March is one of my favorite times of year for many reasons (notice I didn’t end with “Madness,” as I’m sure dozens of you have already had this conversation with your students).

Chief among them? Student media always gets positive press.

Here are the student radio announcers at High Point who went viral after their team’s 5-12 upset over Wisconsin:

Kennesaw State fell to Gonzaga, but thanks to a GoFundMe, one student reporter was there to capture it (the school’s football coach apparently made a donation!).

And I always love it when coaches shout out student reporters, but this might be the best one I’ve ever seen — VCU coach Phil Martelli Jr. after their win against UNC:

I’ve got more March reasons to smile — my birthday is this week! — as is the one-year anniversary of CollegeJournalism.org and this newsletter.

I’ll have a special announcement about that next week, but until then, do me a favor? Help me get to 500 subscriptions before the end of the week? I’m 19 subscribers away, and what an awesome milestone that would be to reach in my first year!

Forward this to a professor/adviser/administrator/friend who could use all my ramblings and suggest they subscribe. Consider it your birthday gift to me, and thanks in advance!

Some business news reads like a lullaby.

Morning Brew is the opposite.

A free daily newsletter that breaks down what’s happening in business and culture — clearly, quickly, and with enough personality to keep things interesting.

Each morning brings a sharp, easy-to-read rundown of what matters, why it matters, and what it means to you. Plus, there’s daily brain games everyone’s playing.

Business news, minus the snooze. Read by over 4 million people every morning.

Try Morning Brew for Free

This solo journalist admits using AI extensively in her writing. What do you think about her argument? And if you put it in front of your students, would you be opening Pandora’s box or starting a great discussion?

An Athletic reporter was so shocked by student journalism “behavior” in Oklahoma City during the first round of the men's tournament that he took to his powerful and widely read platform to chastise them. Tsk-tsk, sir. He passed up an opportunity to thoughtfully take these young journalists under his wing and offer them what would have undoubtedly been excellent professional advice. A sad missed opportunity, all around.

From shuttered print editions to firings, student journalists clash with universities (Christian Science Monitor)

I’m keeping an eye on this one: Cal Baptist Silencing Campus Media On Men’s Swimming & Diving, Wrestling & Golf Teams (SwimSwam)

This week's story comes from Loyola Marymount University, where the student newspaper's annual First Amendment Week brings in significant speakers for a university-wide conversation.

The Loyolan’s former editor-in-chief, Olivia Silvester, along with fellow student journalist Janai Williams, moderated a conversation with former CNN anchor Don Lemon, who's now an independent journalist facing charges from the federal government. Silvester wrote about the experience here.

SPJ’s free, virtual SkillsFest26 is March 26-27, and some of these topics seem perfect for collegiate journalists: Covering the difficult story: Suicide; FOIA 101: Getting the records you’re entitled to; Pitching, reporting and finishing the investigation; Headless body in topless bar: The art of headline writing; Backgrounding 101: How to research a public official’s past; Building resilient news teams and self care for journalists; How to use AI and still be an ethical journalist … lots of great stuff for your students! Learn more and register.

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.

One of the cool things about living in a big city like Los Angeles is that I have great access to events, people and places. It was so much fun for me to get to go to Loyola Marymount last week to see Don Lemon speak, and to get to hobnob with the student media department that brought him there.

On-campus speaker events can be a valuable way to get your students to connect with the issues playing out in today's news media landscape.

My free advice this week? Get Afroman, America’s latest free speech hero, to your campus!

(Get more free advice from me by setting up a no-cost, 30-minute consultation!)

Now, I'm off to watch more basketball — it's the most wonderful time of the year.