The Weekly Scroll for Friday, Aug. 25, 2017
News, tips and advice from the Quill and Scroll International Honor Society.
Compiled and written by Allison Wunder, Marni Wax and Emily LaGrange.
The Lede:
More fake news and how to fight it
The investigative reporting of six students at Pittsburg (Kansas) High School’s newspaper led to the resignation of a newly hired principal, Amy Robertson, who faked her college credentials. Now, the students are calling for Pittsburg Superintendent Destry Brown to take responsibility for his support of Robertson and failing to follow through on her questionable accreditations. When students brought their concerns to Brown in multiple meetings, they say they were brushed off. They are now seeing real changes being made in the Board of Education and its hiring procedures. Click here to read more.
This is not the blank space T. Swift was talking about
Two openly gay seniors at Kearney (Missouri) High School used their senior yearbook quotes to celebrate their sexual orientation, but the students found blank spaces by their pictures instead of their words. The quotes were removed without warning by administrators, who were concerned they would “potentially offend” other students, whom they addressed in a statement to parents and local media. The two students brought their story to a Kansas City television station. Click here to read more.
Sick beats for journalists
Places to visit and people to talk to when covering the beats of city hall and local government, police and public safety, and courts. Click here to read more.
It’s an Honor:
Winner, winner; (five) chicken dinners
Quill and Scroll announced the names of five scholarship winners for 2017. This article covers this year’s winners, their future plans, and how to apply for the scholarships yourself. Click here to read more.
Girl Power doesn’t come with a cost
In this article by Erinn Aulfinger, one of the two 2017 winners of the George and Ophelia Gallup Scholarship awarded by Quill and Scroll, discusses the value of applying the skills you learn. Aulfinger published and distributed a free book for young girls to combat the issues that arise from low self-esteem. With this book, she hopes to make a real difference in a global problem. Click here to read more.
What’s Viral:
Zoinks, Scoob, I think we got the wrong guy
Shortly after a group of white nationalists led a march through the University of Virginia, social media sleuths went on a mission to identify people who participated in the protest and make their identities known to employers, family members, and the general public. While this worked in some cases, it did not for one Kyle Quinn, an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas and a falsely accused participant. Quinn woke up to demands that he lose his job, vulgar messages on his social media, accusations of racism, and posts of his home address, causing him and his wife to take safety measures for the weekend. While the actual man that Quinn bore resemblance to has not been identified, his case shows the danger and consequences of the “reckless spread of misinformation in breaking news” because of a lack of research and fact-checking that is necessary for good journalism. Click here to read more.
The Village Voice finds a bullhorn
After 62 years, the weekly New York City newspaper known as the Village Voice is ending its print publication. The paper will shift its focus to media platforms as well as producing more content throughout the week. Since their move, the Village Voice has already seen an increase in audience, and the beloved home of opinion and New York flare is safe in the arms of the internet. Click here to read more.
Just a Thought:
Dismantling the Copy Desk
The copy desk to some is an antiquated feature of news, where copy editors are best moved into roles of reporting or production to save money and resources. More than 20 years ago, when many papers started making this change, more mistakes sneaked into print, and thus the copy desk was saved, its purpose reaffirmed. Now, the New York Times is preparing to reinvent its copy editing staff, keeping only a few of its 100 members to become “strong editors” that will cover all the copy editing duties. While times are very different from the original experiment in the 90’s, is it still a bad idea to dismantle the copy desk? Click here to read more.
Quill and Scroll International Honor Society for High School Journalists was founded in 1926 at the University of Iowa by George Gallup. Check out our website to read more useful articles and to learn out how to become a charter school and/or a member.
