Alternative means to tap aspiring writers
I myself found the venue of my earlier writing energy in the school paper.
In most cases, however, the school paper is never really a sufficient training ground for young reporters and journalists.
With limited resources, most schools can afford to publish school papers only once or twice a year.
On the other hand, journalistic endeavors and creative juices of many young people are lured into “emotional” writings in personal journals.
That’s good for free expression. But what about a working free press?
It is about time to tap other resources for enterprising and idealistic student forces to tap campus journalism avenues like bulletin board journalism (periodikit) or pasa news.
But the techno savvy and capable can tap the new media also to launch blog type or weekly online versions of their school paper that could complement the role of the limited printed version.They can even tap the support of social networks to do this.
Somehow this improves the dynamism of campus press freedom and encourages younger writers to practice and learn early.
Teachers as School Paper Advisers
School administrators, teachers, and other educators are ought to give campus journalism a lift.
The schools could be a very good training ground or pool for future journalists or at least writers.
Some paper advisers, however, complained against carrying academic overloads.
The advisory role is viewed as an additional load that does not pay. In return, some of them do not give their all in working with the paper. Many of them concern themselves only on coming out with a single issue of the school paper with minimum or no coaching contacts anymore.
This is indeed a problem, which will especially surface if there are pupils and students who wanted to learn how to write or be part of the school paper.
There is a gap between the clamor for learning and the available opportunities to inspire young writers.
I have this opportunity to deal with school teachers whose job descriptions include advising the school paper staff.
According to them, their greatest problem is time management and also unit over load.
But the way I see it, skills development is at the core of the problem.
While the public expects the teachers to mentor the kids on campus journalism, some if not most of them lack the skills to write even the most basic form of journalistic practice, news writing.
The Philippines’ Department of Education must be able to integrate journalism in classes in a practical way, that is, by selecting and training the mentors so they, too, would be equipped.
Module on Journalism for non-journalists
The MindaNews’ Summer Institute of Journalism will offer a training module on “Journalism for non-journalists”.
The summer program will be held for the second year at the Ateneo de Davao University from May 4 to 27.
The module is designed for news practitioners who are not professional journalists.
It covers Basic News writing (News elements, characteristics, parts, structure, and tips), media ethics and challenges, and expectations of news desks on press releases.
The module will include a lecture, writing activities and other exercises, and critiquing.
Among the target audiences for this module are information officers of local governments and other government agencies, non-government organizations, private companies, and other organizations.
Teachers who are advising student publications in elementary and high school who did not have formal training on journalism may also enroll in the course.
There is a need for non-professional news practitioners to refresh regularly on reporting principles, and practice to upgrade their knowledge, skills, and attitude at work.
Many of the practitioners, especially teachers, work with the youth in informal training on news writing and other journalistic endeavors.
This module should help them stay attuned to the practices in the field and contribute to journalism education.
In Davao City: 3rd GSIS Summer Youth Training Workshop starts
(Also appears at this page of MindaNews.com)
Want your kids to acquire new skills this summer?
Children from six to 16 can improve their grammar and communicative skills, learn to write news, take photographs, and tell a digital story, during the 3rd GSIS Summer Youth Training Workshop from April 21 to May 2.
The summer program is intended for children from six to 16 who are residing in GSIS Heights Subdivision.
MindaNews, the organizer, launched the workshops in summer of 2006 with the GSIS Homeowners Association, Inc., to share skills with the youth in the community where the news organization is based. The MindaNews office is at Leo cor. Venus Sts.
For language, MindaNews is offering “Improving Grammar through Songs” for children from 6 to 8 years old and for ages 8 to10, “Developing Communicative Skills through Stories.”
Both workshops will be handled by Chiza A. Tampos, a licensed Grade school teacher from Bukidnon State University in Malaybalay City.
Tampos is doing a graduate thesis on developing instructional materials in teaching grammar to primary school pupils.
Her workshops run from 12 to 18 hours.
The program also has a 12-hour course on Basic News writing with MindaNews’ reporter for Bukidnon and Central Mindanao Newswatch editor Walter I. Balane.
Balane was a lecturer in journalism at the Ateneo de Davao University in 2006 and is an incoming MA Journalism Fellow starting June 2009, at the Konrad Adenauer Asian Center for Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University.
At the end of the workshop, MindaNews will publish a laboratory newsletter, “The Village Voice,” from articles written by participants and photographs taken by them.
Photojournalist Jose Aurelio Lozano handles separate workshops on basic and advance photography. Both courses run for 12 hours each.
Lozano has a diploma in photojournalism also from the Konrad Adenauer Asian Center for Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University.
Lozano expects participants to the workshop to mount a mini-exhibit of their works from their sessions.
Glory Pearl A. Dy, from the University of the Philippines – Mindanao, will handle digital story telling.
MindaNews also sought the assistance of individuals and institutions within GSIS subdivision, to help defray the cost of the workshop and lower the cost of fees. Among the sponsors are City Administrator Wendel Avisado, Councilor Mabel Sunga-Acosta, Dr. Marilyn O. Arguillas and the Initiatives for International Dialogue. (MindaNews)
Rethinking campus journalism
(First appeared in Istambay sa Mindanao on October 23. For the comments on the post, please read this.)
The better way to teach journalism in campus is to train them to write for life.
Perhaps, that’s a motherhood phrase.
What I really wanted to say is to go beyond competition mode.
But making the students practice campus journalism more might do miracles and fish more youth to the craft of factual reporting.
This is no critique on DepEd’s practice of holding schools press conferences from the division to the national levels.
I believe the efforts in campus to teach writing news, features, editorial, and sports; taking photos, and also copyediting are so much glued to “write to compete”.
Over the past months I had been involved in lectures to elementary and high school students on campus journalism.
The work is courtesy of concerned school paper advisers and education officials who wanted to prepare for the Division Schools Press Conference. The recent DSPC was held in mid-October in Don Carlos town.
Without prejudice to the amount of work put up by the advisers on training campus writers, I think there is wide room for creativity in providing more effective avenues.
There are other ways that could supplement what is achieved in the schools press conferences.
Look at how often they release school publications every year. Once or twice — if we get lucky?
That is if they release a 20-page issue with glossy covers and elaborate colors.
Why not come out with a four-page once in two months issue that could serve as laboratory space for the aspiring journalists? It is cheaper and it is faster to publish! Or with the advent of the internet, educators can use high school students having more time to be online to make t he blogs as avenue for their writing skills to develop.
Besides, it provides more opportunities for coaching, and also pride and sense of accomplishment — in short motivation — for the writers in seeing their work off to the press.
Also, how are “aspiring journalists” chosen?
Open and campus-wide screenings might have to be conducted towards the end of the present school year. Then a writing workshop could be held during summer for the incoming staffers.
How are advisers chosen, too?
Qualified advisers must either receive additional pay or reduced workload so that they can be expected to facilitate the publication with quality. They must be ready to mentor the editorial team and must not write all the articles by themselves!
What if at the end of the year a school paper adviser writes all the articles? That’s definitely a sign of a failure of instruction. I mean failure of education.
While expectations have to be adjusted with regards to quality of work, aspiring writers
must see the school paper as their own, not that of their advisers.
After all, the reason why we teach campus journalism and allot budget of time and resources for it every year is we wanted the youth to aspire to be free and responsible citizens.
The aim to learn the tenets of free and responsible journalism is important for a society to remain free.
Blogging on Campus Journalism
I am starting this blog on simple terms.
These are trial notes on campus journalism.
I have gathered these from my experience as a campus journalist, as a community journalist, as a journalism trainer in schools and communities, as a journalism instructor in a university, and as a journalism student.
There are many names to call this work but it actually meant only one job, that of a journalist.
A journalist does not only do reportage.
He also studies. He does research. He mentors. He shares technology. He participates in the community. He is part of a dynamic collective of healthy exchanges in a growing and diverse community of communities.
This blog on campus journalism is part of my intention to function as a working journalist by sharing lessons and reflections.
These are not only notes on journalism for those in schools. This is a step towards community dialogue.
Aside from easy recall, I choose “Campus Journalism” as blog name because I believe journalists never stop from learning and the venue of a journalist’s work in the real world is a “campus” of sorts.
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