Weekly Scroll for Feb. 23, 2018

News, tips and advice from the Quill and Scroll International Honor Society
Compiled and written by Quill and Scroll journalist Marni Wax

The Lede:

The tragedies go unaddressed.

Almost two decades later, countless mass shootings and dozens of killed students, it’s clear that nothing has changed (or has even started to). Every debate is the same, without any denouement. Advocates (even student advocates…when politicians fail to do so) cry out for others to use their own common-sense and change policies…but nothing ever really happens. Click to find out why.

But at least the students are doing something about it (and you can too).

I can’t believe we are in a time that students are taking it upon themselves to speak about gun control and policy changes. High school students who are speaking out about gun violence, and other teens and even younger students have been part of social movements for years…how has it gotten so political?

Student news director and survivor takes a stand.

David Hogg has become a strong voice among the MJDHS survivors in the media for his outspoken stances on the shooting. Maybe his work as the student broadcast’s news director is part of that. Unfortunately, those who seek to discredit the student protests have started spreading lies about Hogg, his family and his cause. This is also a good chance for teachers and students to discuss the concept of a “public figure” and how different types of public figures merit different coverage.

Fergie’s not so “fergalicious” take.

The singer released a statement Monday after immense critiques of her performance at Sunday night’s NBA All-Star Game. “I’m a risk taker artistically, but clearly this rendition didn’t strike the intended tone,” she said. Go find out why people are just simply not accepting this.

They should pay us for the rights to our name.

We all love fast, easy, and instant gratification right? Well…we like to consume our news this way as well. Gannett is now an investor in the consumer subscription service Scroll (we had the name first…duh). Scroll will be launched in the second half of the year, and readers can get their news just like users get music through the platform, Spotify. Subscription services and micro-payments have tried and failed before, but news executives think this time is different. Check out the link and see how they plan to do this.

It’s an Honor:

Adviser scholarship applications open.

Advisers in active Quill and Scroll chapters have until April 15 to apply for the Lester G. Benz Memorial Scholarship for College Journalism Study. All high school journalism teachers, and newspaper and yearbook advisers who have had at least six semester hours of journalism courses; a minimum of four years teaching experience and advising school publications; currently teaching a journalistic writing class; and a definite commitment to return to the high school classroom and publication advising next year to apply the information gained in the coursework taken as a result of this scholarship. The scholarship program’s objective is to identify and reward experienced journalism teachers and publication advisers (as defined above) who seek the opportunity to upgrade their journalism skills, teaching methodologies and advising techniques.

It’s that time of the year.

If you’re at an active Quill and Scroll charter school, you are probably thinking about who’s going to be inducted into the honor society this spring. Some of you may already know the date, the time and the honorees. If you aren’t quite sure how this whole induction thing works, check out our Student Memberships page to learn more about the qualifications. Scroll down to see the various awards you can get to commemorate your induction.

We also have scripts for the induction ceremony if you do it with candles or sans candles. Both are pretty cool.

And, if you’re within a few hours of Iowa City, Quill and Scroll Executive Director just might be able to attend your ceremony and say a few words. Just send him an email and ask.

Yearbook Excellence Contest Winners.

I can’t wait for the day that I pull out my yearbook and show my kids all the outstanding outfits and hairstyles their mom had at their age. However, my best friend from high school will be able to say that she won an award when showing hers! Will you or your friends share that same gift? Congratulations, winners!

Writing, Photo and Multimedia entries are in.

Quill and Scroll received more than 2,100 entries over 23 categories in the 2018 International Writing, Photo and Multimedia Contest by the Feb. 6 deadline. Thanks to all our members and soon-to-be members for submitting entries.

All of the entries are now in the hands of our judges, who include more than a dozen professional journalists, a few JEA Carl Towley Award winners and several NSPA Pioneers. Judges have about three weeks to complete their task, at which point, Quill and Scroll will announce the Sweepstakes Winners (first-place in all 23 categories), Blue and Gold winners (the schools that achieve the best), and National Winners (first three places and honorable mentions).

As always, Quill and Scroll will honor the top 10 percent of entries in each category, so the early spring announcement of winners will include more than 200 students, all of whom will be eligible for Quill and Scroll scholarships.

What’s Viral:

And another media challenge surfaces.

The #HobbyLobbyChallenge is going viral as photographers use the craft store’s plastic flower aisle as a backdrop for portraits. Check out this video to see just how they do it (and side note…you should be doing this instead of the Tide Pod Challenge).

Are the games or the photography better in the 2018 Olympics?

Here are some of the most compelling photographs ever taken at the Olympics. Check it out (especially you aspiring photographers)!

The feeling is mutual.

On Tuesday, Marvel Studios posted an emotional letter from director of “Black Panther”, Ryan Coogler on Instagram. Coogler thanked his fans for their immense support by saying, “I am struggling to find the right words to express my gratitude at this moment, but I will try.” Go check out the article…AND the movie (trust me, you won’t be disappointed in this one).

Just a Thought:

Will diversity ever actually triumph? Not in these current times.

The Education Writers Association’s State of the Beat report found disturbing news for the coverage of education: just 22 percent of full-time journalists on the education beat are journalists of color. This reality means that, despite the best of intentions and research, the critically important issue of education is being reported through a limited lens. Click to learn about the disservice this causes you all, trust me…it’s there.

BRANDED with a brand.

Have you ever seen a brand over and over again online? Well…you could very well owe that to Shopify. Shopify serves as the base layer for an emerging ecosystem that solders digital advertising through Facebook onto the world of manufacturers…go learn just how they do it.

Is Facebook better than the rest (or just more popular?).

Monika Bickert (Facebook’s head of global policy) spoke very intentionally and precisely about how Facebook’s content-management team and policies are constructed. Bickert emphasized that humans are deeply necessary to the project of content moderation, saying that Facebook now has 7,500 content moderators around the world. In other words, they’ve added almost the same number of content moderators as Twitter or Snapchat’s total employee head count in the last eight months.