SPONSORED BY SNWORKS

A year ago last week, I officially launched the College Journalism Newsletter and began promoting my work as a trainer, journalist and consultant on CollegeJournalism.org.

This work has been exhilarating, terrifying, fulfilling, isolating, illuminating — all the descriptors you would expect when reflecting on the operation of a passion-driven business.

And now, thanks to the generosity of my two founding sponsors, SNworks and the Student Press Freedom Initiative at FIRE, this newsletter will be free going forward.

That's right! No more hidden content, no more paywall, no more begging you for money to support my work. (More on that at the end!)

That said, I'd like to take a moment to reflect on my deep appreciation of those who supported my work through paid subscriptions. You lifted me up, and I want you to know how grateful I am. You will no longer be charged for your subscription. Happy birthday to us!

Those of you who wish to continue your financial support can with a new feature — donate to my newsletter! I designed it so that if you find one issue to be particularly helpful or enlightening, you can donate a buck or two to my cause.

Obviously, I will accept more.

In all seriousness: Thank you for joining me on this journey over the past year. I hope it is the first of many.

SPONSOR MESSAGE

SNworks was built inside a real newsroom — The State News at Michigan State University — because journalists deserve tools made by people who actually get it.

We're a full-service website development and content management platform designed for the pace and ambition of modern newsrooms. Intuitive publishing tools. Modern, mobile-first design. Fast, secure, honest service from people who live and breathe student media.

Your newsroom deserves better. We deliver it. Find out more at mysnworks.com

Fired Indiana adviser Jim Rodenbush wrote about his experience for Project Censored: “My principled stand for editorial independence was met not with debate or an attempt at understanding, but rather my immediate firing.”

Students at the University of Alabama have sued the university's board of trustees for their right to publish two magazines that were shuttered by the university.

I’m watching the PBS documentary “White With Fear,” which examines “the decades-long quest by some of America's conservative political machine to amass power by exploiting racial fault lines.” I think the film would make a powerful assignment or discussion, especially in classrooms and newsrooms looking for exercises on the origins of bias.

Spectrum News and Syracuse University’s journalism department announced a formal partnership that promises to give students “hands-on experiences and professional development opportunities,” including having Spectrum journalists work with faculty to teach production and investigative journalism.

And you news folks thought you were losing students to sports media programs before: College Athletic Departments Are Becoming Full-Blown Media Companies (Front Office Sports)

The editor-in-chief at The Huntington News at Northeastern joined other students to complain about the lack of administrative transparency on campus at a Boston City Council committee hearing.

Following a deadly campus shooting, Old Dominion said it would require students to submit their criminal records, though it later backed down somewhat.

Student journalists in Chicago are teaming up to create ICE trackers.

Jackson Juzang is a senior journalism student at Haverford College, just outside of Philadelphia, a small liberal arts school that struggles to sustain its student newsroom.

He writes, “A university administrator asked me if there was a regional network of student newspapers that Haverford could turn to for support or collaboration. There wasn’t. So I decided to create one.”

Read his piece here.

Don’t miss the Student Press Law Center’s upcoming webinar “Following the Files: How Student Journalists Can Investigate Epstein Connections on Campus,” set for Tuesday, April 7, at 3 p.m. Eastern.

Apply for the Scripps Howard Fund’s Student Media Sustainability Project: Four to five college newsrooms will get a year’s worth of coaching and training across their entire enterprise, from audience to revenue to management. Here’s an FAQ and the application — deadline is April 12.

Three stories about journalists using AI in their writing jumped out to me this week:

Wall Street Journal: An AI Upheaval Is Coming for Media. This Journalist Is Already All In. — A Fortune editor has cranked out more than 600 stories using the technology; ‘this won’t be seen as some people’s idea of journalism’

WIRED: Meet the Tech Reporters Using AI to Help Write and Edit Their Stories — Independent writers are using AI agents all throughout their reporting process. What’s the value of a human journalist, anyway?

The Atlantic: How AI Is Creeping Into The New York Times — Artificial intelligence seems to be turning up, undisclosed, in the opinion pages of major news publications.

If I can be of any help connecting you to resources, colleagues or ideas, will you let me know? Additionally, to support my work, you can bring me to your campus.

Set up a free 30-minute consultation, and let's talk ideas, budget and needs. I'm here to help!

One last thing: Will you help me celebrate one year of the College Journalism Newsletter with a $20 donation? Next time, birthday beverages are on me!