A long nine months for one student journalist

I managed to mostly avoid spiraling over the leaked memo to end the Department of Education. Instead, I happily convened with professionals and students in Long Beach at the Associated Collegiate Press conference, where hundreds of student journalists and a grab bag of pros talked shop and swapped stories.

More on what I got out of the conference (and there was a lot!) in my upcoming issues.

Talk about this

No. 1: Prosecutors Drop Case Against Stanford Student Journalist (CJR)

From the story: “The decision comes nine months after (Dilan) Gohill, then nineteen and a freshman reporter for the Stanford Daily, was handcuffed and jailed while covering the predawn break-in and occupation of Building 10, where the Stanford president’s office is located.”

Nine months this freshman waited for the wheels of the justice system to move! Argh! Anyway.

Questions:

• Would you take an assignment if you knew there was a chance you’d be arrested? Why or why not?

• Do you know best practices for covering a protest?

• If you are apprehended or arrested in the course of your reporting, do you know what to do?

Here’s a primer from the Student Press Law Center. 

No. 2: LA Times to display AI-generated political rating on opinion pieces (The Guardian)

Suffice to say, it didn’t go well. 

• I’m sorry, what about the KKK?

• The L.A. Times adds AI-generated counterpoints to its opinion pieces and guess what, there are problems (Nieman Lab)

Time for a conversation about AI ethics in your classroom! Here’s the AP’s guidance for a starting point (jump to page 23). 

Explain this

No. 1: Here’s what tariffs are and how they work (AP)

No. 2: Don’t let sources hide behind privacy laws that don’t apply

It’s pick on the LA Times day in my newsletter! This graf in an LA Times article about Gene Hackman’s death caught my eye: “(Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan) Mendoza said he could not release details about the prescriptions (found near the bodies) due to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.”

This always gets my goat: when public figures refuse to release information to journalists by hiding behind laws they assume we don’t know enough about. Law enforcement isn’t bound by HIPPA — that law only applies to people like doctors and insurance companies. Here’s the government’s guidance to law enforcement. 

You’ll find university officials who wield FERPA as a similar shield, refusing to turn over public information and hiding behind a law designed to protect the privacy of student education records. Here’s the Student Press Law Center’s excellent primer on FERPA.

You will even find university officials who accuse student journalists of “violating” NCAA rules, which is almost impossible, since the rules (not laws, mind you) are designed to police the behavior of athletic department personnel and players. Your students reporting on players cannot violate NCAA rules. Unless, say, your students are buying them cars in which to conduct the interviews.

Consider this

What Does the Education Department’s DEI Guidance Really Mean? (Inside Higher Ed)

All this has me considering: How worried are you about losing inclusivity progress in your department or student journalism organization toward? I want to hear from you. 

Assign this

South Carolina executed a man via a firing squad last week. What main question does this AP story leave out? (Answer: How was this method of execution chosen??) Assign your students to read and discuss in class. What other questions does the story leave them with? What sources would they seek for answers?

Enjoy this

A win for journalism: USAID reinstates contracts for Georgia company that helps feed malnourished kids after Elon Musk responds to CNN reporting

FYI

• Arizona State has launched a pioneering new way to help publications: A new nonprofit wants to be a soft (and sustainable) landing spot for local news outlets in transition | (Nieman Lab)

• FIRE, LGBTQ Student Group Sue Texas A&M Over Drag Show Ban (Inside Higher Education)

• Gannett seeks AI sports editor amid union tensions, past controversies | Gannett is moving forward with a brand new AI sports editor position in spite of recent controversies with the use of AI in sports reporting. (Awful Announcing)

Hot media stories this week

• “‘This isn't your granddad's KKK.’ Inside the influential hate group that's expanding in Tennessee.” (WTVF-TV, Nashville)

• After decades in prison, he transformed himself into the Inland Empire’s homeboy news anchor (De Los)

• The Secret Campaign in China to Save a Woman Chained by the Neck (New York Times)

Opportunities

Come to Los Angeles for free to convene with Solutions Journalism Network, courtesy of NEWSWELL and Arizona State University. Application deadline extended to March 21!

Resources

Great work from these Kansas students, highlighted by The NutGraf: “If you even start to question authority or question school administrators that your rights are being violated, they’re not going to respond to you ‘Oh, OK, we’ll stop that,’” Tell said. “You’re going to receive enormous amounts of pushback, no matter where you go.”

One piece I loved

Insider journalism alert! My Red Carpet Quest: A Two-Year Search for Steve (New York Times)

One last thing

Consider streaming the documentary “Rebel with a Clause” to your grammarian-minded classrooms. Here’s the trailer. 

Feedback

Thank you for reading! I am a company of one who relies on the income from this newsletter to keep ideas for your classroom coming. Thank you for your support, and please let me know if there’s feedback you wish to share!