Journalism & Scholastic Media

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Why it works

Scholastic journalism, students reporting, writing, editing, and publishing for an authentic audience, is a powerful applied discipline that builds research and interviewing, clear and accurate writing, editorial judgment, media ethics (accuracy, fairness, sourcing), critical thinking, and civic engagement. Research and practice link it to engagement and skill development, and it also builds media literacy from the producer's side. Strong teaching holds students to genuine journalistic standards and ethics, with real reporting and publishing, not simulated assignments.

The research: Journalism education standards (JEA); research on scholastic journalism.

The run-of-show

Choose your slot. The agenda, timings, and length update to match.

The core activity: teach journalism with real standards

Teachers leave with an authentic journalism project held to real standards.

Pick a journalism skill or project (reporting, interviewing, writing, editing, ethics).
Hold students to genuine journalistic standards (accuracy, fairness, sourcing).
Make it authentic, real reporting for a real audience.
Connect it to media ethics and civic engagement.

Real reporting, real standardsStudent journalism builds skills and ethics by having students report and publish for a real audience, held to genuine journalistic standards.

Facilitator notes

Hold genuine journalistic standards, and make it authentic.
Teach media ethics.
Connect to civic engagement.

Simulated journalism misses the pointMake-believe assignments with no real audience or standards lose journalism's power. Have students do real reporting, held to genuine ethics and standards.

Adapt it

Elementary: simple reporting, class news, accuracy.
Secondary: reporting, ethics, publishing, editorial judgment.
All settings: authentic, real standards, ethics.

Participant handout

One page for every teacher. Print it, or save it as a PDF.

K12 Academics · Professional Learning

Journalism: real reporting, real standards

Authentic and civic: real reporting and publishing, held to genuine journalistic standards and ethics.

The journalism skill or project:
The journalistic standards I hold students to:
How I make it authentic:
How I connect it to media ethics:
The civic engagement it builds:

Make it stick

Real reporting and standards:

Hold real standards.
Make it authentic.
Bring a journalism project to the next PLC.

Common questions

Isn't journalism just writing class?

It is applied and civic: research and interviewing, accurate writing, editorial judgment, media ethics, and publishing for a real audience. It builds skills and media literacy writing class alone does not.

What makes it powerful?

Authentic purpose, real reporting and publishing for a real audience, held to genuine journalistic standards and ethics. The authenticity drives engagement and skill.

How does it build media literacy?

By making students producers of news, they understand sourcing, accuracy, bias, and ethics from the inside, which strengthens how they consume media too.