Tinker Tour comes to St. Louis

“She’s kind of like a rock star. I can’t believe I am in line to have an armband actually signed by Mary Beth Tinker,” said Tammy Merrett-Murry, the college newspaper adviser at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (SIU-E).I was in line for Tinker’s signature as well.

After all, Mary Beth Tinker is a legend. Her armband, her photo, her case documents and “fan mail” are all in a glass case in Washington, D.C., at the incredible Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue.

In 1969 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Tinker in  a triumph for student free expression. It all began when 13-year-old Tinker and her brother wore black armbands to school in Des Moines (Iowa), and they were thrown out of school.

After 25 years of teaching college students about Tinker, Hazelwood and other First Amendment cases in my media law classes, it should come as no surprise that I jumped at the chance to bring Tinker to St. Louis to speak to students and the community. The opportunity arose when my friend Mitch Eden, adviser to the Kirkwood High School Call, told me that his group, Sponsors of School Publications (SSP), wanted to bring Tinker to the regional convention of SSP at my university on March 11.

As things worked out, Tinker spoke to more than 600 high school students in a morning session of SSP and about 150 members of the St. Louis community at an evening event at my school, Webster University. In between, Tinker and I did a radio show on “St. Louis On The Air” on KWMU, the local NPR affiliate.Two weeks after these events, I had a lunch meeting with Tinker in Washington, D.C., where I was giving a paper related to First Amendment issues at the convention of the Popular Culture Association (PCA).

Tinker told me the St. Louis event was a sort of dry run for an upcoming “Tinker Tour.” If all goes as planned, the Tinker Tour will be a First Amendment Bus Tour of schools all over the country and it will officially start in Philadelphia in September on Constitution Day.

“St. Louis worked out well and it’s kind of a model of what we want to do,” Tinker told me in Washington.

“It’s like a pep rally for the First Amendment. What could be better than that? The time has never been better to stand up for free

Mary Beth Tinker spoke to more than 600 high school students and 150 members of the St. Louis community at Webster University. “It’s like a pep rally for the First Amendment,” she said of the event. Photos by Rebecca Barr, Tu Square Studio

speech and for high school journalism programs that are getting squeezed in tough budget times for school districts.“I think the enthusiasm of the students in St. Louis shows how central journalism and newspapers can be to high school curriculum,” added Tinker. “Students actually use their freedoms that they learn about in civics. I tell young people they have rights – and if you don’t use them, you lose them.”

At the First Amendment “pep rally” in the gymnasium at Webster University, Tinker had the students on their feet. She asked them to name the five freedoms included in the First Amendment, which they did.

This was in stark contrast to the knowledge the general populace has about the First Amendment, as indicated in Knight polls and similar polling in the U.S.Tinker’s own enthusiasm for the Bill of Rights moved people at the Webster University Winifred Moore Auditorium in the evening. She was accompanied by a knowledgeable panel that I put together, which included representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), the Mid-America Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), and a local high school newspaper editor.

At both the evening session, and the morning session with the students, we gave out memorial Tinker armbands. The armbands recalled when she wore a protest armband in 1965 to oppose the Vietnam War and to signal support for a Christmas truce in Southeast Asia proposed by U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.

Tinker and several other students were thrown out of school – resulting in a First Amendment lawsuit on behalf of the students’ rights to free speech.In 1969, the Supreme Court voted 7-2 that wearing armbands at school to protest the war was constitutionally-protected speech.

Justice Abe Fortas noted: “It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech at the schoolhouse gate.”

Tinker said she is not sure whether the armbands will become a part of the “Tinker Tour” which will launch later this year.

She said the armbands at the St. Louis events were part of what made her time in the Gateway City very special.

“I am going to be pretty flexible about what people want to do when I come to visit their schools,” said Tinker. “And if students want

Webster Faculty member Don Corrigan helped coordinate the event, which was part of the regional convention of Sponsors of School Publications. Corrigan also did a radio show with Tinker on “St. Louis On The Air.”

me to accompany them to their state legislatures to push for Student Free Expression bills, I would certainly do that. We certainly need to counteract decisions like Hazelwood that curbed student rights.”

Indeed, a big part of the rationale for bringing Tinker to St. Louis was to mark the sad 25th anniversary of another U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1988. In contrast to the Tinker ruling, the Hazelwood decision was a blow to student expression rights.

For more information about the upcoming Tinker Tour, go to the Web to: tinkertourusa.org/about/tinkertour/ or to www.facebook.com/TinkerTour.

For more information about details to organizing a Tinker event, please contact the writer of this blog post at:  corrigan@timesnewspapers.com.

Division seeks nominees for Robert P. Knight Multicultural Recruitment Award, April 1 deadline

Scholastic Journalism Division loses ‘Friend of Scholastic Journalism’ with Paul Pohlman’s passing

by Julie Dodd

I learned about Paul Pohlman’s passing from a tweet from Ellyn Angelotti (@ellynangelotti). Paul passed on Jan. 23 at age 70. I clicked on the link in Ellyn’s tweet to the Poynter article about the recollections his colleagues had of Paul.

I have my own recollections about Paul as do many others in the Scholastic Journalism Division because he played a key role in the success of our mid-winter meetings at Poynter.

Paul was our Poynter contact when we first began holding our mid-winter meetings at Poynter. Those of us who planned the mid-winter meetings (the division’s head and vice-head) would work with Paul on setting dates and scheduling Poynter faculty as speakers. Paul coordinated efforts with Poynter administrative staff so that we were ready to go with name badges and meals. He welcomed us and joined us at meals to talk about scholastic journalism and initiatives Poynter was involved in.

In my scholastic journalism work, I’ve been involved in planning dozens and dozens of meetings and workshops and conventions. Without a doubt, planning the Scholastic Journalism Division’s mid-winter meetings was the smoothest event to set up because of Paul. As we’d talk about the logistics for the meeting, he’d always ask how I was doing. If I mentioned a teaching or college issue, he’d ask a few more questions, and within a few minutes, he would have guided me to new insights or approaches to whatever the concern was. He was a wonderful listener and guide to problem solving.

Several members of the Scholastic Journalism Division joined together and nominated Paul and the Poynter Institute for a Friend of Scholastic Journalism Award, which Paul and Poynter received in 2004. Wendy Wallace, now Poynter’s Grant Coordinator and member of the Entrepreneurship Faculty, received the award at the JEA/NSPA convention in Atlanta, but we waited to present the award to Paul at our mid-winter meeting in January 2005.

When I emailed former division head Jack Dvorak about Paul’s death, he sent this remembrance of Paul:
“Paul truly helped the Scholastic Journalism Division through the years, and I had the pleasure of working with Paul a few times as we set up mid-winter meetings, lunches and other activities at Poynter. He played a quiet but substantial role in helping the SJD remain healthy. We are indebted to him.”

[To read the article in Scholastic Source, click on the Newsletter tab and then scroll to the March 2005 issue. Thanks to Cheryl Pell for enabling us add this issue to the SJD website.]

December 2012 newsletter now available

Download the most recent edition of Scholastic Source, the newsletter for the Scholastic Journalism Division.

In it, you can read a column by David Bulla praising the journalism program at Palo Alto High School. And if you missed Cheryl Pell’s honors lecture in Chicago, you can read the text of her speech in this newsletter.

Finally, if you plan to attend the Midwinter, the form to register is on the final page.

Tampa Bay reporter, Poynter faculty member to headline upcoming midwinter meeting

By Calvin Hall

Author and reporter Jeff Klinkenberg will be among the featured presenters at the 2013 Scholastic Journalism Division Midwinter Meeting in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Jan. 4-5.

Kenny Irby, senior faculty member at the Poynter Institute, will also be a presenter at the meeting, which will be held at the Poynter Institue. Irby specializes in visual journalism and diversity training.

Klinkenberg reports for the Tampa Bay Times, where he has worked since 1977. He is also the author of several essay collections, including Pilgrim in the Land of Alligators and Seasons of Real Florida.

The Midwinter Meeting begins at 1 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 4, with a presentation by Irby, followed by a panel discussion. The Scholastic Division will hold its business meeting at 5 p.m. At the end of the business meeting, members will have its ever-popular state giftexchange session. Members who will be attending the meeting are asked to bring an interesting and unique exchange item valued at $10 or less from their respective states.

Saturday, Jan. 5, features Klinkenberg, who writes about Florida culture for the Tampa Bay Times. Following Klinkenberg’s presentation a panel will discuss the atmosphere created in high schools by Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier and its impact on college media.

After lunch, recent scholastic journalism research will be the focus of the day’s next panel.

Smartphones and tablet computers are the focus of the final session, titled “Apps for You.” Session leaders Julie Dodd and Judy Robinson invite division members to share their favorite apps for education, media and personal use.

“I think we have a great program planned again this year, as has been the tradition over the years,” said Calvin Hall, Scholastic Journalism Division vice head. “I hope that our members can once again find their way back to St. Petersburg to refresh and renew themselves before beginning a new semester.”

To register for the meeting, complete the form enclosed in the newsletter and mail it and the registration fee to Scholastic Journalism vice head Calvin Hall at the address listed on the form. If you have questions or need other information, contact Hall at hallcl@ appstate.edu. The registration deadline is Dec. 17.

Hotel reservations can be made through Dec. 14 at the Hilton St. Petersburg Hotel, 333 First St. S. Use the group code AEJMC to receive the AEJMC Scholastic Journalism Division Midwinter Meeting rate.

Reservations can be made by calling the hotel directly at 1-800- 944-5500 or by calling Hilton Reservations at 1-800-445-8667.

The rates are $119 for single or a double room and include $6 per day for parking and access to the Executive Lounge. Check-in is 3 p.m.; check-out is noon.

The room rates also are available three days before and three days after the official Jan. 4-5 meeting dates, as available.

Midwinter Research Paper Call

The Scholastic Journalism Division of AEJMC is accepting submissions of research papers for its 2013 Midwinter Meeting in St. Petersburg, Fla.  The division is seeking academic papers on any aspect of scholastic journalism, the college media or journalism education applicable to those areas. Papers should be submitted with 12-point Times New Roman type, and double-spaced.  Papers should not exceed 25 pages in length, not counting references, tables, and appendices.

All submissions should be sent electronically via e-mail attachment to ScholasticJNResearch@gmail.com by Monday, November 5, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.  Only Microsoft Word or PDF file will be accepted.  Those papers selected by peer review will be presented during the Midwinter Meeting January 4-5, 2013 at The Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Faculty and student papers that involve any area of mass communication research that can be applied to scholastic journalism will be considered. Possible paper topics include:

• legal issues of the student press
• ethical issues of the student press
• administrative relationships: journalism education school and community support for high school journalism education
• journalism and mass communication in language arts
• preparation, certification and credentialing of publication advisers and journalism educators in secondary school
• multicultural and diversity issues in secondary school journalism
• content or production of high school publications
• the role of college journalism education in secondary education
• historical perspectives of secondary school/high school journalism education
• the role of high school press associations and other media organizations
• recruiting and retaining journalism students
• educational issues applicable to scholastic journalism
• news and/or media literacy at the secondary or collegiate level

Your double-spaced paper should follow either the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association or the Chicago Manual of Style.  In the BODY OF THE E-MAIL to ScholasticJNResearch@gmail.com, please provide the following CONTACT  INFORMATION:  name, title (or student status), and affiliation of all authors, and the name, address, e-mail address and telephone number of the principal author. Please do not include names of authors or other identifying information on any page of the attached research paper.  Electronic files will be sent DIRECTLY to reviewers to be blind-reviewed.  After the cover page of the paper (WITH TITLE and Running HEAD ONLY), include an abstract of no more than 75 words.  At least one author of each paper accepted will be expected to attend the AEJMC Scholastic Journalism Midwinter Meeting to present the paper.  For more information, please contact the Scholastic Journalism Research Chair Adam Maksl at (812) 941-2892 or amaksl@ius.edu.

Pell to give honors lecture at Chicago convention

Post by David Bulla

The 100th anniversary convention for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication is just five weeks away, and for the Scholastic Journalism Division the highlight of the Chicago conference will be the honors lecture by Cheryl Pell.

Pell recently retired as the executive director of the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association after a quarter of a century at the helm and is long-time member of the Scholastic Journalism Division of AEJMC. Pell is also a member of the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame and an AEJMC Scholastic Journalism Division Educator of the Year winner. She said she is most proud of helping create a climate where scholastic journalism could grow in Michigan.

“I am humbled by this,” Pell said of being chosen the honors lecturer. “As the newsletter editor for the Scholastic Journalism Division for several years, I designed numerous issues that included the text of the speeches delivered by amazing journalism educators. I don’t feel as though I belong in that fraternity. I get embarrassed by these things, but it is certainly an honor.”

Pell began her career in education as a high school journalism and English teacher. She has won several national awards, including the Journalism Education Association’s Medal of Merit.

“I’ll miss the people,” Pell added. “Michigan has great journalism teachers and enthusiastic students. I have loved creating experiences for them for the past 25 years.”

The Michigan State professor was chosen to give this year’s lecture at the January Mid-Winter Meeting in St. Petersburg, Fla. Pell will give her lecture on Friday night, Aug. 10 during the division’s business meeting (from 8:30 until 10). That will be held at the Chicago Marriott Downtown Hotel on Michigan Avenue. Also during the business meeting, Bruce Konkle, a professor at the University of South Carolina, will receive the David Adams Educator of the Year Award. Konkle is a media historian and specializes in teaching photojournalism. He has developed archives of the Scholastic Journalism Division’s history. The division will also discuss plans for looking back at 25 years of the 1988 Hazelwood Supreme Court case. Frank LoMonte of the Student Press Law Center will lead that discussion.

The division’s activities kick off on Wednesday, Aug. 8 with the Chicagoland Teach-In at Loyola University School of Communication. Among the presenters will be John Bowen and Candace Perkins Bowen of Kent State University, Sally Renaud and James Tidwell of Eastern Illinois University, and Barry Locher of the Illinois Press Foundation. It will begin at 9 a.m. and continue until 4 p.m. The Teach-In is a one-day sharing of ideas and practices with area high school teachers.

That same night, our division will be reviewed by AEJMC. This includes a review by the assessment committee. Such reviews occur every five years.

On Thursday, the division’s activities begin at 8:15 a.m. with a panel co-hosted with the Minorities and Communication Division titled “Ethnic/Racial Minorities Participation in AEJMC: How Much and What Type of Progress?” At 3:15 p.m., the division will host the Great Ideas for Teaching poster session. The other hosts include the Community College Journalism Association and the Small Program Interest Group.

The Scholastic Journalism Division will also host a research session from 5 until 6:30 p.m. That session includes both the student and faculty paper award winners. The student winners are Joseph Dennis and Amy Sindik of the University of Georgia; the faculty winners, Bruce Plopper of the University of Arkansas-Little Rock and Anne Fleming Conaway of Bemidji State University. All four will receive their plaques during the business meeting.

On Friday morning at 8:15, the division will be one of two hosts for the Breakfast of Editing Champions. This year’s theme is “Beyond the Blog.” The other host is the Newspaper and Online News Division. This is always an energetic and informative session.

At 11:45 a.m., the Scholastic Division will be a part of the annual MAC-SCHJ Luncheon. Michael House, president of the Chicago Defender, is the keynote speaker. It will be held at the Grand Lux Café, 600 N. Michigan Ave. (only two blocks from the main convention hotel). Also to be presented during that luncheon is the Robert P. Knight Multicultural Recruitment Award. This year it goes to the Illinois Press Foundation and Eastern Illinois University High School Journalism Workshop. David Reed, the founder of the EIU workshop, will be a special guest of the division at the luncheon.

Pre-registration is required. The cost is $35.

The division will host a research poster session from 1:30 p.m. until 3 on Friday. Another research session will occur at 3:15. At 5 o’clock, the division will give the 2012 Innovative Outreach to Scholastic Media to Marina A. Hendricks of Kent State University. Hendricks will give a presentation titled “Social Media Toolbox: A Resource for Student Journalism Programs.” Then the divisional business meeting will follow Hendricks’ presentation.

On Saturday morning, the Scholastic Division and the Law and Policy Division will host a panel titled “A Scholastic Journalism Census of Today’s High Schools.” Candace Perkins Bowen of Kent State will moderate. Panelists include Mark Goodman of Kent State, Peter Bobkowski of the University of Kansas and Frank LoMonte of the Student Press Law Center. It begins at 8:15.

Next up is a teaching panel session titled “We’ll Do It Live: Real-Time Reporting Without Regrets” at 3:30 on Saturday. It is co-sponsored with the Community College Journalism Association.

The final session is Sunday morning at 10 o’clock with the Scholastic Journalism Division and the International Communication Division host a teaching panel titled “Teaching Abroad: Adapting Your Course Content, Teaching Strategies and Yourself to Meet the Needs of Your Students.” Division vice head Calvin L. Hall of Appalachian State University will moderate. Panelists include Matt Duffy of Zayed University, Alma Kadragic of the University of Wollongong in Dubai and Sharon Stringer of Lock Haven University.

All in all, it lines up to be a very information week for teaching, outreach and research presentations, as well as lectures and other activities. Make sure you pay the small division fee in addition to the regular conference registration.

Download a list of the Scholastic Journalism Division sessions on the Chicago program

Lastest division newsletter now available

The December 2011 issue of Scholastic Source is now available for download.

Division members should have received a copy via email Dec. 12. Members who did not receive their copies or who need to update their email addresses, should contact Teresa White (terwhite@indiana.edu).

Members are encouraged to submit story ideas and content for the February 2012 issue of Scholastic Source. Deadline for submissions is Feb. 20.

Midwinter Research Paper Call

The Scholastic Journalism Division of AEJMC is accepting submissions of research papers for its 2012 Midwinter Meeting in St. Petersburg, Fla.  The division is seeking academic papers on any aspect of scholastic journalism, the college media or journalism education applicable to those areas. Papers should be submitted with 12-point Times New Roman type, and double-spaced.  All submissions should be sent electronically via e-mail attachment to ScholasticJNResearch@gmail.com by Monday, November 7, 2011 at 11 p.m. Central Standard Time.  Only Microsoft Word or PDF file will be accepted.    Those papers selected by peer review will be presented during the Midwinter Meeting January 6-7, 2012 at The Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Faculty and student papers that involve any area of mass communication research that can be applied to scholastic journalism will be considered. Possible paper topics include:
• legal issues of the student press
• ethical issues of the student press
• administrative relationships: journalism education school and community support for high school journalism education
• journalism and mass communication in language arts
• preparation, certification and credentialing of publication advisers and journalism educators in secondary school
• multicultural and diversity issues in secondary school journalism
• content or production of high school publications
• the role of college journalism education in secondary education
• historical perspectives of secondary school/high school journalism education
• the role of high school press associations and other media organizations
• recruiting and retaining journalism students
• educational issues applicable to scholastic journalism

Your double-spaced paper should follow either the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association or the Chicago Manual of Style.  In the BODY OF THE E-MAIL to ScholasticJNResearch@gmail.com, please provide the following CONTACT  INFORMATION:  name, title (or student status), and affiliation of all authors, and the name, address, e-mail address and telephone number of the principal author. Please do not include names of authors or other identifying information on any page of the attached research paper.  Electronic files will be sent DIRECTLY to reviewers to be blind-reviewed.  After the cover page of the paper (WITH TITLE and Running HEAD ONLY), include an abstract of no more than 75 words.  At least one author of each paper accepted will be expected to attend the AEJMC Scholastic Journalism Midwinter Meeting to present the paper.  For more information, please contact the Scholastic Journalism Research Chair George Daniels at (205) 348-8618 or gdaniels@ua.edu

Advisers focus of mid-winter meeting’s day two

Article also posted on David Bulla’s First Amendment Blog.

By David W. Bulla (Iowa State University)

The conditions that high school journalism advisers face will be the major area of focus on the second day of the AEJMC Scholastic Journalism Division Mid-Winter Meeting on Saturday, Jan. 8.

The meeting will take place at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Saturday’s lineup kicks off with a panel on how state and national associations can help advisers navigate the often narrow straits of 21st-century scholastic journalism. Candace Perkins Bowen of Kent State will moderate the panel. Other members are John Bowen of Kent State, Cheryl Pell of Michigan State and Kathy Schrier of the Washington JEA.

That panel will be followed by an examination of legal protections for advisers, including the protective law in California. Panelists include Mark Goodman of Kent State, Jeff Browne of Kansas and Sarah Nichols of the California JEA.

Roxanne Watson, an assistant professor at the University of South Florida, will give a lecture on teaching press law to today’s students.

Wayne Garcia, executive director of the Florida Scholastic Press Association, will give a presentation on social media and the student press.

There will be two research panels. The first will be the mid-winter research competition. Meredith Cummings of the University of Alabama will serve as moderator and discussant. Research papers will be presented by Peter Bobkowski of UNC-Chapel Hill, Karla Kennedy of Florida, Candace Walton of South Dakota and Bruce Konkle of South Carolina. The other panel, moderated by Konkle, will deal with historical research of the scholastic press. Panelists include Konkle, Karen Flowers of South Carolina, Diana Hadley of Franklin College and David Bulla of Iowa State.

Lunch will be held from 12:10 p.m. until 1:05 p.m. in the Poynter dining room.

Vanessa Shelton, head of the Scholastic Division, will make a special presentation during lunch concerning the division’s fund-raising campaign.

Schedule 2011

Link:

Friday’s activities