To thrive and not just simply survive in a digital society, media literacy is a must. People of all ages need to be able to digest and analyze vast amounts of information from various sources. It is critical educators help students effectively create, access, analyze, and evaluate messages in a variety of forms. This resource list can help teachers help their students navigate this process. The National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE)--which boasts free membership--has resources,...
At an almost alarming rate, students these days are unable to determine news writing from opinion writing. In my two Journalism I classes, I conducted a pre-assessment experiment where students evaluated a news article and opinion article from the local newspaper. I asked students to read both pieces, underline the facts and opinions in each article and then decide which piece was from the news section and which piece was from the opinion section. Students were able to accurately identify facts...
One of the most exciting aspects of weaving media literacy instruction into the classroom is the rich source material that we are able to glean from news and entertainment media, pop culture and social media. It can also feel overwhelming to try to keep our instruction on pace. When Beyoncé dropped “Formation” on Feb. 6, 2016, and the next day gave a Black Panther-inspired performance during the Super Bowl halftime show, there was backlash on social media and from political pundits. I quickly...
My classroom is in the same hallway as the Spanish and French classes; and we share a common lunch period. After years of listening about how their students learn while traveling, I noticed goals common to our courses, especially in conversing and communicating with others. I wanted to try a trip of my own. In addition, nearly a decade ago, I traveled to Austria, Hungary and Spain with photography teachers from across the country; I grew so much as a photographer in those weeks. Since then, I’ve talked to broadcast teachers who take their crews on bus trips and fly as far as Southeast Asia to have them practice in environments students would find uncomfortable, yet familiar. This summer,...
As a video journalist, you’ll often deliver a “piece to camera,” communicating directly to and making eye contact with the viewer through the lens of your camera. Eye contact is essential. Christian Jarret’s article "The Psychology of Eye Contact, Digested," which appeared in the British Psychological Study publication back in 2016, gets it right. Jarret wrote: “Whether or not other people make eye contact with us changes the way that we think about them and their feelings. For example, we are more likely to remember faces with which we’ve experienced mutual gaze, and we consider displays of anger and joy to be more intense when shown by a person making eye contact....
Michigan native Jeffrey M. Smith is a photojournalist based out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. His client includes (just to name a few) Rolling Stone, Duke University, and Google. Jeffrey recently shared his thoughts on photojournalism with SchoolJournalism.org. SJ: How did you first get interested in this career? Jeffrey: "I had an interest in photography from a young age, delivered the Ann Arbor News on my bicycle for seven years, and always enjoyed chatting with the dozens of people on my newspaper route. I think all these factors, paired with an innate curiosity to constantly learn new things and better understand the world around me, led me to discovering photojournalism and visual communication...
Multiple surveys and studies have shown that Americans remain unaware of the five freedoms the First Amendment guarantees. When more Americans can name characters from an...
MIPA is a state organization working in association with the Missouri School of Journalism; Journalism Educators Association, JEA; and the National Scholastic Press Association,...
January 14, 2017
