THE WEEKLY SCROLL

January 10, 2020

News, tips and advice from Quill and Scroll

The Lede

President Trump says ‘peace is possible’

President Donald Trump addressed the nation and the world on Wednesday in the wake of Iranian attacks on Iraqi military bases where U.S. troops operate.

“We must all work together toward making a deal with Iran that makes the world a safer and more peaceful place,” Trump said. “We must also make a deal that allows Iran to thrive and prosper and take advantage of its enormous untapped potential.”

Tuesday night’s attacks by Iran were part of the country’s retaliation against Trump’s ordering the death of Iranian General Qassem Suleimani.

Meanwhile, back in Congress …

The U.S. Senate is slated to hear the House’s impeachment case against Trump, but first it has to agree on the rules by which Trump will be tried. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) says he now has the votes to pass rules. He just has to wait for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) to send him the articles of impeachment.

It’s An Honor

2020 Writing, Photo and Multimedia Contest open until February 5

Our Writing, Photo and Multimedia Contest is now open for entry until Feb. 5, 2020. This year, we’ve updated the contest so that it rewards students with the work they regularly produce in their newsrooms.

Enter now to reward students with the work they regularly produce in their newsrooms at https://quillandscroll.org/writing-photo-multimedia-contest/. A form of payment must be completed at the time of entry. Online credit card payments must be completed by Feb. 5; purchase orders must be emailed to Quill and Scroll at the time of entry; and checks must be in our office by Feb. 14, 2020! However, we are taking applications anytime from now until February 5.

Nominate students now for Quill and Scroll Honors

It’s never too early to submit your school’s nominations for Quill and Scroll induction! Student memberships are coveted honors that award the top achievers in student journalism. Nominate your sophomores through seniors today!

As the spring semester continues, orders pour through our doors. Fulfill your orders for graduation cords and pins now to ensure quick fulfillment! We have both member and non member awards available to be purchased.

They can be found at the bottom of this page.

Not too early to apply for Q&S scholarships

The scholarship forms for both students and advisers are open now.

For students, scholarships can be used for tuition, room and board at any college or university. Recipients must major in journalism or a related area of communications.

For advisers, Q&S identifies and rewards experienced journalism teachers and publication advisers who seek the opportunity to upgrade their journalism skills, teaching methodologies and advising techniques.

The scholarship forms for application are open until April 15 (advisers) and May 10 (students).

Q&S Interviews Jonathan Rogers

Here’s an interview with Jonathan Rogers, the award-winning adviser at Iowa City High School. He touches on several key issues, including media literacy and the value that high school journalists can bring to their communities. Enjoy!

Free Spirit Journalism Conference

Each year, one high school junior from every state and the District of Columbia is selected to attend the (all-expenses-paid) Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference in Washington, D.C.  Conference dates for 2020 are June 19-24.

Sponsored by the Freedom Forum Institute in honor of the late Al Neuharth, founder of USA TODAY and the Newseum, the goal of the program is to encourage free-spirited students to pursue a career in journalism and to emphasize the importance of the First Amendment in a democracy.  Each student is awarded a $1,000 scholarship to the college of his/her choice.

The application deadline is February 1, 2020. The application can be found here.

What’s Viral?

How to: fact check social media images

Social media floods the internet daily with millions of images. Often, images are used out of context in order to produce controversy over an event or message, leading to misinterpretation of reality. The Poynter Institute for Media Studies recently released tips to fact-check the images you are seeing — specifically related to the recent military conflict between the United States and Iran. However, these tools can be used all across social media to determine the accuracy of the image paired with its headline or caption. Poynter suggests asking simple questions like those listed below:

  1. When was the picture taken?

    Image via Open Learn Create.

  2. Where was the picture taken?
  3. Who took the picture?
  4. Look closely
  5. Why are you receiving this image now?

The article also details other sites that can help a viewer determine if an image is reliable for a certain situation, such as Google Reverse Image Search. Read the rest of the article here.

Instagram movements give to Australia

As the bushfires rage in Australia, social media influencers, celebrities and companies continue to call for donations to charities that work to fight the fires that are destroying homes, land and the lives of nearly one billion animals in the country. Celebrities like Russell Crowe and P!nk started donating (thus calling attention to the issue) at the end of December. Actors and actresses accepting awards at this week’s Golden Globe Awards discussed the fires in their acceptance speeches.


The Australian Red Cross reports around $44 million has been donated to their Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund.

Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Facebook are swirling with images and videos of the fires. The posts focus on the animals killed and landscape damaged by the bush fires; the posts, according to Dr. Brent Coker, tap into viewers’ emotional appeals.

Plant A Tree Co., which has over half a million followers on Instagram, pledged to donate $1 for every like and share their post receives showing a kangaroo in front of the fires. The post has more than 1.5 million likes.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Plant A Tree Co (@plantatreeco) on

Justin Bieber releases new music after four years

Fans of the 25-year-old pop star waited four long years for non-collaborative content from Justin Bieber; it has arrived in his single, “Yummy.” Bieber has collaborated with artists Dan+Shay, Billie Eillish, Ed Sheeran, Luis Fonsi, DJ Khaled and many more since his last personal music release in 2015, “Purpose.”

Fans believe “Yummy” is an ode to Bieber’s wife, Hailey Baldwin, based on the blissful lyrics of the song. (Also, check out the pink hair. Yummy.)

Reaction memes and TikTok’s have circulated social media since the song’s release Jan. 3. The song is the debut single from Bieber’s fourth studio album, to be released later this year.

Just a Thought

Photo by Hayden Walker on Unsplash

Poynter’s year in the media: a review

Tom Jones, author of The Poynter Report, reviews the biggest and best moments of 2019 media in a special edition of the newsletter on Dec. 20, 2019. Jones reviews over thirty bests and worsts of the year, from best journalist of 2019 to the scariest news media moment of the year.

Jones chooses to focus on the positive rather than the negative. He chooses to cover topics that bring out the best — or biggest — media moments of 2019. He spends a just a paragraph on each category. Only a few categories are named regarding worsts of the year.

Jones gives large nods — in both content production and journalistic skill — to The New York Times, as well as highlighting positive works of The Washington Post, and employees of NBC, MSNBC and Fox News.

In his final thoughts on 2019, Jones says, “Journalism has never been under more attack, but it continues to be a noble and necessary vocation. And it has never been more important.”

Read the full article here.