize they wanted to know. You can walk into a room and know instantly where

15

4. You’ve learned to edit yourself

You didn’t believe it once, but now you do: What you cut makes what you keep better. Fruit trees are like this; so is life. You will not be afraid to prune, whether it’s an essay for Brit Lit, a beautiful piece of PHP code, an overcommitted weekend or people who bring you down. Editing yourself never gets easier; you just get more determined not to let good be the enemy of great. Most people aren’t hard enough on themselves.

You are.

6. Your work made the world a better place.

Already. And you just barely got started.

While you were hunched over that keyboard for years on end, eyes straining from the glow of a too bright screen on too many late nights, while you were killing yourself to get the story right, to get the moment captured, to fix that Web page or layout, to beat the competition and make your adviser happy and get your editor off your back and keep the First Amendment strong and safe for another generation, journalism was secretly working on you and turning you into something close to a superhero. Congratulations!

Now get going on those college apps.

Quill & Scroll

JEa Notes Why do you do what you do?

“People don’t care how much you know until they know why you care.” —Mark Twain

From the second I got in my truck for my 20-minute commute to school, it was the perfect day. First off, I caught the commercial-free portion of my favorite classic rock radio station as I cruised through nearly every light from my house to the Starbucks I stop at each morning to read the sports section of The Denver Post.

At Starbucks, the barista not only already knew my coffee order but greeted me with sincere enthusiasm and obvious interest. For some reason, my coffee and pumpkin bread tasted better that morning. Things got even better: the Rockies defeated the Giants (a rarity, I know) and the Broncos were undefeated (even if it was after only one game).

And, to top it off, the final 10-minute drive from the coffee shop to school was non-stop Bruce Springsteen. Trust me, there is nothing like the Boss to get one ready for the day. Bring it on!

First period is my editorial leadership class, an extra class in my eight-period day.

I agreed to teach it last year after the editors approached me saying “it would be a good idea for all of us to be together” as we moved from separate publications classes to one journalism program. Today, we were on top of it. The editors were working together magically — planning, organizing, supporting, encouraging. It was a beautiful thing to watch. Their energy, enthusiasm, autonomy, teamwork and vision reminded me that it’s because of moments like these that I’m fortunate to be a teacher, a journalism teacher.

“This is why I do it,” I thought to myself right before the bell rang to begin my next class. Web Development is a team of four

Advisers weigh in: "Why do you do what you do?"

Quill & Scroll

boys whose first priority is to manage the content and programming of our official school website. And, just for fun, the team also creates video content for our student news website.

As we all sat down for our team meeting, I reflected on why it’s such a joy to work with such talented individuals. We truly are a team as we support, cajole, tease and teach each other. “This is why I do it,” I said to myself.

A few minutes later, my great day crashed and burned as the website did, too.

It wasn’t a total meltdown (the website, not me), but it was enough of one to remind me of the frustrations of my job. Getting the website back up and running took us a couple of intense hours as we worked through the period and lunch. And, missing lunch will cause anyone to question why he puts up with such stress.

“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” —Friedrich Nietzsche I understand the challenges we face everyday in our nation, our communities, our schools and our classrooms. All too frequently, the challenges are significantly more intense than the victories. And, as journalism teachers, those challenges are magnified many times over.

I fear that all too often, teachers just do. We move from one student to the next, from one class to the next, from one grading period to the next. Then, we jump from one deadline to the next, from one stack of projects to the next, from one meeting to the next.

There is no way that just doing is healthy. We deserve better than moving with little, if any, purpose (other than to check it off the list).

“I love watching students carry real, honest and important conversations onto the page.”

— Adam Dawkins, Regis Jesuit High School, Aurora, Colo.

By Mark Newton, President Journalism Education Association

There is an adage that goes something like this: We all know what we do. Some of us know how to do it. Very few of us know why we do it. We must understand and communicate our why. And, exemplary teachers understand their students’ whys, too.

Not many of my students may be all that interested in journalism as a career, but they all asked to be part of a journalism program in high school. Why? Some of my students will meet every deadline with quality effort and accomplishment and some will not even come close. Why?

Some of my students will work forever to create epic work, and some won’t accept that challenge?

I’m convinced that we’re all looking for something bigger and deeper than ourselves. I’m convinced we really do understand our motivations, we probably just haven’t taken the time to seriously and honestly ponder them.

As we move past the first part of the school year and gear up for the second half, I encourage you to reflect on the following:

• Why are you here?

• What is your purpose?

• What is your dream?

Take some time to ascertain your ‘why’ and then find those moments every day to validate it.

Take some time to ascertain your students’ motivations and then find those moments every day to validate them as well.

Like my day described above, some of us are motivated to embrace the good. And, like my day above, some of us are motivated to avoid the bad.

Why do you do what you do?

“One of my students said, ‘Ms. Lawrenz, “No other class, activity or club offers you teach your hobbies all day long.’ That students the opportunity to practice reis why I do it. I love my content and craft. I al-world skills and produce a valuable want others to as well.” —Heather Lawrenz, product.” —Tracy Anne Sena, Convent of the Sacred Heart High School, Blue Valley Southwest High School, San Francisco, Calif.

Overland Park, Kan. Check out what other advisers said at quillandscroll.org.

16 Fall 2012

nspa Notes When considering colleges, look at student media In March 2012, an email message arrived from a familiar sender, so I opened it immediately. “Hi Mr. Aimone,” it read.

“This is Henry Rome, and I’m now the editor-in-chief of The Daily Princetonian.”

I remembered Rome as a standout editor of The Spoke newspaper at Conestoga High School in Pennsylvania. He carted home a stack of plaques he and his staff won from the National Scholastic Press Association — for writing and multimedia as well as a national Pacemaker Award for general excellence and as 2009 National High School Journalist of the Year.

Now, as a college newspaper editor, Rome was interested in replicating some aspects from his successful past. Like many others, Rome wanted to see his peers at The Daily Princetonian recognized for their excellent work, so he sought membership in NSPA’s college branch, the Associated Collegiate Press. He’s not alone in wanting to continue his passion.

Among the most rewarding and fun aspects of my role as executive director is recognizing outstanding high school journalists and watching them become outstanding collegiate journalists. Some, like Rome, move into leadership roles at daily papers. Others work as reporters, photographers, designers, Web managers or in advertising.

Students who have a passion for storytelling — no matter the platform — should find a way to pursue it beyond high school.

One of the components of NSPA’s mission is to foster careers in journalism, but a small number of high school journalists will find a career as a journalist. But they can extend their career as a student journalist a bit longer by finding a college media program that fits.

College media organizations come in many shapes and sizes. Universities with an established journalism school will likely offer multiple student media outlets. For example, Indiana University has a daily newspaper with a website, a features magazine,

Fall 2012

a yearbook and both radio and television stations.

It doesn’t take a big journalism school to have strong student media. Community colleges provide excellent opportunities to get involved right away. Most have a newspaper in print or online, and the staff is usually a loyal and motivated group. The selection of courses might be limited, so students with skills are essential. Experienced students from high school programs

Students who have a passion for storytelling — no matter the platform — should find a way to pursue it beyond high school. can jump in and participate fully. California has many strong community college journalism programs.

While most high schools offer yearbook journalism, many colleges don’t. Standout yearbook programs like at the University of Oklahoma or the University of Miami in Florida, operate successful businesses based on producing a record of the year. Specialty magazines programs require similar skills.

Drake University in Iowa and the University of Oregon are two schools with outstanding student-produced magazines.

Some college media organizations operate independently of the institution. The University of Missouri’s independent newspaper, the Maneater, is completely studentrun, as are the Minnesota Daily at the University of Minnesota, and the Daily News at Yale University. These staffs don’t even have

17

By Logan Aimone, Executive Director National Scholastic Press Association

an adviser.

Finding the college that fits means discovering a school where students can participate in student media organizations from the first days on campus. Visit the newsroom and learn the available positions and requirements to join the student media staff. Some colleges require a couple years on campus before students can join the newspaper. Others, such as the studentrun newspaper at the University of Iowa, The Daily Iowan, hire first-year students, but the process may be competitive. Large schools with daily newspapers will need many students to fill all positions, including specialized beats. Schools with a weekly paper and a daily website will require covering broader beats.

Consider the student media organization’s campus presence. In addition to a newspaper in print and online, many will have a magazine as well as yearbook and broadcast media. Students who worked on a high school yearbook staff may discover a special-interest magazine would be a good place to work. Designers and photographers could work for multiple media, and the skills developed in making high school broadcast or multimedia projects could lead to the campus radio or television station.

Finally, ask what role students can play in the student media organization? The smaller the staff, the more hats an individual will be required to wear. Some students will like the variety of duties and ability to work on all aspects of production. Others prefer to specialize.

Working on collegiate student media can be enriching, rewarding and fun.

It can also pay the bills. Large schools will pay editors, reporters, designers and photographers, while small schools might pay editors but rely on volunteer staff. Most will pay advertising sales reps a commission.

Ask questions to help understand how to continue a passion in college. Doing so will lead a student to a college that fits.

Quill & Scroll

Journalism and tech 9 kinds of blog posts to provide variety

You already have a niche blog and are blogging on a topic you’re interested in, or you’ve decided to start a niche blog. One of the important aspects of blogging is posting with some regularity.

Even when you are enthusiastic about your blog, you can hit a time when you just can’t think of something to post or you are so busy that you don’t think you have time to blog. We both know it can be hard to post to a blog regularly, as we’ve each been blogging for more than four years.

Here are some types of blog posts that can provide variety.

1 A Launch Post

This is usually the first or second post on a blog and launches the blog by introducing you, the blogger, explaining why you are starting the blog, and what questions the blog will answer or what help will be provided for the reader.

This introduction to you, the blogger, focuses on your area of expertise that you bring to the blog based on your learning or experiences. If you are starting a blog where your niche will be addressing something you are not currently an expert in, then you might write about how interviewing experts and posting photos you’ve taken will bring clarity, help or insight for your readers. Be careful not to promise interviews you haven’t already confirmed.

2 List post

People like to read list posts because they are scannable, can make something complicated more readily understood, and are often persuasive. The most common type of list post displays the headline/title as the topic of the list and the post is the actual list. For some inspiration check out: http://tinyurl.com/writelistpost Include the number in numeral form in your post title as this will draw readers to your post. For example write, “3 things you need to take to your next concert” not “Three things…”

Quill & Scroll

If you want to encourage comments from readers, choose a number of items in your list that is seemingly incomplete.

For example, “4 things to eat while studying” makes readers feel like they could help identify the fifth item for a complete list.

Psychologically, four invites comments moreso than if your title read “5 things to eat while studying.”

3 Photo post (Wordless Wednesday or Foto Friday)

You’ve likely seen a blog that relies on an outstanding photo one day of the week. Some blogs refer to these as Wordless Wednesday or Foto Friday posts. Use a once a week photograph to hone your photography skills. Take the photo yourself and work on compositional techniques.

Use rule of thirds, background lighting or leading lines to make a photo stand out.

Never post just any photo. Readers love good photography. We’re encouraging you to take your own photos both to give you photography practice and to help you avoid the many copyright and fair use issues involved in using someone else’s photos.

4 News Post

Be alert to stories you read or radio or television news. You can then link to the story in a blog post. You may only need to write a few sentences providing a context in terms of how the linked story ties in to your blog’s theme. You can sign up for Google Alerts and receive an email when Google identifies a topic you are interested in. http://www.google.com/alerts

5 How-to post

Create an instructional post that shows and tells your readers how to do or make something. Readers love DIY (do-ityourself) articles and posts. For the visual medium of the Web, use photographs with

18

By Julie E. Dodd and Judy Robinson, Journalism Professors University of Florida captions to illustrate tricky steps or to show the final product.

Using photographs does many things in a “how-to” post. Photos help you chunk text, make the instruction seem easier to follow and make you go through the steps yourself (so you can take the photos) to keep you from forgetting to include a crucial step.

6 Review post

The topic of your review should be related to your blog’s focus. If you are blogging about technology, for example, you could write a review of a new smartphone, an update of a software program, or a new app that’s related to technology (but not the Bad Piggies app).

7Interview post

Interview someone on a topic related to your blog’s focus. If you are writing a blog about tips for high school students getting ready to go to college, you could interview a former student from your school who now is attending college. Your interview post could be a Q&A format, or you can conduct the interview and then write the story in a more traditional news-feature format.

You also can include the interview as an audio or video file. Keep in mind editing audio and video can be a time-taking venture; you don’t want to run the interview in its entirity. Typically, the interview should be no longer than three to five minutes.

8 Opinion post

You may want to give your opinion about an issue related to the topic of your blog. Be sure you provide context and background for your readers. That can be done with links to the resources you are using as the basis of your opinion. And remember that a more effective demonstration of your persuasive power is through reasoned presentation, not a rant.

Fall 2012

9 Series Post

Plan a series of posts about a topic, chunking your topic into parts. For example, if you were writing about attending an event such as a concert, your first post might be planning to attend the concert: what to take, style of dress, FB discussion, and expectations. Your second post might present photos of the concert and description. Your third post would be a reflection – your own thoughtful review of the concert or perhaps you were fortunate enough to schedule a post-event interview with one of the performers. That would be your third post in the series. There is no set number of posts for writing series posts but you do want to plan series postings in advance.

Create your own niche blog and enter it in Quill and Scroll’s new contest

If you don’t have one, now is the time to create your own niche blog, and here are three reasons why: Reason #1 – Blogging lets you practice your media skills.

With a blog, you’ll write and self-edit. You also can include your photos, audio and video.

Reason #2 – A blog provides an online presence of your work.

Just by giving someone your blog’s name, your work can be found. And if you have a blog that uses SEO (Search Engine Optimization) with headlines and tags that will help search engines find your blog, readers will find your blog on their own.

Reason #3 – Quill and Scroll is sponsoring a new competition that will judge individual niche blogs.

To be eligible, the blog must be created and maintained by a high school student either as part of a school’s media program or independently. The competition is open to students attending Quill and Scroll member and non-member schools. More information will be posted at http://quillandscroll.org/. Deadline is Feb. 1, 2013.

2012 Quill and scroll Scholarship winners gallup scholarships Beatriz costa lima

Katie Cowart

Bryant HS, Bryant, AR Arkansas State University-Fayetteville “Some of the key benefits that were most important to me were learning to work as a team, being able to accomplish work on a strict deadline, and gaining valuable field experience.”

Munster HS, Munster, IN University of Missouri-Columbia “It is hard to find something in my life that journalism has not impacted because it defines who I am today. It transformed me into an active, driven and well informed individual.”

Lucas Lostoski

Kelsey Bell

Allen HS, Allen, TX University of Texas-San Antonio “As a journalism student I have learned to become a story teller, which I see as a benefit. A well thought out, interesting tale that goes beyond surface level will always be in demand.”

Francis Howell North HS, St. Charles, MO Ohio University “Most of all, I learned what it means to love what I do. Before becoming involved in high school journalism I never had something I was so willing to push myself for.”

richard p. johns scholarship Alexis Christy

Rachel Proctor

McKinney HS, McKinney, TX University of Missouri-Columbia “It’s exciting to see the images I’ve captured, moments of life that would have otherwise been lost forever. Even though I get a hint of a photo’s potential the moment the shutter snaps, nothing compares to the thrill of seeing its full effect when viewed on a computer or in print.”

Jonathan Law HS, Milford, CT Northeastern University, Boston “More importantly, journalism showed me that ‘uncomfortable’ wasn’t what it seemed to be. It taught me how to use my voice, my communication with absolutely everyone.”

edward j. nell scholarships

taylor ernst

Reno HS, Reno, NV University of Nevada-Reno “Being a high school journalist helped me become more confident. I was a very shy girl in school, and I would not go out of my way to talk to people. I pushed through my shyness by interviewing students.”

David Corbat Fraser HS, Fraser, MI Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, MI “I discovered the power of journalism to drive me to succeed, allow me to make lifelong friends, and give me a place to fit in.”

Fall 2012

19

Quill & Scroll

JOURNALISM AWARDS PROGRAM

Use your journalism skills to make a difference and create awareness about the number one killer of teens.

an article addressing a teen safe driving topic of your choice and publish it in your high school paper.

a broadcast story addressing a teen safe driving topic of your choice and have it air on your student television network.

and submit your print or broadcast entry at www.keepthedrive.com by March 1, 2013.

Quill & Scroll

20

Fall 2012