The Weekly Scroll for Friday, Sept. 15, 2017
News, tips and advice from the Quill and Scroll International Honor Society.
Compiled and written by Marni Wax, Allison Wunder and Emily LaGrange.
The Lede:
Need background information for stories on DACA?
For those that are unfamiliar with DACA, President Barack Obama created a program through executive order in June 2012. The program simply provides a course in order to gain citizenship. Just this past week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security began phasing out a program that gives undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children a two-year reprieve from deportation.
On Wednesday night, Congressional Democrats said President Trump agreed to support legislation protecting DACA. That angered Trump’s supporters on the far right. Who knows where the fight is headed, but it’s certain this is a topic of interest to your school and in your community.
Click here to sift through the advice Journalist’s Resource offers when talking about this topic.
How far would you go when fighting for your rights?
Learn about Public News Service reporter Dan Heyman, who was arrested in West Virginia four months ago after he aggressively questioned Tom Price, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The charges against Heyman have been dropped, as of last week. “In a joint statement released by the Kanawha County prosecutor’s office and Mr. Heyman’s legal team said that the State had determined ‘after a careful review’ that Mr. Heyman had not acted unlawfully.”
So basically, you are entitled to your rights, people. Fight for ‘em!
Where do you get your news?
There has been an increase in numbers since 2016, when 62 percent of U.S. adults reported getting news from social media. (Coincidence that this was during an election year? Probably not.) We can attribute this growth to Americans who are older and less educated (aka it’s easier to get news this way…stay educated folks!) This study is based on a survey conducted in August this year, with U.S. adults who are members of Pew Research Center’s nationally representative American Trends Panel.
The weather might be unpredictable, but journalists can be a step ahead
And here it is! The time of year that all Floridians dread. Hurricane season in the U.S. generally runs from late spring to late fall. Between the weather catastrophes and need for evacuations, schools closing, clothing, and shelter, the public looks to news agencies to identify key resources to assist in a rehabbing process. To help journalists cover this important topic, Journalist’s Resource has compiled a list of reports, tip sheets, research studies and other resources that should be useful to media professionals of various experience levels.
It’s an honor:
And the award goes to…Q&S Executive Director earns national award
Our executive director, Jeff Browne has earned the Pioneer award! The Pioneer is the highest honor NSPA awards to journalism educators. This award goes to individuals who make remarkable influences on high school journalism and scholastic journalism education, in contribution to their employment.
“This year’s class of winners truly recognizes the best journalism education has to offer,” NSPA Executive Director Laura Widmer said. “These educators possess not only great teaching skills and passion for student press rights, they also have gained great respect and admiration from their students and colleagues. These Pioneers represent the best of the best in the country.” (Student Press).
Way to go, Jeff! We couldn’t be more proud than we are to have you as our fearless leader.
Does he have a plan for Q&S?
Funny you should ask. Here it is.
What’s it like to be a part of something bigger than yourself?
Go to our Facebook page to learn how to share your testimony about what it means to be a member of Quill and Scroll.
What’s Viral:
How is math like journalism? How about these four easy steps to solving a problem?
As a mathematician, Pólya has worked on a variety problems, including the study of heuristics (which is a fancy word to say how to solve problems). When you read the book, “How to Solve It,” it feels like you’re walking through and developing your own understandings of Pólya’s mind as he describes his patterns of thinking. And metacognition is often the heart of problem solving. Here it is. So any journalists that say they can’t do math (including myself)…think again!
Fail with honor, or win by cheating?
ACT Inc., the maker of the United States’ most popular college entrance exam, said an exam was canceled this month at various international test centers because a leak of the test materials. ACT said it could not give specifics as to how the test materials were leaked because the incident was still under investigation. Click here to track their findings.
Just a Thought:
The name Papa can really be used for more than one figure
Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017 was Grandparents Day. And, oh, how they should be celebrated! Many grandparents receive loving cards, calls and emails from their grandchildren. And others (over 2.9 million) went about their daily routines. They made their grandchildren breakfast, organized their activities and helped with homework in the evening. These grandparents are called, “custodial grandparents”, and have accepted the responsibility of raising their grandkids. What other day could be more fitting to discover what these remarkable grandparents do? Take a look!
Myth Buster: What it actually means to be a founder
The founders of The Skimm have realized many things about their jobs, as they have moved from the early stages to the later ones. They have learned any and all of the misconceptions about how successful the founders of companies are (well actually the myths of what people think). Click here and discover the brutal truth they learned – oh so quickly – about starting a company.
