ASNE Partnerships spark, grow student media

• By: ASNE staff
• On: 09/07/2006 11:08:00
• In: Education for Journalism

RESTON, Va. – The American Society of Newspaper Editors Foundation has awarded $132,200 to 43 schools being mentored by 40 dailies to start or dramatically improve student media.

“The needs of the scholastic press are great and growing. Daily newspapers around the country are responding and showing leadership by helping identify and train the next diverse generation of journalists. These teens are creating or expanding independent student media that reaches the entire school community,” said Julia D. Wallace, 2006-07 chair of ASNE's High School Journalism Committee and editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

In this round of partnerships to schools in 27 states, plus the District of Columbia, 15 (35 percent) are schools in which young people of color are a majority of the student body.

Since 2001, ASNE has awarded $948,246 in partnership grants to 250 schools that have partnered with 152 daily newspapers.

ASNE Partnerships are sparked when editors of daily newspapers seek out a local high school that does not have a school newspaper or one that needs help. Volunteers from the newspaper and school identify needs and brainstorm an academic-year journalism mentoring program for students, teachers and administrators.

Dailies taking part in ASNE Partnerships for the first time are: The Boston Globe; Chicago Tribune; Rocky Mountain News, Denver; The Orange Country Register, Santa Ana, Calif.; Ann Arbor (Mich.) News; The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash.; Asbury Park Press, Neptune, N.J.; Daily Times-Call, Longmont, Colo.; Journal Tribune, Biddeford, Maine; Kenosha (Wis.) News, Knoxville (Tenn.) News Sentinel; Lahontan Valley News, Fallon, Nev.; Sierra Vista (Ariz.) Herald; Stephenville (Texas) Empire Tribune; The Evening Sun, Hanover, Pa.; The Flint (Mich.) Journal; The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville; The Frederick (Md.) News-Post; The News Journal, New Castle, Del.; The Times-Herald, Newnan, Ga.; and The Winfield (Kan.) Daily Courier.

As goals, a timeline and production schedule develop, the daily newspaper and school can jointly apply to ASNE for a grant of up to $5,000 that is used to equip the school with the hardware and software needed to produce a student newspaper.

Progress is measured by what is produced: an independent, quality student newspaper that publishes regularly on paper, online or both.

The 2006-07 academic year ASNE Partners are:

• Ann Arbor (Mich.) News and Community High School.
• Asbury Park Press, Neptune, N.J., and Monmouth Regional High School, Tinton Falls.
• Bristol (Va.) Herald Courier and Tennessee High School, Bristol, Tenn.
• Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail and South Charleston High School.
• Chicago Tribune and York Alternative High School.
• Daily Times-Call, Longmont, Colo., and Skyline High School.
• Independent Tribune, Concord, N.C., and Northwest Cabarrus High School.
• Journal Tribune, Biddeford, Maine, and Biddeford High School.
• Kenosha (Wis.) News and Shoreland Lutheran High School, Somers.
• Kerrville (Texas) Daily Times and Center Point High School.
• Knoxville (Tenn.) News Sentinel and South Doyle High School.
• Lahontan Valley News, Fallon, Nev., and Churchill County High School, Fallon.
• Lancaster (Pa.) New Era and Lancaster Catholic High School.
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Tippecanoe School for the Arts and Humanities.
• Rocky Mountain News, Denver, and George Washington High School.
• San Antonio Express-News and Providence High School.
• Sierra Vista (Ariz.) Herald and Buena High School.
• Stephenville (Texas) Empire Tribune and Stephenville High School.
• Tacoma (Wash.) News Tribune and Fife High School.
• The Boston Globe and Boston College High School.
• The Evening Sun, Hanover, Pa., and South Western Senior High School.
• The Flint (Mich.) Journal and Central High School.
• The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville, and Bishop Kenny High School.
• The Frederick (Md.) News-Post and Frederick High School.
• The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colo., and Mitchell High School.
• The Honolulu (Hawaii) Advertiser and Aiea High School.
• The Honolulu (Hawaii) Advertiser and Kaimuki High School.
• The News Journal. New Castle, Del., and Glasgow High School, Newark.
• The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City, and Piedmont High School.
• The Orange Country Register, Santa Ana, Calif., and Gilbert West High School, Buena Park.
• The Repository, Canton, Ohio, and Washington High School, Massillon.
• The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee and Hiram Johnson High School.
• The Seattle Times and Nathan Hale High School.
• The Sun Herald, Gulfport, Miss. and Stone High School, Wiggins.
• The Times-Herald, Newnan, Ga., and East Coweta High School, Sharpsburg.
• The Washington Post's Young Journalists Development Project and Cardozo Senior High School.
• The Washington Post's Young Journalists Development Project and Wakefield High School, Arlington, Va.
• USA Today, McLean, Va., C.D. Hylton High School, Woodbridge, Va., and the Prime Movers Project at The George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs, Washington, D.C.
• USA Today, McLean, Va., West Potomac High School, Arlington, Va., and the Prime Movers Project at The George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs, Washington, D.C.
• Winfield (Kans.) Daily Courier and Winfield High School.

In addition, three previous ASNE Partnerships received additional financial support:

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Columbia High School, Decatur.
• Daily Camera, Boulder, Colo., and Centaurus High School, Lafayette.
• The Daily Advertiser, Lafayette, La., and Northside Senior High School.

Applications for 2007-08 academic-year Partnerships will be mailed in the spring to editors of all daily newspapers in the U.S. and distributed in March at the ASNE Convention in Washington, D.C.

The other five key components of the ASNE high school journalism initiative are:

Highschooljournalism.org: The go-to site for students, teachers/advisers, guidance counselors and professional journalists. Content includes skills-building exercises, lesson plans, interaction with pros, updates on scholastic press freedom issues, a database of scholarships and training opportunities and links to university programs.

My.highschooljournalism.org: More than 400 high school newspapers are already hosted on this site, which provides online search and archiving capabilities. A one-time $50 application fee is used toward journalism materials for the school. Cut and paste methods are used to upload stories, headlines, photos and other material. Middle and elementary school newspapers are hosted on my.schooljournalism.org.

ASNE High School Journalism Institute: A competitive, expenses-paid, two-week journalism-training program for group of high school teachers held at five universities. Every summer, each newspaper adviser will earn at least three graduate or continuing education credits. Tuition, transportation, housing, meals and materials are covered through ASNE. The Institute just completed its sixth summer and has produced more than 1,000 graduates.

ASNE/MCT High School Newspaper Service: ASNE and McClatchy/Tribune Campus have teamed up to offer a full-scale wire service to high school newspapers, dramatically improving resources for scholastic journalism. More than 1,200 school papers have signed up. Stories, photos, graphics, illustrations and Web content aim to supplement, not supplant the work of the high school newspaper staff. A one-time $100 application fee to ASNE Foundation covers the cost of journalism materials sent to the school.

High School National Ad Network: A new program to draw national advertising into high school newspapers. We handle key details such as insertion orders and distribution of payment to school papers.

ASNE is the principal organization of the top editors at daily newspapers. Founded in 1922 as a non-profit professional organization, ASNE focuses on professional development and journalism-related issues, including the First Amendment, diversity in newsroom staffing and coverage diversity, journalism education, editorial innovation and credibility.

The Knight Foundation's Journalism Program, based in Miami, supports organizations engaged in the education of current and future journalists.