Nov. 10, 2022
Our past three editions
Nov. 3, 2022 Supreme Court & affirmative action
Oct. 27, 2022 UK prime ministers • Inflation & jobless claims
Oct. 20, 2022 Alex Jones & defamation • Herschel walker & abortion
THE LEDE | by Alex Steil
Meta to lay off thousands
in a changing tech landscape
Exemplifies larger trends in tech
Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, announced on Monday that it would lay off thousands of its employees possibly as soon as Wednesday, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The layoff comes after Meta’s third quarter earnings report showed declines in revenue sectors, and this is still in addition to news from earlier this year that Facebook lost 500 million users during the last calendar year; this was its first decline in usership.
The news comes after billionaire and owner of Twitter Elon Musk announced he would also be laying off employees at the social media company. Yet, Twitter is already attempting to rehire some of the workers they laid off.
What you can do —
The social media landscape is changing. Fast.
TikTok usage is rising while other platforms are declining. Musk bought Twitter and there have been palpable changes on the platform, including rises in misinformation while the new CEO says he will ban impersonators on the platform.
Covering student perspectives in such a radical shift of how we get and use information is invaluable. Examining questions in a journalistic tone, such as how are they perceiving these shifts? Or answering the classic question, should social media companies be doing more to moderate content, either misinformation or for their users’ mental health? How are students getting their news? How credible is the information they are receiving?
Examining how these media changes are affecting students and their ability to perceive the world would be good journalism.
Noteworthy
Astros win World Series
The Houston Astros won the MLB World Series Nov. 5 after their sixth game against the Philadelphia Phillies. This is the second title for the team, the first being in 2017. The manager, Dusty Baker, has become the focus of many news articles because this was his first team he managed that won the title.
What you can do —
Sports writing is such a niche focus that it often doesn’t get too much coverage in classrooms, even though sports writing is often what makes money and what readers are sometimes more interested in than the hard-news section. Yet it is a completely different style of writing. Teaching students how to write about events, teams, certain types of scoring and how to interpret certain terms on the fly would be really beneficial for future journalists. Even if they don’t report on sports mainly, event coverage during a World Series or Super Bowl will always require extra hands on deck –– having some sort of framework for future journalists to work within is beneficial.
One great reference is The Field Guide to Covering Sports, which has everything from AP Style quizzes to resources on teaching sports journalism.
What’s viral
Kimmel set to host Oscars
Third time Kimmel hosts
The prestigious award ceremony chose Jimmy Kimmel to host for the third time this winter. Kimmel, the host of his own show on ABC, hosted before in both 2017 and 2018. The most recent Oscars gained lots of notoriety because of the Will Smith-Chris Rock slapping incident.
What you can do —
Students could easily write about two different topics: the best/most likely movies to be submitted to the Oscars this year or the top hosts of these types of award shows in recent years. They would give a new angle to the recurring ceremony.
IT’S AN HONOR
It’s always membership season
Don’t forget you can nominate members any time of year
You may be one fourth of the way through the school year. It’s a great time to submit members for Quill and Scroll! By submitting members now, students can be active members in their chapters for the remainder of the year. By having students join now, you can also avoid the spring rush!
Just a thought
Several have reached out concerning the timing of our Yearbook Excellence Contest and the Writing, Photo and Multimedia Contest.
Just an update: the YEC entries are with the judges right now, and I hope to announce the results at the beginning of December.
We will open the Writing, Photo and Multimedia Contest at the end of November. They will be due Feb. 6. And for those who inquired concerning entry submission, I am looking into many of the suggestions you have sent. Thank you!
Thanks to those who have reached out. Don’t hesitate to ask questions as they arise. I’m happy to help!
— Lori Keekley
