A critical assessment of Journalism in public schools. The importance of the press.
By Spencer arps
Although not commonly known, Journalism is often referred to as the fourth check and balance of American Democracy. As Americans, protected by the constitution, it is our right to freedom of the press and we shouldn't take that for granted. As a citizen of any democratic state, it is also the job of the citizen to be civically engaged in their democracy. This includes voting, lobbying, reading the news, participation in national defense, etc. The key to civil engagement however is to be an active participant not a passive one. It is increasingly worrisome that our younger generations are learning less and less about the importance of civic engagement and the relation it holds with Journalism and media.
Inorder to be critical, informed, and understanding of domestic and foreign policy there first needs to be an outlet for this information; thankfully there is, freedom of the press granted under the first amendment. The problem lies upon the citizens want to engage, to be active, and not passive when it comes to staying informed. It seems to be an easy connection to make, the more we inform our society's youth about the need to participate in civic duty, the more they will engage. In 2022 only 4 percent of generation z read national newspapers (Watson, 2024). Even though print news is seen as a dying media form it still points a finger towards the trends of younger generations reading less news.
A lack of general journalism education, could also be correlated with the downfall in earnings of small, semi local and even international news outlets as more and more people are falling out of the practice of reading news. People don’t feel an obligation to be savvy to the mechanics of everyday politics. There are fair reasons for this, news media can be seen as overly negative or biased, however, does this outweigh the extremely crucial role that informed citizens play within a democracy?
This study is interested in understanding the current scape of high school journalism in Washington state. It seems obvious that public schools within a democracy should set up students to live in a democracy. Journalism is a constitutionally protected act of democracy that students should have the option to participate in.
Literature Review
A study published in the book Journalism Kids do Better: What Research Tells Us about High School Journalism by Jack Dvorak, Larry Lain, and Tom Dickerson we learn about the relationship between high school journalism students and their corresponding grade point averages in multiple educational disciplines. The study also looks at a correlation between high school journalism participation and grades of freshmen in university. The study found that students who participated in high school journalism had higher grade point averages in Math, Science, English and Social Studies. The study also found that freshman grade point averages were higher in university (Dvorak, Lain & Dickerson, 1994). The publishers of this study realized that this correlation might not mean that participating in highschool journalism affects a student but rather that potential high achieving students gravitate towards journalism. The publishers collected multiple samples over large populations and concluded that this might not be the case. Similar research has been done and concluded that 10 out of 12 students who participated in high school journalism earned higher marks in ACT scores and university grades as freshmen (Bruschke & George, 1999). This same study also looked at grade point averages for students before they took journalism classes and concluded that good students don’t necessarily self-select journalism but rather that journalism helps to create better students (Bruschke & George, 1999). It is also noted that students are able to become better writers by reading journalistic writing (Bruschke & George, 1999). On top of better writing, students who participate in scholastic journalism also have better verbal skills (Wilderman, Nasrin, & Davis, 2018). It is also true that journalism classes in a high school setting are unlike their sibling English class (Dvorak, Lain & Dickerson, 1994). In a journalism class a professor puts the weight of success directly on the back of their students. Rather than being handed back a marked up essay with a discerning grade, journalism teachers are more likely to support a student through their misunderstandings for the greater good of the publication (Dvorak, Lain & Dickerson, 1994). This also affects the student teacher relationship. “Not all journalism teachers are this close to their staffs, but the fact that so many journalism kids across the country feel able to risk casualness with a teacher underscores the special bond that is common among journalism teachers and their students, a bond that is unusual in other school activities” (Dvorak, Lain & Dickerson, 1994, p. 2). Participating in high school journalism also promotes decision making and critical thinking skills (Clark & Monserrate, 2012) as well as political participation as adults (Bobkowski & Rosenthal, 2022).
In order for high school students to continue their journalistic education there needs to be an economic sector for them to enter after university. It is proposed that a restructure of journalism education within the university sector is needed due to an ever changing field and uncertainty of jobs within the industry (Iordanidou & Dagoulataht, 2022). These two ideas may have positive correlations, one pointing to the success of journalism students and two, the need for people to understand news gathering and the longing for trust between viewer and programmer. “For more than a decade, research has shown a disconnection between the journalism skills learned in college and the needs of the workforce (Wenger et al. 2018). A 2013 Poynter News University study of journalism education found that just 39 percent of [US] educators say journalism education keeps up with industry changes a little or not at all. News editors and staffers are even harsher, with 48 percent saying journalism schools aren’t keeping up with changes in the field (Iordanidou & Dagoulataht, 2022, p. 124). These industry changes can include technology, content and structure among other things. It is important for high school journalism educators to do their part in keeping their curriculum to date with current trends within the industry. This might be a challenge for schools as they will need to invest in extra training for their teachers.
The behavior and techniques of people in the media field change heavily with society, interpersonal relationships and evolving technologies (Omidi, Zotto, & Picard, 2022). For the media industry to be impactful it needs to keep up with current trends in culture and technology. I’m extrapolating that without people coming in with fresh ideas and feelings, young people, media will fall short of the marks it needs to be hitting. This also can be seen as an opportunity due to the need of digital media and the related skills that younger generations already bring to the table (Bobkowski & Miller, 2016).This is yet another reason for schools to be educating their students about the opportunity to work in media and/or journalism. Some schools, and students alike might see the lack of jobs in journalism to be a reason to not offer journalism classes but there are possible solutions to resurrect the dying industry of local journalism. Law and regulatory changes, solutions to reviving advertising models, compensation for publishers, direct government funding and government subsidies amongst other things (Forman, 2021). There are proposed solutions to the threat of local journalism but people need to be aware of the problem for anything to happen on Capitol Hill (Forman, 2021). This is yet another reason that public education is important for resurrecting journalism. If more students are exposed to journalism they might feel the need to lobby for the industry.
“We should ask more about the young: how much news they believe they actually need – and why or whether they are shorter of time these days than young people in the past” (Grans, 2010, p. 147). The root of journalistic downfall is the economy behind the industry (Grans, 2010). Herbert J. Grans urges journalists to become more fluid to audience needs. “Rethink the language of the news, making it less technical and more comprehensible so as to attract new people” (Grans, 2010, p. 148). This is a point made hand in hand with the proposition that journalists have limited understanding of their audience and the trends that entail (Grans, 2010). If journalists could reach more people, with younger generations being a larger target demographic than other age categories, journalism could receive a breath of economic upturn. Grans explains how it is potentially harder to review readership with online sources because even though analytics tell many things, they don’t share how much a person really read, understood, or was impacted by a story (Grans, 2010). Even though it sounds like more metrics could do good, they might cloud a journalist's inclinations; more clicks doesn’t mean more retention or impact. This thought comes somewhat full circle in an age of metric driven journalism. Journalists are cornered, without economic freedom they are forced to deliver not what is important, but rather what receives attention. Again, attention is not one to one to understanding.
“Maybe they [youth] are unwilling to pay attention to the old people who are the major newsmakers” (Grans, 2010, p. 147). This idea circles back to my previous claim that inorder for the media profession to thrive it needs to stay up-to-date with current trends. Arguably younger generations will be relatively more in touch with current trends and will be able to relate to each other on a similar level, thus elevating the transmission of information. The author also argues that for journalism to have a greater impact on democracy, citizens need to be more active in citizen-led lobbying groups compared to corporate lobbyists. He argues that this would create more of a demand for news and in turn a greater economy behind the industry (Grans, 2010). This relates to this research paper as it is easier to change the opinions of young people compared to older generations who are relatively more set in their ways.
Method
This paper will use grounded theory as a framework for understanding findings through in depth interviews. Through these interviews a case study will be created. The interviews will consist of questions regarding the current state of high school journalism, reasons schools do or don’t offer journalism, problems facing journalism teachers, the potential opportunity to teach civics through journalism, and how schools can implement journalism classes into their curriculum. This study will include an interview from Dana Smith, the Communications Manager at Sehome High School in Bellingham, WA. Sehome High School had the last remaining student newspaper in Bellingham, the Rising Tide, but it is no longer in operation. Smith was the adviser to the Rising Tide for multiple years until it was dissolved. Through interviewing the hope is to get a better understanding of how journalism within public schools is viewed from the perspective of someone working within the system.
This study will also interview Peggy Watt, associate professor of journalism at Western Washington University. Watt has involvement in integrating highschool students into journalism programs as she volunteers with the Washington Journalism Education Association. She is also a professor of journalism and understands the importance of journalism and its relation to democracy. The hope is Watt has information about the problem from the perspective of a university journalism professor.
The third person of interest is Kathy Schrier, the executive director of the Washington Journalism Education Association (WJEA). The WJEA is a resource for teachers without prior knowledge of journalism who are trying to teach the subject as well as an outlet for high school journalists to learn more about the profession and a potential future in journalism. Schrier is an expert in the field of scholastic journalism and knowledgeable about the current state of journalism in high school.
Results
This paper has used grounded theory to examine the results of interviews. Each point represented in the open coding category of grounded theory were points made by all three interviewees. Each interviewee provided a unique angle when it comes to high school journalism, Peggy Watt from the perspective of a journalism professor , Kathy Schrier, executive director of a journalism advocacy non profit, and Dana Smith, a high school Journalism and English teacher. Each participant added individual ideas however there were shared themes throughout; those shared themes will make up the open coding.
Open Coding:
Financial motives are at play
Takes passion to run successful journalism classes
Classroom environment is very positive in journalism classes
Takes training for teachers to advise a journalism class
High school journalism plays an important role in teaching civics and opening students up to the opportunity of working in the communications sector.
No requirements for schools to teach journalism.
Axial Coding:
More reasons than just finances limiting journalism classes
Those who do have journalism classes experience an alternative classroom environment
Journalism can be a tool to teach more than just how to write news.
Selective Coding
Journalism classes in high school offer important skills to students but also have extra challenges facing them.
Discussion
Through my research I’ve come to a couple conclusions. First, in order for a high school to offer journalism there needs to be a desire from students and faculty alike. It has become clear that there are multiple factors at play when it comes to schools offering scholastic journalism. One reason, as Dana Smith explained, is that journalism classes are often offered as an elective credit, this might turn students away due to a worry about fulfilling graduation requirements. In the case of Sehome high school, the faculty were able to change their course description to offer the class as an English credit which helped to take the pressure off students' grad requirements. Secondly, a large number of journalism advisors in public schools have to obtain additional training to teach the classes. Teachers have to have some degree of dedication/passion for journalism. If schools have these factors, educated staff, motivated student body and room in the budget, then it is obvious that journalism classes offer multiple benefits to students. Student papers are a great opportunity for students to interact with teachers in a different power structure. Journalism educators are more advisors than teachers as the students are responsible for producing the end product, the teacher is there to help them obtain their goal. Journalism classes are also a great place to teach students about the first amendment and the role journalism plays within a democracy. Student papers also create a sense of fulfillment for those working on them. When students publish stories about topics within their school they create a buzz which is quite unlike any other project. This response can give students a sense of importance and voice that isn’t necessarily given to them through other subjects. To me, this all makes sense but it doesn’t answer the question of why there isn’t more emphasis put on journalism from schools. Through all my interviews a discussion of the chicken and egg emerged, if schools don’t create a demand, then use low enrollment as a reason to not offer journalism, who’s really to blame. I think public schools need to place more emphasis on creating a sense of importance, especially when previous research points to the success of students who participate in journalism.
Dvorak, J., Lain, L., & Dickson, T. (1994). Journalism Kids Do Better. Eric
Clearinghouse on Reading. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED366995.pdf
Iordanidou, S., & Chrysi Dagoula. (2022). 6+1 Proposals for Journalism.
Omidi, A., Dal Zotto, C., & Picard, R. G. (2022). The Nature of Work in the Media
Industries: A Literature Review and Future Directions. Journalism and Media, 3(1), 157–181. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia3010013
Solutions to America’s Local Journalism Crisis: Consolidated Literature Review. (2021,
October 12). Shorenstein Center. https://shorensteincenter.org/solutions-americas-local-journalism-crisis-consolidated-literature-review/
The RouTledge Companion To news and JouRnalism. (n.d.). Retrieved February 21,
2024, from https://bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.psu.edu/dist/f/5180/files/2014/08/The_Routledge_Companion
Bruschke, J., & George, M. H. (1999). Verbal Skills and the Value of
Scholastic Journalism. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 54(3), 65–72. https://doi.org/10.1177/107769589905400305
Wilderman, M., Nasrin, S., & Davis, J. (2018). Budget Cuts in Scholastic
Media: A Focus Group Study of Oklahoma Journalism Advisers’ Survival Skills. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 74(3), 276–289. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077695818787066
Schofield Clark, L., & Monserrate, R. (2011). High school journalism and the
making of young citizens. Journalism, 12(4), 417–432. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884910388225
Watson, A. (2023, September 25). Generation Z news consumption sources
U.S. 2020. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1124119/gen-z-news-consumption-us/
Bobkowski, P. S., & Rosenthal, H. M. (2021). Journalism Civic Self-Efficacy:
Predicting Political Participation Among Secondary-School Journalism Students. Journalism Practice, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2021.1897475
Bobkowski, P. S., & Miller, P. R. (2016). Civic Implications of Secondary
School Journalism. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 93(3), 530–550. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699016628821
Comments