Default template

Speaker: Jon Wile, American City Business Schools

Fewer photos, run one big photo

Phones are for lots of photos, print is for one big
Crios create a more engaging layout
Building relationships between designers and photographers

They do a lot of photo editing
Facilitating working relationships to ensure crops are approved, see if they have better photos for the spread, regardless of what they like
How photographers see view or would tell this story

Marriage of words and visual

Their designers edit headlines to say the same thing as the illustration

Repetition

Go back and look at old work

Look at what you’ve changed, what you haven't, what you’re good at, what you’re not – taking time with people you feel can develop talent

Focus on being a journalist

What do readers need and want, not just what is decorative

Join Society for News Design (he’s president)

Student News Design Competition has opened

The Future of Media and Technology

Mar 7, 2024 12:00 PM PST

Samantha RichRachel Mintz

Speaker: Neil Mandt, Movie and TV producer

Beginning of the fourth industrial revolution is upon us
Artificial intelligence has been used for many years
Sora AI: made by Open AI, these videos were made one week ago, these videos are remarkable and look real
In the future, will people be able to feed AI a written prompt and make a movie?
Studies of content creation should be broad
Blockchain: decentralized services that are doing basic things, chain between servers is broken once something goes wrong (like hacking), this allows us to record ownership of things of value that no one can see, tells us who owns what
What is the Metaverse?

The 3D Internet
Augmented reality and virtual reality that can lead into virtual worlds

What is the difference between augmented reality and virtual reality?

Both change the way we use screens
Virtual reality uses a headset with built in screen that creates an environment, uses head tracking
Augmented reality does not transport someone to a virtual world but uses images and uses them as a layer over the world around them

Neil believes augmented reality will be bigger than the printing press, the electric light, and the internet combined because it will change education, communication, commerce, and shrink the world
He spoke about Apple Vision Pros, saying that people should buy them if they want to be a pro
Augmented Reality (AR) glasses are also here - an enterprise product

Used to break down language barriers and help those who cannot hear well

Mojo Vision’s
No one will be using a smartphone in 2028, we are going to wear glasses or contacts
These things are app based!
Work from home will look like something we cannot image soon
When AR goes mainstream, what will happen?

New influencers will always be in our vision, these things can be sold through Instagram or Meta
Get paid to have a website in your vision always, you don’t even need to click on it
PEOPLE START TO AUGMENT THEMSELVES

Real world consequences and real world opportunities
LiDAR: a tool that can scan your environment and add things, can place things back in an environment - news stories will be at the point of the story and will be discoverable on an app through AR, we can RELIVE these stories (some of which are horrific)

Can use iPhone 13 Pro!

BMW robots and Elon Musk is making robots - these are advanced conversational AI robots
Neurolink: Elon Musk put chips in monkey’s brains… applications for humans. We can literally be immortal in this reality. We can download our brain onto a hard drive and live forever as a robot

Really crazy ideas
Try to conceive of these possibilities so we’re not “left behind”, according to Neil

Can you own inspiration?

Do we owe money to people who inspire us?
AI-generated content is new, we can put Taylor Swift’s songs and create something new

Democratization of long form content creation
Can use an AR kit on iPhone right now!

Look at Adobe Aero

3D media will be more powerful in storytelling
Can be used in a collegiate
Some policy is irrelevant in the Metaverse
Not much psychology involved in this way

Nine Skills You Need to Land Your First Newsroom Job

Mar 7, 2024 1:00 PM PST

Speaker: Rick Green, Lexington Herald

(1) Power of observation and always being aware of/ready for breaking news
(2) Rapid synthesis and analysis
(3) Integrity
Advocacy journalism → serves a specific cause

Can be positive, but can also create echochambers (think Tucker Carlson, Rachel Maddow, etc. → Sam’s addition: Jake Tapper yuck)
How can we reconcile this role with broad mistrust of journalists?

Why have journalists lost credibility?

Highest media credibility was in the 1970s

Watergate! Woohoo journalism slay
Walter Cronkite and Vietnam

Social media, politicization/polarization of media

More options for media consumption over time has allowed people to choose what they consume

Advocacy journalism, what is it?

Journalism done for a cause
Likely one-sided
These people won’t be hired in a newsroom

(4) Fairness and impartiality
(5) Intellectual curiosity
(6) Passion → love what you do!

Resiliency because journalism will break you !

(7) Master the basics
(8) Humility

Can help get you in the door and build credibility, integrity

(9) Gratitude

Remember the people who teach and mentor you!
Develop relationships, share information, get to know each other

Audience Engagement

Mar 7, 2024 1:00 PM PST

Speaker: Bella Ross, social media journalists, formally San Diego Union-Tribune, former EiC of The Daily Aztec, @bellamayaross

What is AE?

Take a proactive approach to building relationships

Pushes against ways news organizations have historically ostracized audience

Audience Listening

Not just looking at analytics, emails, comments
Can include:

Community advisory boards
Meetings w community groups (more informally about how to best meet community needs)

EG: “brews and news” – at SD Union Tribune people go to brewery to talk to people about the news, decisions, get to know journalists

Listening events
Digital polling and outreach used as entry to deeper convos

Social Media

Collaborate with local creators
Engage with comments

They encourage clarifying/answering questions in the comments (?)

Community events

Learn what people want to know about your journalism (what to ask community leaders, politicians, etc. in interviews)

Community Mapping Activity – who relies on your coverage

The Power of Workplace Integrity

Mar 7, 2024 1:00 PM PST

Dana Elobaid

Speaker: Tamara Zellars Buck, Southeast Missouri University

Workplace integrity: environments free of harassment, discrimination, and incivility, and filled with opportunity, especially for those who have traditionally been denied it.
Critical thinking in newsroom workplaces

Critical thinking: Realizing that there is always room to improve your reasoning abilities, and you will inevitably at times fall pretty to mistakes in reasoning, rationality, biases, prejudice, social rules/taboos, etc.
“If both sides are complaining about our story, we must be doing something right”

Problems:

Reducing issues to “both sides” is oversimplifying
Use of the term “complaining” delegitimizes feedback in itself, deems them as being wrong, does not encourage use of feedback
Encourages false equivalency — “both sides” do not always have the same amount and quality of information and reputability, don’t need to give equal weight to all perspectives
Bases objectivity based off of people not liking your content; maybe people don’t like your content because it’s bad

“They’re both adults; it’s not our issue”

Personal bleeds into the workplace (how people interact, how they do their work, etc.)

“Only”

Takes away from/downplays the gravity of situations
Once can be bad enough

How do we challenge wrongs in the workplace?

Courageous conversations: values-driven communication in the face of present or potential conflict
Conflict: Expressed struggle between 2+ interdependent parties who perceive incompatible goals, scarce resources, and interference from others in achieving their goals
Balancing act between reaching our goals and preserving relationships

Understand what your goal is as a newsroom and why it matters
Sometimes this is going to be super biased one way: e.g. if someone plagiarizes, you fire them and put goals > relationships

Proactive vs. reactive conversations

Proactive

Enable you to bring up a challenge or concern ahead of time ⇒ be solutions-oriented
Declare a position on an issue and create opportunities to advise on it

Reactive

Reply to words/respond to actions directed at you
Be an “active bystander”; speak up for others
Report wrongdoing that you might have not witnessed or experienced

Tips

Be clear about your goal: what outcome do you want from the conversation
Calibrate your conversations to be in line with the desired meeting goal/outcome
Understand your own conflict style and prepare ahead of time as much as possible
Avoid hyperbolic language
Call out behaviors and things that must change
Document and report everything, formalizing conversations

Correct Me if I’m Wrong

Mar 7, 2024 2:00 PM PST

Speaker: Kirstie Hettinga, California Lutheran University, faculty adviser for their paper and former Fresno State EiC (khetting@callutheran.edu)

Speaker conducted a review of more than 400 college newspapers

Just over half had any locatable correction on their website

Almost 40% were over a year old
Only 6% had corrected something on their most recent issue

More corrections ≠ more mistakes!

Means more transparency :)

Most common errors → names, numbers, and over-emphasis

Over-emphasis: making something seem like more of a big deal than it really is, and gets more at tone and formatting rather than a simple correction
In comparison, a study of the NYT, WaPo, LA Times, and WSJ found the most common errors were personal references, numbers, and misquotes (often misattribution)

Aspects of quotes that need to be checked: person it came from, context it was said in, accuracy of quote content

Corrections policies are a crucial aspect of transparency

Evidence is not overwhelming, but making corrections has a non-negative impact on perceptions of credibility and transparency

In a review of 15 student newspaper handbooks:

All talk about accuracy (to varying degrees), but one-third did not have any kind of corrections policy
Correction standards are often influenced by individual editors

Much more likely to see corrections when editors set them as a priority, so practices lack consistency due to high turnover

Advice for dealing with takedown requests:

Remind them that newspaper content has always lived in perpetuity, even pre-digital times
Regardless of print vs. digital format, writers are always expected to be accountable for what they write

What should be corrected?

Don’t be prescriptive of what should or shouldn’t be corrected → instead, give examples of things that might be corrected

Try to be open-ended in your policy

“Scrubbing” (fixing typos) is not the same thing as a correction

Anything that changes facts or meaning must be documented

Best practices for writing corrections

Research tells us it is bad to repeat the mistake!

EG: Rather than “A previous version of this article spelled John Smyth’s name as John Smith” do “A previous version of this article misspelled John Smyth’s name”

Don’t cast blame

When readers see corrections that attribute the mistake, they think the correction is less important
EG: Avoid things like “Due to an editing error, John Smyth’s name was misspelled.”

Corrections matter <3

A small thing you can do to show your readers you are committed to getting things right

Student Press Freedom 101

Mar 7, 2024 2:00 PM PST

Speaker:

Overall: This feels far more relevant for papers who are affiliated with the university (and would thus be in danger of having funding pulled, admin making editorial decisions)
Tinker v Des Moines

1967-2005 - hands-off public media model

Forms of censorship prohibited:

Indirect:

Cutting off funding
Firing editor or staff
Stacking a publication board
Removing or disciplining advisor
Investigations
Media relations or PR gag orders

In order to make a first amendment claim, you have to have enough evidence that action was taken for content-related reasons
Important to hold onto information and knowledge about problem people/areas because of frequent turnover

If you hear something suspicious, pass the information along

There are certain states (Illinois) where public university presidents can limit student journalism (uh oh!!)

Hosty v. Carter
→ new voices laws

Resources! Student Press Law Center

Hotline: https://splc.org/legalhelp/

Covering Climate, Starting From Your Own Campus

Mar 7, 2024 2:00 PM PST

Samantha RichRachel Mintz

Speaker: Phillip Salata, iNewSource, a local nonprofit newsroom with investigative government accountability, and MacKenzie Elmer, Voice of San Diego

Environmental reporting is a broad way to talk about culture and infrastructure and so much more - opportunity to cover lots of different things!
Do a lot of investigative reporting and entertainment reporting even at iNews Source

More conversational writing at their news organization

Energy is getting expensive!
Conflict is a new pressure to understand how policies can change!
Alternative sources of energy - batteries and salt use (don’t always need to Lithium)
Don’t always try to sound smart, especially when speaking with experts who use a lot of jargon
Importance of local journalism, those stories stay, climate reporting starts somewhere
Local issues symbolize so many threats
More important to localize environmental issues - reaching voters in local communities to save ourselves
Hitting the hearts and minds of those around us
How do you get access to expert sources or underrepresented communities?

Show up, go physically to meetings
Know the customs that are important to different communities
Build trust within communities
Sources are people, keep boundaries to some extent but understand their humanity
There should be no surprises in publication - if you are going to make someone mad, they should know that in advance (but still follow basic journalism ethics)

How to balance reporting considering climate anxiety and the harshness of climate change?

Focus on political action, real steps that people can take

Scientists aren’t sure about a lot of things in the world, we don’t even know how clouds really work
We are always adding more information to the climate problem and constantly innovating!

Copyright 101

Mar 7, 2024 3:00 PM PST

Speaker: Mike Hiestand, Student Press Law Center

What is copyright?

Framed in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8 of U.S. Constitution
Tries to balance protecting creative efforts with sharing knowledge

General rule: if you didn’t create the work and/or don’t own the copyright to it, you must get permission to use it → just giving credit is not enough
Requirements for copyright

Originality
Some small level of creativity
Fixed in some tangible medium

Ideas and facts cannot be copyrighted!

Also, federal works are not protected by copyright → should still be attributed, but you do not need permission to use
Copyright also does not protect works whose copyright has expired
Falls into the public domain once it is no longer copyrighted
(Lots of conversation about this because Mickey Mouse was about to not be protected by copyright anymore in 1928.)

Public domain: As of Jan. 1, 2024, copyrighted works from 1928 and before are in the U.S. public domain

Works created on or after Jan. 1, 1978 have copyright protection for the life of the author plus 70 years

No longer need formal registration for copyright
Generally, the creator of the work owns the copyright, this includes student journalists. There are exceptions to this (i.e. if you are creating something on the job, that work belongs to the employer).
Suggests putting together a copyright agreement - every staff member and contributor should sign one. Students retain copyright to their work. Student grants limited license to the publication to use their work
Cannot just credit the source, you also need permission to use it!
Digital watermarks are embedded within an image sometimes
Auto generated copyright infringement notices

DO NOT ignore
Remove the infringing work
Do your research
Check statute of limitations
Respond in writing
Play the student media card

Creative commons (CC) - alternative copyright licenses

Make sure to look at the terms (especially the attribution)

Instagram

User retains right to photos and content
Grants Instagram all the rights of an original owenr of the content
Users can violate copyright law on their own account by positng material they do not own the copyright to

Fair Use

An exception to our general copyright policy

Four factors of fair use

Purpose/character of the use
Nature of the copyrighted work
How much of the original work is used
The effect of the use on the potential market value of the original work

Parody of original must be obvious
Creativity counts
Only use as much of the original work as necessary
Minimal impact on market value of original

Words Matter: Making Your Content More Inclusive

Mar 7, 2024 3:00 PM PST

Dana Elobaid

Speaker: Rachele Kanigel, San Francisco State University, Editor/writer/trainer for the Diversity Style Guide (kanigel@sfsu.edu)

Inclusive content

Aims to make everyone feel seen, heard, and represented, showcasing a wide variety of identities and beliefs
Commitment to being accurate, up to data, and respectful — not about being “politically correct”
Not just written content — applies to speakers, photographs, videos, etc.

Be aware of changes to culture

People and communities’ feelings will change about certain terms and identity descriptors; important to understand current

Best gender-inclusive practices

Always ask for pronouns
Don’t use dead names even when talking about early life, or if it’s their legal name (*unless they expressly ask you to do that)

Writing about race

Consider whether race is relevant
Ask people how they identify and what terms they use
Be as specific as possible when describing identity if appropriate (if they provide that information)

Latino/Latine/Latinx

Latinx used primarily by younger people, most adults use Latino
Latine easier for Spanish-speakers in the way it fits in the language
Diversity Style Guide likes Latine, but it’s contentious/confusing/no clear consensus

Disabilities

National Center on Disability and Journalism has a guide (conforms to AP style) on disability

Robert Maynard — fault lines

Fault lines: rifts that affect how we interact with and view the world (age, race, gender, nationality, body size, etc.)
Affect journalists’ ideas, sources, questions, quotes, images, etc.
Ask:

What fault lines does my work include? How can I mitigate it

Mental health terminology

Avoid language that belittles mental health conditions (I am so OCD!), consider the messages they convey

Death/suicide

“Commits suicide” implies a crime on their end → “died by suicide”
Don’t include specifics about the mode of death, suicide notes, etc.

When quoted individuals use insensitive language

Leaving it in to leave a full picture of the person quoted (e.g. Trump)

I.e. just don’t include the quote at all

Case-by-case basis

If someone just uses a “wrong” term, could put the correct wording in brackets
Remove the quote

Think of what role your org wants to play in the shaping of language and conversations

Inclusive Design: If it’s Not Accessible it’s Not Inclusive

Mar 7, 2024 3:00 PM PST

Speaker: Paige Connor, Pres and Founder of PKCX strategy, pres of Society for New Design foundation

ADA does not enforce digital accessibility ‘guidelines’
Color Contrast

Difference in brightness and hue
Use color contrast tools
Don’t solely rely on color

ALT Text

Brief textual description added to an image in a digital document or webpage
Caption describes the story, ALT describes the image

Closed Captions

Textual representations of the audio content in a video, synchronized with the timing of the video

Kinetic captions

Animated or dynamic (think the tik tok auto generated caption)
Difficult to follow, more aesthetically interesting than user friendly

Transcripts

Recommends using Microsoft Word dictate feature

Typography

Affects readability and comprehension for all users
Most accessible font → comic sans :)

Friday, March 8

An Introduction to the Deliberative Journalism Project

Mar 8, 2024 9:00 AM

Speaker: Jenny Fischer from Colorado State University, Co-Director of the NoCo Deliberative Journalism Project

Goal of deliberative journalism is finding ways to encourage deliberation and conversation
Give the community better information about shared values so we can have better conversations about tough issues - especially important in an election year!
Deliberative journalism: a developing perspective that focuses on helping the community elevate their capacity to address their shared problems more collaboratively and effectively
Draws insights from multiple fields and recognizes that simply providing quality information is not sufficient. Issues need to be engaged and framed in particular ways that work to avoid triggering the worst in human nature and can actually tap into the best, particularly our creativity
Seeks to support the creative and collaborative efforts necessary for diverse, democratic communities to thrive
Importance of opinion page: can give a fresh perspective on an experience or issue, fosters trust between newspapers and audience, a lot of stories start here
The Spark

The importance of local journalism to the quality of democracy
Numerous challenges to the traditional journalism model
Challenges and opportunities of social media
Growing polarization and misinformation
Growing distrust in our institutions
Developing innovations in local journalism
Explosion in the amount of data available

CSU’s Center for Public Deliberation

Organization runs meetings for organizations like the City of Fort Collins, CSU, Poudre School District
CPD students serve as moderators and note-takers for groups at all meetings
Goal of meetings is to eliminate polarization around tough issues, find middle group, and make sense of the noise

Wicked problems inherently involve competing underlying values, paradoxes, and tradeoffs that cannot be resolved by science

Water in Northern Colorado is a Wicked Problem

Key Deliberative Responses

Balancing (the long-term focus)
Re-calibrating (short term corrections)
Transcending (short term ideal)

The Beginning of the DJP

Key Committee included members of local media outlets, nonprofits, academic
Four larger community meetings were held to discuss potential plans

Seven Key Tasks of the DJP

Ensuring broad voices are represented
Improving the quality and accessibility of information on local issues
Summarizing what we heard and reframing topics for quality engagement
Engaging authentically (online and in person events)
Serving as a catalyst for collaborative action
Civic capacity building and community building

Opinion page - but more

Focus on public comment
Integration with social media presence to prompt repsonses
Recaps written to highlight reader comments - common themes, good questions, adding data nad responding to misconceptions
Did not have to be a subscriber to respond! (Lower barriers to entry)

Audience Engagement 101

Mar 8, 2024 9:00 AM PST

Samantha RichDana Elobaid

Speaker: Kevin O’Keeffe, Assistant Director of Student Media at Loyola Marymount

Unlike the print product, the audience doesn’t find you, you find the audience
Goals:

Draw audiences to content that lives primarily on your website
Build more audience on the platform itself

Big three social media networks

Facebook:

Only 22% of Facebook's users are between 18-24 – core audience won’t be here
Audience is going to be parents and alums here

X (formerly known as Twitter):

28% of X users are between 18-24

Younger platform overall

Best for specialty communities

Journalists, sports fanatics, politicos, tech people

Instagram:

31% of audience between 18-24
Opinion does really well as does breaking news

Tik Tok

37% of users are 18-24
Tik Tok does not drive traffic to other platforms (users will simply watch your video, have the story and scroll away)
However, this can be useful in getting people to know your brand better

It is meaningful for people to know you and trust you as a news source

Mailchimp/Newsletters

Why is it useful:

Draws audience to content which lives only on your website
Create a direct-mailing list for reaching audience (think about it as DMing your audience)

Why it is not so useful:

Audiences can’t interact with each other
Not audience engagement, more audience delivery
Short shelf life

Community Based Platforms

Reddit and Discord

They recommend editor’s note at the top of the comment section explaining you deleted comment and linking to the comment policy
How much to post

Instagram: 2-3 times per day ✓
Twitter: throw everything up there and see what sticks
Arts reviews don’t do well on the grid
Instagram hashtags aren’t helpful, twitter is

Whether to let staff members interact with comments on their personal accounts

These individuals represent your organization as a whole, but it can be a good audience engagement tool as it puts a face to the person behind your content

If you choose to let staff do this, set clear parameters

Newsroom Management For Students and Advisers

Mar 8, 2024 9:00 AM PST

Speaker: Olivia Palombo and Amy Carlyle, EICs at The Loyolan (Loyola Marymount); Tom Nelson, Adviser at The Loyolan

Think about what things you’re doing right now that are stupid/illogical that you do just because it’s tradition
Traditional journalism model: “this is what we think you need to know” top-down from journalists to community
Public-powered mindset: “What do you not know that we could find out for you?” collaborative between journalists and the community

The current state of journalism needs to be optimized for: the information age, listening, relevance, efficacy, depth, reader revenue, earned trust between the reader and audience
“How do we get to where the students are, rather than trying to get them to our coverage/website”

What do people want in a leader?

Whether the newsroom leader could do the jobs they supervised
Leaders with deep expertise in their field
Works well in newsroom structure, because people work their way up to the leadership positions

Good leadership behaviors to model

Be honest about what you know/don’t know ⇒ “I’m not sure, but I can find out and get back to you”
When you mess up:

Apologize
Determine what happened and what exactly went wrong
Be part of the solution (and include everyone else that should be involved)

Loyolan structure

Similar to TMD: Exec board (big 4) → A1 (section MEs) → assistant editors → interns (staffers)
Weekly check-ins between Exec board + A1
Hiring

2-round interviews for every applicant
Require some type of application sample for every application
Conduct interviews and fill out a post-interview evaluation form

Set bare-minimum standards

Read your email and respond regularly and appropriately
Be an active listener during staff and section meetings
Respect your deadlines

And be communicative when you know that you can’t make it

Follow same hiring/leadership schedule as TMD, but the EIC transition happens in February

Loyolan staff meetings → MDesk (?)

Take attendance using QR
Analytics → top story, video, most-liked post
Announcements and learning moment
Shoutouts/birthdays

Retreat! Theirs is more educational

Freedom of Information Law

Mar 8, 2024 12:00 PM

Rachel MintzDana Elobaid

Speaker: Mike Hiestand, Student Press Law Center

Student Press Law Center

Promotes, supports and defends the First Amendment and press freedom rights of high school and college journalism. Provides free legal help
Mostly gets calls related to censorship
Website: SPLC.org

What are freedom of information laws?

Your legal key to ensuring access to public records and meetings !

Who is subject to FOI laws?

Only public agencies or bodies

Three types of FOI Law

Open Records

State open records laws
Federal FOI

Open Meetings

State open meetings laws
Federal government in the Sunshine Act

“Pocket” FOI Laws

Open Records Laws

A public body must make its records available upon request unless the records are explicitly exempted by statute

State Open Records Laws

Used to obtain access to records of stae, county, or local government bodies
Finding your law: www.rcfp.org/ogg

Federal FOI law

Records created, possess or controlled by a federal agency or maintained by an entity under government contract
Do not apply to:

Congress, federal courts, private corporates, federally funded state agencies

FOI has its limitations

Agencies aren’t required to:

Conduct research, create a record that does not already exist, add explanatory materials to any records disclosed, or analyze data

Requesting Records

Verbal requests sometimes recognized by law
Can set up an appointment in-person and physically request the document, build rapport, ask what specifically you should be asking for
Submit written request where required or to establish “paper trail”

Reasonably describe the record you are seeking
Send to agency or person responsible for keeping the record

Use www.splc.org/lettergenerator (state version)

What happens next?

Officials must either:

Provide the records in a timely manner or
Point to an exemption

If you believe your request has been improperly denied

Contact the recordkeeper and politely cite the law
Administrative appeal sometimes available
Judicial review
Fines and/or attorney fees may be available

Common exemptions

Records involving “ongoing criminal investigation”
Information that would jeopardize national security
Police techniques
Some personnel records like hiring, firing, disciplinary
Education records kept by a school

Family Education Right and Privacy Act (FERPA)

Requires schools to provide a student (or sometimes parents) with a copy of his or her “education records” upon request
Penalized schools that release a student’s “education records” without student (or sometimes parental) consent

“Education Records”

Includes most records that are directly related to a student and is maintained by the school in a central location
Common examples: grades, test scores, some disciplinary records

FERPA

FERPA does not prohibit student journalists from publishing or disclosing information about other students; it only applies to school officials
FERPA only restricts release of an “education record” that identifies a specific student. (Most statistical information should be available.)

They can black out student names though, then provide that information.
Be careful - if students are employed by the University, then they are sometimes entitled to reporting sexual assault to the University under Title IX
Takeaway: don’t be employed by the University!

Reports to explore

Accreditation reports
Academic performance reports
Building inspection reports
Fire safety inspection reports
Campus crime reports
Public health and safety inspections for dining halls

Open Meetings Laws

General law: a public body must provide notice of all gatherings and allow public attendance unless meeting is explicitly exempted by statute

Attending public meetings

Show up
If you’re asked to leave, ask that the meeting minutes reflect your eviction —> make an appeal, talk to SPLC after
Deliberation of certain things (eg personnel matters) can happen behind closed doors, but the vote has to be held publicly

Common exemptions

Discussion of personnel matters
Discussion of individual students
Matters involving highly personal information
Discussion of ongoing or contemplated legal proceedings
Meetings to discuss the acquisition of real estate

Pocket FOI Laws

Federal Clery Act (campus crime)

Applies to all public and private institutions receiving federal financial assistance

Annual campus security report
Daily campus police log
Timely alerts

Noncompliance can result in fine of up to $13 million for each violation and potential loss of eligibility for federal aid

Federal student “right to know” act

Access to student graduation rates
Access to athletic program information
Access to accreditation reports

IRS Form 990

For expensive FOIAs

Submit fee waivers
Narrow the time frame for the request - instead of a year’s worth of emails look for a month versus a week
Look into FOIA fee caps — each state has their own rules
Reach out to SPLC for help

Podcasting for Student Media

Mar 8, 2024 10:00 AM PST

Speaker: Patti Piburn, journalism professor & KCPR advisor, Mustang Media Group

Cute and intentional covers
93% of people who listen will finish all or most of the episode (podcast listeners are committed)

Hook listeners in the beginning
Important to trim, edit, get rid of space to keep people’s attention
Podcasts that relay information are popular – people want to feel smarter!
People want to feel a connection to the host

Creating a local news podcast:

15-30 minutes
Use existing news stories, talk to reporters to hear about their experience working on stories

Promotes transparency, audience engagement, media literacy, practicing multimedia

Sports podcast:

Invite athletes and coaches (????)
Your sports writers are experts in campus sports
Rundown of top sports stories
Center around interview
Call to action: ask listener to visit website or listen to more episodes

Incorporate video

Putting faces to names to allow people to feel like they know the hosts
Video helps to redirect people to the episode

Production specifics

Audio and video recorded separately
Combine A/V in post-production
They use adobe audition/ableton

Promotion and Engagement

Reels guidelines:

45 seconds-1 minute
Always use same font
They recommend animated captions for accessibility (this is not accessible though)
Use logo

In person events

Set up table on campus with foot traffic, put a question on a table and let them come to you
Builds brand awareness, consistent people and timing

Motivation within the team

People know when you’re not passionate about your podcast
Their process

Brainstorm → pre-show meeting → recording → editing → distribution

Their podcasts

For incoming students: how to do campus stuff, what to know, hyper specific
News, sports, people of color round table, on the street discussion

Talking to Strangers

Mar 8, 2024 10:00 AM PST

Abigail SchreckDana Elobaid

Speaker: Dean Nelson, Founder and Director of Journalism Program at Point Loma Nazarene University (formerly NYT, Boston Globe, NPR)

Intuitively we know that interviews matter, but why?

In addition to facts and data, we need a human voice and unique perspective

Interview necessities

Experts and explainers to provide official accounts → these are typically the most careful sources (and often the most boring)
Witnesses → describe the five senses of a story
Stakeholders who are affected → these are often your most important sources

People are often reluctant to be interviewed → time constraints, previous bad experience with reporters, general distrust of the press

Distrust of the press is not a Trump-era phenomenon

Government has consistently considered the press an “enemy of the people,” dating back to Nixon

Overcoming this reluctance

Emphasizing the need for that person’s unique perspective for the story

“Readers will be better informed if they hear your take”
“Your story matters”

Acknowledging negative past experiences with the press, but explaining how things have changed/how you or your organization are different
Play the student card!
Authenticity matters

Preparation

Unless it’s for a breaking news story, you should know most of the answers to basic/informational questions already

You are looking for a perspective, insight, anecdote, or unique way of expressing a point of view

Preparation puts your source at ease and minimizes dishonesty/spin
Plan your questions!!

Put questions in order and leave tough questions until about two-thirds of the way through the interview to ask it

Make it a conversation, not an interrogation
Check your ego → you’re not trying to win an argument, you’re trying to get a perspective

Ask an easy question or two at the end
Be ready to improvise → actively listening and following up

Tips for effective interviewing

Where it happens matters (most important for in-person interviews)
Silence is part of any interview
Impressions and body language matter → how you dress, taking notes when appropriate, etc.
Keep it conversational, but challenge incorrect or obnoxious statements
Take your time writing notes

And always take notes! Even when recording
Take more notes immediately after

Always ask if there is anything else they want to add, who else you can contact about this, and if you can contact them with more questions

How to Be a Strong Newsroom Leader

Mar 8, 2024 12:30 PM PST

Speaker: Rick Green, Lexington Herald

“When you bruise, it’s because you’re moving forward”
Tips to being a good newsroom leader:

Communication

Written communication

Authenticity

“Theatre of leadership”; you’re always on display

Trust your staff and delegate
Acknowledge your shortcomings and work on them (invest in yourself!)

Localizing the Presidential Election

Mar 8, 2024 12:30 PM PST

Speaker: Jere Hester, CUNY J-School

Main goal for election coverage: serving your audience’s interests and needs

Identifying stories to tackle
Planning how to tackle them
How to bring attention to them

College journalism is going to be particularly important for the 2024 election → college student voter turnout rose in 2020 and 2022

The issues we care about as college students are often the issues a big piece of the electorate cares about too (climate change, abortion access, student loans)
Campuses are at the center of issues that are likely to play a big role in the election

How does your newsroom decide what to cover?

Start by listening

Meeting your audience where they “live” both online and in real life
Ask focused, but open-ended questions

What issues do they want to know more about?
What information do they need to make decisions?

Localized coverage happens in two ways:

Taking a big story and highlighting how it impacts your community

Reaction is a part of the story, but not the whole story
Talk to local experts and decision-makers
Get localized data → especially relevant when it comes to things like climate, health care and budget
Never assume that everyone knows the bigger story

Don’t want to repeat other/larger stories, but context is necessary
Serve both people who already know about an issue/event, and bring new people into the conversation

Writing stories/highlighting issues that are not talked about in national outlets

Example: 2021 NYC Mayoral Elections

Sent out a form where people could share what questions they had for mayoral candidates
Created an election hub with explainer stories, past coverage, etc.
Sent a questionnaire to all candidates → “Meet your Mayor”

When a candidate didn’t answer a question, they included information about their stance found in public records
Matched people to candidates who most aligned with their views

Get in candidates’ faces!

Redefining Community in the Practice of Journalism

Mar 8, 2024 1:30 PM PST

Speaker: Estella Porras, Cal-State, Monterey Bay

What is community?

Word means different things to different people

Imagined communities

Communities of stories and conversations that create a sense of who we are and who we identify with
Benedict Anderson’s discussion of nation as an imagined community
See others as fellow citizens even though we don’t know them

Colombia “imagined” by the news coverage of road cycling
What does the notion of imagined communities mean for journalists?

Makes us think about who is included in our stories, whose voices are included, and where are our sources from?
Mapping and observing our sources is important - observe in person and physically see what the problems of a community might be
Listing: what are the top ten places to nap or to study (people want to know this, asking people about these places can give us a mental map of our campus)

Community as a Public Sphere

Origin democracy in ancient Greece, people had conversations about what is “public”
People that were having these discussions were called “citizens”, people who were free (no women or enslaved people)
Deliberation: decisions made based on arguments

Habermas studied the public sphere: sites citizens had conversations about the collective living
Newspapers created an informed public opinion
Is our community a public sphere?

Recipe for democracy: public sphere (spaces of citizens conversing) + information _ rational arguments + deliberation = democracy

How can our journalism practice promote healthy public spheres?

Invite conversation on public matters (ex. Unpacking an issue, a bill, a policy)

Examples: cliffhanger stories. Expand the conversation on social media or directly with the experts

Citizen’s driven agenda

What are the things my readers want most from school/their city?

Indigenous views: bien vivir (living well)

Have a connection with the land and the community
New paradigm of social and ecological commons
Rooted in cosmovision (one-with-others, including nature)
No separation - interconnectedness

Redefining community and journalism

Imagined communities: include stories that make people and spaces visible
Public sphere: citizen’s driven agenda
Buen Vivir: Interconnectedness “I am with others.”

Traditional Art in the Digital Age

Mar 8, 2024 1:30 PM PST

Samantha RichDana Elobaid

Speaker: Art director of Word Magazine (UC Santa Barbara)

Think about it early
Thumbnail

If you’re working traditionally, you have to have a clear plan because it's much more difficult to make major changes once things are on paper

Plan and Prep

Dimensions (include bleed margins)

Use VueScan for high quality scans

In color
Size: Scan at correct size (for dimensions plus bleed lines)
Scan/preview resolution

300 dpi

Save as a TIFF (not JPEG or PNG)

They’re huge files

PROCREATE!!!!

Use the clone feature (adjustments → clone) to mock the same texture of a scanned paper

Excellence and Mental Health Can Coexist: Discussion for Editors

Mar 8, 2024 1:30 PM PST

Speaker: Mia Hennen, The Sunflower (Wichita State University)

As EIC → delegate! Ask 3 before me!
Communicate separately about work w friends
Editor + staff bonding, don’t let people get siloed / don’t silo yourself off

Making events for the whole staff to do (be conscious of cost)
Create spaces for staff to bond and make friendships (be people, too) outside of the workplace

Compliment your staff

Written + other content

Let people have bad days/weeks

Be understanding of people’s circumstances/mental health/personal life
Be able to accommodate people’s absence, be flexible about deadlines (within reason), allow them to take time off

Setting clear expectations about what conduct is okay/not okay in the newsroom

Clear expectations about gossip, reporting information, having conversations with editors and leadership, etc.
Keep reminding staff about expectations (midpoint reminder)

Looking after your own mental health

Delegating responsibilities
Create work and life (school, etc.) boundaries
Not necessary to take on every single problem right in the moment (it’s okay to tell someone we can meet at a different time)
Taking physical breaks from the newsroom

Getting Pushback From Administration? Push Back.

Mar 8, 2024 2:30 PM

Rachel MintzSamantha Rich

Speakers: Chuck Clark (check.clark@wku.edu), Adviser at College Heights Herald (Western Kentucky University) and Amy DeVault (amy.devault@wichita.edu), Adviser at The Sunflower (Wichita State University)

Just because they won’t talk to you doesn’t mean you shouldn’t cover it → cover it, and say they wouldn’t talk to you
Can potentially explain why The Daily wanted to speak to the source that denied a comment/interview
If not getting a complete interview, can potentially do another story on administration (or another source of authority) refusing to talk to the media (example: running a story as a Q&A when the University President is refusing to answer questions and gives a 5 minute interview)
Charging excessive FOIA fees

Put numbers into print!
EG: Wichita State University quoted The Sunflower $1,500 for a FOIA request for financial records on a campus housing development

Check state law! → In Kentucky, public agencies cannot charge more than 10 cents/page
Cannot charge someone for the time of the staffer sending the documents/compiling them!

Three reasons why a public meeting can be closed in Kentucky (check state documents)

Specific litigation of a crime
Employee affairs
Real estate deliberations

Threats to funding

Covering Protests

Mar 8, 2024 2:30 PM

Dana ElobaidAbigail Schreck

Speakers: Lindsie Rank, SPFI, and two photojournalists from the San Diego Union Tribune

When covering protests, you should have:

Some type of covering over your eyes
(pulls out a bulletproof vest)
(pulls out extremely sophisticated mask to protect against being gassed)

Being approached by various parties (police, protesters, etc.)

Diffuse the situation; never escalate, antagonize, or argue
Take notes, photos, be cordial, polite, etc. ⇒ decide what makes it into your story later

Sometimes, wearing your press pass (or PPE) makes you a target

Evaluate the situation you’re in and decide accordingly

Strength in numbers — having a buddy with you at these protests can help, keep an eye out for you
In public, people have no reasonable expectation of privacy

If people are protesting, you legally can take photos, videos of people (there is no reason to redact, blur photos or ask for permission other than ethical reasons)
Think about the ethical considerations of publishing faces/names/etc. of protesters (convo among editors)

If arrested:

Make clear that you’re press
Write phone #s on your arm you might need to call in sharpie
Do not unlock your phone
Do not consent to search
Know Miranda rights and ask for your lawyer

Don’t say anything else!!
Don’t say “I want a lawyer, dawg” (?!)

Breaking the Bounds

Mar 8, 2024 3:30 PM PST

Speakers: Mishal Charania and Carly Nicholas, both from the Michiganensian!!

Spreads should look different
Might be boring if you see the same thing over and over again
The yearbook should encapsulate the distinctive experiences, memories, and character of the academic year
Marrying the copy and photo using impactful design
Michiganensian is thematic without using a theme
The template lifestyle can limit creativity and individuality
Freestyle lifestyle is better!
Might be more difficult to highlight special moments when a template is more rigid
Design for the spread, don’t design for the book
Lines are used to represent connections between students and between both students and the university

These lines are found all over the look, on the bound of the book and on the page letters
Might look like a small element but is something that ties the book together

Everything done is still purposeful, not having a strict theme does not mean do whatever you want to do
Some templates, but they don’t guide people toward certain things (includes shapes and text)

These encourage designers to think about shapes in different ways
Use shapes intentionally

Two main categories that classify Michiganensian design: simplistic and minimal, and bold and fresh

Building text around photos is a strategy
Keep in mind that designers don’t know what photos they will get (they don’t request them), work with what they have

Every spread doesn’t need more than one color, just depends on the photo

Can be subtle about other design elements

Utilize different fonts, especially in headlines
Together, these spreads make up our yearbook but makes the reader want to do to each page and see how each story is represented uniquely

Makes you want to keep turning the page

Can’t use maize and blue on sports spreads
Colors are chosen and connected in some way

Interesting to play off colors of opponents in football and sporting spreads

Do not use theme elements that takes away from the spread

Goal of templates is to be cohesive and feel uniform, but if you’re not taking risks you’re missing out on opportunities to represent what is important to the student body!

Covering Sexual Assault, Legally

Mar 8, 2024 3:30 PM PST

Speaker: Anne Marie Tamburro, SPFI

Digging up records

Under the Clery Act, you can get:

Annual reports → how many sexual assaults are happening on your campus annually?

Not very specific, but can provide insight into trends and general culture at your institution

Daily crime log → what happened yesterday?

Within 60 days, must be available for inspection
Prior to 60 days, must be available within two days

Under state public records laws, you can usually get law enforcement records (police reports, police communications) and you should be able to get names, violations, and sanctions of those found where the discipline was for a crime of violence or non-forcible sexual offense
Under FERPA, you can usually get student records if you have a source who is willing to consent to disclosure of their records

People often think of FERPA as a way to protect student information, but it can also be a way to gain information → it allows students to gain access to their own records
FERPA has a carve-out that allows records to be released with information redacted → if an institution denies a request on the basis of FERPA, you can ask for all of the information except for the student information
EG: If you are talking to a student who is a survivor of sexual assault for a story, they can request records on how their case was handled from the university

Protecting your sources

Most states have some version of a shield law that protects you from having to disclose confidential source information to state officials

Some states have them, but they don’t apply to student journalists
They may apply both to the identity of sources and to any pre-publication work product
Shield laws usually provide a qualified privilege

This means the privilege to keep information confidential isn’t absolute → there are exceptions, usually if:

Information is otherwise unavailable
Compelling and overriding interest
Info is clearly relevant to an important issue in the case

Mandatory reporting rules → who on your staff is a mandated reporter? **RAs**

More than two-thirds of universities choose to designate all employees as mandatory reporters

Avoiding legal liability

Student journalists who follow standard journalistic norms and ethics are unlikely to get sued, and even less likely to lose a lawsuit

Do everything a reasonable journalist would, and nothing a reasonable journalist wouldn’t

Main legal problem → defamation

Standards for defamation:

Must be false and not opinion
If the subject is a public figure or official, they must show that you knew or had reason to know the information was false
If the subject is a private individual, they must show you were negligent (you did not do what a reasonable journalist would do in that situation)

Good Designers Copy. Great Designers Steal.

Mar 8, 2024 3:30 PM

Samantha RichDana Elobaid

Speaker: Kevin Fullerton, Creative Director of Springboard Creative

Taking boring images and using a familiar visual language to tell stories through the graphic

EG: mob boss story where different boxes showed how each man in the group photo died

Layout should be about the story, not the design.

The design should tell the story, maybe better than the story could be told otherwise
Never do something simply because it ‘looks cool’
Should be a communicator first and an artist second

Reverse copy (white text on color)

Especially on newsprint, make sure that the font size is higher and the leading is turned up. By the time the ink spreads, it’ll look similar to the rest of the text

Saturday, March 9

Writing About Trauma in Nonfiction

Mar 9, 2024 9:00 AM PST

Speaker: Courtenay Stallings, Asst. Director of Pepperdine Graphic Media (courtenay.stallings@pepperdine.edu)

Responding to someone sharing a traumatic experience in an interview

Acknowledging and listening, but not acting as a therapist
Preventing retraumatization → “breaking the rules of journalism”

Possibly provide questions ahead of time

When should you write about your own trauma?

Ask yourself what your purpose is in writing your own story
Be prepared for what emotions might arise, consult a mental health professional before if possible
Writing about your trauma for public consumption has challenges → backlash, friends and family may read it
There is no pressure to share everything

How do you tell stories about others’ trauma

Gain trust and set boundaries before the interview occurs
Don’t begin the interview by discussing trauma → learn more about who they are as a person beyond what happened to them
Do not hesitate to reach out to the person for clarity and to ensure accuracy in telling their story
Processing vicarious trauma

You do not have to do it alone → lean on editors, newsroom for support
If needed, take a step back from what you’re working on

What does it mean to write about trauma ethically?

Minimizing harm
When interviewing a survivor, proceed with caution and lead with compassion
Language used → survivor vs. victim

Ask the person you are interviewing what they prefer

Trauma-informed journalism + resources

Building trust with both the source and your audience
“The Trauma Beat” by Tamara Cherry

Looks at how the traditional journalism system is set up to fail trauma survivors and journalists
Talks about solutions, resources, etc.

Poynter: 15-minute Journalism and Trauma Self-Directed free course
Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma

Breaking News Coverage and Tight Deadlines

Mar 9, 2024 9:00 AM PST

Breakout session with Alejandro Tamayo, The San Diego Union Tribune
He is a visual/photojournalist and has worked in San Diego as a photojournalist for 12 years
Focuses on border issues - he now lives in Tijuana (2,000 homicides each year)
Covers issues on both sides of the border
Breaking news: every situation is different, especially different in Mexico and the U.S.
In the U.S., the police are usually already there - not true in Mexico (journalists have more access but also more risk)

Threats to journalists in Mexico when images are taken of something you should not have taken a picture of

Deadlines in our world

Go and cover the scene/environment, then immediately get it back to the paper
Send a picture to the editors right when he arrives to the situation
Depending on radio calls/number of reporters are there depends on how much coverage you will do on the event

Don’t bring too many cameras - just one - you may have to walk

Work out of your car, coffee shops, whatever is close by!
Bring your laptop and cell phone (hot spot connection from iPhone is important)

Focus on one assignment at a time - don’t procrastinate on getting your stuff back to the editors

Getting more than one assignment in a day can be stressful, work on one at a time

His experience:

Went to Pulse nightclub.
Here he worked with other reporters from Orlando, who worked much differently than his organization in San Diego.
There was lots of coverage from this: about the survivors, the families impacted, much more.

Photojournalism tips

Get your video and photos to editors ASAP - in 24/7 news cycle it quickly becomes irrelevant
Try to plan shots if you can
Understand what you need in the shortest amount of minutes or seconds in an interview (for video)
Think about: who, what, when, where, why because this is what breaking news is - getting information to the public

In some assignments, you may want to go back and go deeper into the breaking news-related issues
Balance seeing the difficult parts of breaking news stories with fun stories

Disconnect when you’re not working, spend time with family or friends

Reporting on Trans Issues

Mar 9, 2024 9:00 AM

Speaker: Irene Milanez (they/them) and Alexia Frederkson (she/they), San Jose State University, Spartan Daily

Ask your subject what pronouns they would like to appear in the story
It might be appropriate to make a note at the beginning of your story stating that a subject uses multiple pronouns to avoid confusion
Can introduce a source as ‘x person, who uses they/them pronouns’
There is almost never a reason to deadname a trans person in a story

If source deadnames a person, don’t use the quote verbatim

Avoid:

Term “preferred pronouns”
References to “assigned female/male at birth”, use instead “was raised as girl/boy”. Not all trans people are comfortable being referred to the by their sex

Assigned sex at birth is politicized. Feels unchanging

Detransitioner

This is anti-trans language
Detransition is appropriate as a verb, not as an adjective

Terms gender ideology, transgenderism, trans ideology/agenda are anti trans
Transgendered, use instead Transgender
‘Trans-male’ or ‘trans-female’

Confusing and used multiple ways

Saying someone is ‘allegedly’ or ‘accused of’ being Trans

Trans children

Prioritize speaking to child and parents
Think about consequences of publishing information about trans children

Death of trans people

Don’t assume death was related to identity

Anti-trans politics

Don’t take politicians at their word on what the bill is, ask someone to offer broader context

Crime

Seek sources beyond law enforcement

Law enforcement might provide records displaying incorrect names or pronouns

Incarcerated trans people

If your source is incarcerated, remember legal and chosen names might not match
Consider granting anonymity

Health Care

Gender-neutral terms in health coverage:

Avoid equating gender and anatomy instead, consider who is affected

“People with ovaries” or “people with prostates”
If cis women, for example, are primarily affected “women and other patients” might be appropriate

Be careful about how you talk about transition

Many people, trans children specifically, might be transitioned, but are not getting gender affirming health care. Contextualize and differentiate this appropriately

Detransitioning

People might detransition for myriad reasons. Don’t assume it’s because they ‘are no longer trans’ or made a mistake
Clarify with your source how they would categorize this

Gender affirming care

Be specific about what care it is
Gender affirming care is not specific to trans people
Avoid “male hormones” or “female hormones” – be specific

Sports

Don’t assume regulation of trans athletes is based in scientific fact
Testosterone regulations are constantly changing
Trans men and non-binary athletes are largely ignored in reporting on trans athletes

Drag

Character based performance art
‘Drag performer’ instead of ‘Drag King’ or ‘Drag Queen’
Some might use certain pronouns when in character – clarify names and pronouns they want printed

Generally use stage name over legal name

Describing people

Avoid describing height, pitch of voice, etc. which might imply that they are not really the gender they identify with or could unintentionally out someone
Don’t identify characteristics as masculine, feminine or androgynous

Sex work

Use ‘sex worker’ over ‘prostitute’ or ‘escort’
Some sex workers might use names other than their legal name, clarify what they’d like to have used

Use the Trans Journalists Association's style guide + glossary of terms

Cover the capitol from your campus

Mar 9, 2024 10:00 AM PST

Speaker: Jennifer Burger and Matthew Reagan, CalMatters

State and federal policy is community policy, University policy is higher education policy
CalMatters: based in Sacramento and is a nonprofit reporting on higher education
Public institutions have policy on where money comes from, how it is spent, and public access to information
For public and private institutions, government policies cover everything from anti-harassment and discrimination rules to financial aid, employment, admissions and research grants
How to build a higher education beat

Statehouse reporting
College system governance
Federal government
State and national data
Education news sources

Who makes the laws?

All states except Nebraska have bicameral legislatures
Each has a committee on higher education, which holds hearings and develops policies that could turn into bills then laws

Legislative staff produce reports that are full of data and analysis on how higher education policy is functioning or could impact the state

Legislative Analyst’s Office
System reports
Campus reports

Example: look at difference between number of students enrolled and existing campus housing inventory (they also often have the number of students on campus housing waiting lists)
Politico’s 2021 version of “I’m Just a Bill”
Utilize Digital Democracy (this is in California but they might have a version in Michigan) that transcribes all state legislature meetings and gives information on positions of each state representative

Legislatures need to disclose all gifts!! May be an interesting story to look into

U.S. Department of Education

Administers federal programs that impact all colleges and universities in the nation

Examples

Financial Aid
Student loans
Anti-discrimination (Title IX)
The Dream Act

Their advice: get wine (if you’re 21!!!) and sit down with iPads and look through state data for hours and hours….
Look into what other news organizations are reporting on (state and national news, also student publications)

National news: inside higher ed, the chronicle of education, open campus, etc.

How to Brand Across Multiple Platforms

Mar 9, 2024 10:00 AM

Dana ElobaidSamantha Rich

Speaker: Tami Bongiorni, Digital Media Supervisor at Brokaw

Tag yourself in your post
Multiple brands should interact with one another

Make Your Policy Manual a Living Document

Mar 9, 2024 10:00 AM

Speaker: Chuck Clark, College Heights Herald, Western Kentucky University

What is a policy manual?

Delegates responsibilities
Includes mission statement
Sets clear expectations for conduct and content
ACP Model Code of Ethics can be helpful to look at

It should be a living document

All WKU staff sign their policy manual when they join staff

Case study: Copyright Policy

Any content produced for the paper belongs to Student Pubs, they hold copyright for any other use by student publication

Students hold copyright for any other use outside of student publications (use for portfolio, can sell to other people)

Have a lawyer that went through and approved the policy
All staff must electronically sign the policy (copyright policy and manual) before joining

Case study: Plagiarism and fabrication

Plagiarism incident at WKU → plagiarism and fabrication policy put into the manual

Case study: Suicide and other sensitive stories

Suicide on campus → paper publicly reported the event in great detail (as per the police report)

AP Stylebook says provide minimal details
Bad judgment call, not a factual error

Created a policy on reporting suicides

Directly pulled language from the AP into their own policy (vs. saying “we adhere to AP style”)
“Editors are strongly encouraged to seek advice from professionals/adviser when reporting on this issue”

Possibly creating a policy

Think about the role it plays that’s not writing articles (grammar check, editing, etc.)

Disclosing when it is used for articles (at least for now)
Other school has random AI detectors they run on articles (INSANE !!!!!)

Literal cop behavior like calm down

DEI tools for your newsroom

Mar 9, 2024 11:00 AM PST

Ideas: Madison Luc, Joe Heinemann, and Marley Penagos, Pepperdine University

Why?

PGM is not just one homogenous body
Our aim is to highlight, elevate and learn from all the voices that amke up Pepperdine and Malibu
The DEI tracker helps us identify areas of growth and areas we need growth

Need to ensure we don’t get the same voices every time!

Sometimes, we need to go back to a source time and time again - like the University President
Don’t just ask people you know or club leaders, don’t reuse sources

DEI Tracker

Use Google Form
Make sure we are understanding that we are hearing from different perspectives (think: are we including people with different ability levels, international backgrounds, etc.)
Form includes: title, publishing data, asking if the story is specifically about BIPOC, POC, LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities, or other marginalized groups (ask the reporter!)
Ask which section the story belongs to, asks how many sources are in the story

Art in the DEI tracker

Ask if a story contains art
Does the art include illustrations of people, list the perceived or intended racial/ethnic identity, gender identity, and sexuality of the people
People will usually draw people that look like themselves unconsciously

Ask if a story contains photos

Ask if the photos include people, if so, then list the perceived racial/ethnic identity, gender identity, and sexuality of the people
Does the story contain an infographic, what information is it highlighting?

Unique sources

For all of 2023, 94% of stories tracked contained unique sources

Pepperdine’s most used sources in the tracker were head of athletics programs

Can see how many sources are in each story

Remind people to fill it out when you can, like adding it to the payroll form
Don’t impose a quota on DEI stories - we are not just checking a box
Would this be audience facing (i.e. the results of our reporting)?

Planning on doing a story on the graphics, reporting on ourselves

Tracking our own newsroom:

Pepperdine looks at religion, ethnicity, if they are a transfer student, gender
Based on student data system
Pre-dominantly white newsroom at Pepperdine
Do a “by the numbers” story

Students can connect to other students, different than major news organizations, coming at them from the human-to-human connection
How to handle working with organizations that have mistrust toward the media?

News talks at Pepperdine - an event where senior leaders go into each chapter meeting for fraternity or sororities on campus, can be applicable to other organizations
Be as transparent as possible
Explain why you are recording, saying “this is your opportunity to share your thoughts, what happened, in your own words”

Suggestion: spend more time with them outside of the protest, get coffee with people, invite them to write an Op-Ed, being seen as someone who is helping them use their voice

Have the EPE give them advice on how to write Op-Ed

Covering campus death

Mar 9, 2024 12:00 PM PST