teachapalooza 2015 presentation
TRANSCRIPT
When Your Students Break
BIG News
Teachapalooza 2015, The Poynter Institute
Presented by Steve Fox, June 2015
Time…Is On Our Side
I HEARD A SAYING RECENTLY:
WE DON’T HAVE A LOT OF TIME…..
SO WE’RE GOING TO SLOW DOWN
Today’s Goals
Get stoked! Yes, I said “stoked.” You can do this at your university! Just Do It!
Have a Plan. Hopefully our discussion will plant the seeds of a plan for you to pursue at your university.
Want to Chat More? I’m around, please come find me if you want to talk more.
Quick Background
CI story was sixth pro-am partnership.
Student approached me with rumors of student heroin OD in Fall 2013. Class ran Spring 2014.
Story was ready to go in May. Weeks before publication, the mother backed out.
Shelved story. Re-engaged mother over summer.
Story ran in September 2014, CI program ended in January 2015. 20/20 piece ran in January.
FOX TEACHA RULE #1: Expect the Unexpected.
20/20
20/20
Teaching Goals
Data. Students get introduced to using data in their reporting and storytelling.
Story Idea Generation. Developing story ideas is a skill students develop by end of semester.
Interviewing. No, e-mail interviews are not accepted! Get students out of classroom.
Writing. Whether it’s a written piece or multimedia, students develop their long-form writing.
FOX TEACHA RULE #2: Flexibility required
Getting Started: StoryDevelop a timely idea to engage your media partner and
students. Early buy-in is crucial for success.
Idea needs to be doable. Remember, you have three months. Don’t try to scale Mt. Everest.
Get buy-in from your department head/dean. Especially if you’re focusing on your university.
FOX TEACHA RULE #3: Protect Thy Backside
Getting Started: Partner
The key ingredient is trust. Don’t get burned!
Better to partner with an editor you know. Dealing with unknowns can create heartburn.
Develop a workflow with your editing partner. Allow editors to give input directly to students.
FOX TEACHA RULE #4: Have Trust Issues
Syllabus: New Rule of Thirds
1. Find the Story: Students divide into teams, chunk up idea to manageable pieces.
2. Report the story: Middle part of semester is researching, reporting, interviewing.
3. Write the Story: Outlines, Drafts, Rewrites. Getting students to start writing can be a challenge.
FOX TEACHA RULE #5: Draft early and often.
GradingWeekly memos: Including memos on how
reporting/writing is going.
Create environment for success, guide students away from stories that won’t work.
Not every student work will be published. So, how do you grade “failure?”
FOX TEACHA RULE #6: Effort matters.
Keys to Success
Build Trust. Student journalists face an even steeper hill with sources than professionals.
Obstacles. Students learn to go around obstacles.
Identification. Students should record themselves at all times. Never use “student project.”
Transparency. Let subjects know about project.
Time. Be realistic about commitment needed with such a class: It’s a HUGE time commitment!
Potential Tripfalls
Investigating your school. There are many stories to be done but also potential for blowback.
Grading. Can be tough to find the right formula.
Time. Have to be focused. Editing student work eats up a lot of time. Anxiety levels run high.
Investment. Getting students emotionally invested early is critical to success. Time management is always an issue with students.
‘Not Everyone Likes Us’
Sources. Students learn about gaining trust and building credibility. Many sources have animosity towards media and students feel that.
Obstacles. Frustrations provide great teaching moments. REMINDER: These are students.
Failure. The failure rate is high. Some stories don’t pan out. Some sources don’t cooperate or change their stories. IT’S ALL LEARNING!
Benefits
Experience. Students get newsroom experience: Working with editors. Covering beats. Interviewing.
Independence. Students say they love the independence and a chance to bring together everything they’ve learned to date.
Community Journalism. Students cover stories that local media are unable or unwilling to cover.
WE NEED MORE OF THIS!
