THE BLOGGING JOURNALIST

Does Blogging Belong in the Classroom?

Jewell Ludwigsen, writing in a February 3, 2008, post in Tennessee Journalist, "the news web site of the School of Journalism and Electronic Media at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA, notes that:

The Internet is everywhere. From the classroom to our personal lives, the Web is the thing of the future and will continuously grow. But how far is too far?

If you're interested in her answer, see "Blogging in the classroom." I found it worth my time to read it.

Technorati Tags: The Tennessee Journalist,Jewell Ludwigsen,Classroom Blogging,The Blogging Journalist

Max Pearl's Blogging Under 21

The Boston Globe's Elisabeth Donnelly reported January 3, 2008, that "Brookline [Massachusetts]  native Max Pearl, an 18-year-old student at Hampshire College in Amherst, has a blog called "Under 21 in Boston" (under21inboston.typepad.com). While the project is still young," she writes, 'the website's goal is provide a resource, including an interactive calendar and listings of venues for the "elusive, inaccessible places" - that often lack a solid Internet presence - where events for all ages take place."

I took a look at it and it's definitely interactive. To read more, please see "Blogging under 21."

The Student Newspaper Survival Blog

What's happening at student newspapers in the United States? A good source of information on the subject is a blog called The Student Newspaper Survival Blog. I'm a subscriber

Technorati Tags: Student Newspaper, Student Journalists

A Note To 'Critical Mass' Opinions Editor Andrew Mason

Out of all the posts I read February 18, 2007 in the blogs of the Daily Illini, the student newspaper at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the one that really caught my attention was in Critical Mass, the opinions staff's  blog. It was about publishing letters and opinions surrounding U of I's  decision to retire Chief Illiniwek, the school mascot. The post was written by Opinions Editor Andrew Mason and headlined  Your letters about the Chief. This is what stood out:

Since the DI first started reporting that Chief Illiniwek is going to be retired, I’ve received dozens of letters. This is not surprising and frankly, I was expecting it. The Opinions page normally prints around 2000 words a day so quite obviously I will not have space for everything.

That being said, I intend to publish as many letters about the Chief issue as I possibly can. I don’t know how many that will end up being and I don’t know when I will be able to get the physical space in the newspaper. Until then though, I just want to let you readers know that I am reading *all* of your letters.

Andrew, why do you need space in DI for letters and opinions when you have Critical Mass? If you don't want letters in Critical Mass, start a blog or forum specifically for letters and opinions from students. Don't think paper. Think in terms of the Internet and an online community, where opinions and ideas will be available to anyone interested in reading them. Besides, if a person writes a letter or opinion piece and has to wait until there is space in DI to see it published, he or she might as well create a personal blog and use it to comment on issues covered by the DI and other publications.  

For TBJ readers interested in DI's blogs, they are: (1) DI Insider (2) DI Sports Wrap-up (3) Critical Mass — The Opinions staff; and (4)Just Baseball.

NOTE: This first paragraph of this post was revised February 19, 2007, to make it flow more rhythmically.

UThink Is Serious About Blogging

UThink, a library service  at the University of Minnesota, has a list of 1153 "blogs that have been updated at least once in the last three months." It also has a list of "blogs with the most entries" and the "most comments."

I think this is a gem. In fact, I've bookmarked it.

Marlboro Memorial Middle School's Blogging Students

Ann Hannah, eighth-grade social studies teacher at Marlboro Memorial Middle School in Marlboro, New Jersey, "has set up a blogs in which her students may debate current events and political issues," according to The News Transcript of Farmingdale, New Jersey. The blog is hosted at Open Diary.

According to staff writer Tali Israeli, "Twice a month Hannah chooses two students to post an Internet blog entry on any current events issue. The student who posts the blog is responsible for giving his or her interpretation of the issue while the rest of the students in the class reply to the entry," Israeli wrote in the November 15, 2006, article.

To read more, see "Students' blogs become window on hot topics." Unless I missed it, Israeli didn't post a link to the students' blog. Nevertheless, it's an informative look at how one teacher is using a blog in the classroom.

USA Today: 'Blogging Now Begins Young'

"About 300 eighth-graders at South Valley Junior High in Liberty, Mo., are blogging this fall about Guerrilla Season, a book about a 15-year-old living in Civil War-era Missouri," according to USA TODAY's Ashley Bleimes.

"The book's author, Pat Hughes, is joining in the online discussion from her home in Philadelphia," Bleimes noted in a November 14, 2006, report.

To read more, see "Blogging now begins young. Also see The Guerilla Season Book Blog.

Is Indiana School District Going Too Far With Its Blogging Policy?

Oseye T. Boyd at StarPress.com of Muncie, Indiana "the online news source for east central Indiana," reported October 16, 2006, that "Next week, Clark-Pleasant Schools in Whiteland [Indiana] will vote on a policy that would hold students and teachers legally responsible for Internet postings."

For details, see "Should students be punished for blogging outside of school?" 

Student Journalists Continue To Battle Censorship

On October 8, 2006, The Indianapolis Star published an article on "Censorship in schools." The publication said "Six states have passed free-expression laws that give student journalists the same rights as professional journalists, but Indiana is not one of them. A free-expression bill passed the Indiana House of Representatives on Feb. 11, 1991. The bill later died in a Senate committee," The Star noted.

That leaves 44 states where student journalists are battling "nervous administrators in defending First Amendment rights."

Indianapolis Schools Want To Curtail Student Speech Online

"A growing number of school officials in the Indianapolis area are trying to punish students for Internet commentary they deem inappropriate -- including postings on home computers -- drawing outrage from teens and free-speech advocates," Rebecca Neal at IndyStar.com reported October 1, 2006. IndyStar is the online presence of the Indianapolis (Indiana) Star.

I'm with the students on this. To read more about the dispute, see "Schools punishing kids for what they say online."

Technorati tags: Censoring student blogs, Student blogging

Pioneer Press: 'How Safe is Student Blogging?'

Back on August 3, 2006, the Glenview, IL-based Pioneer Press, which "serves the suburbs of Chicago with 64 community newspapers," asked "How Safe is Student Blogging? "

 

The publication's answer: "Although all [social networking] sites claim to have privacy measures in place, a quick trip around popular Internet blog sites shows there is a limited amount that can be done to provide safety for its users."

Mydeathspace.com

Michael Patterson, the Fort Worth, Texas paralegal who six months ago created Mydeathspace.com to chronicle the deaths of MySpace.com users says he's " hoping that teens will think about something they've seen on the Web site next time they're put in a situation where there's a chance they could hurt themselves," the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram reported July 2, 2006

According to Star-Telegram Staff Writer Melissa Sanchez said, "Since December, Mydeathspace, which is not affiliated with Myspace, has posted details about 331 deaths, including 50 suicides, Patterson said. Links to the profiles of 15 suspected killers appear next to links to the profiles of the victims.

Sanchez said, "On its biggest day so far, the site recorded 250,000 hits. More than 250 people have registered their e-mail addresses on the site and use the discussion boards to talk about death."

If you are interested in more, see "Internet Site Focuses on MySpace User's Deaths."

Betty Baye: 'New Blog Mother'

Veteran journalist Betty Baye of the Louisville, Kentucky Courier-Journal reported in a June 29, 2006 column that her bosses have assigned her, "a technological Luddite, to be the moderator of a soon-to-come blog featuring 17 Kentucky and Indiana high school and college students."

 

See "Coming soon: A group of young bloggers, and a new blog mother:"

 

I met Baye here in Chicago during the late 1980s. She recruited one of my former colleagues, Lawrence Muhammad, to the Courier-Journal.

Student Uses Blog To Prepare For Politics

Beth Ortega, staff writer for the Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press, reports in a June 4, 2006 article that, "seventeen-year-old Josh Horneck [of Glenbeulah, Wisconsin) has his sites set on becoming a national politician."

"So the recent Faith Christian Academy graduate has created a blog called "Inside the Box" at www.xanga.com/Political_US, where he discusses topics like immigration, the separation of church and state and, more recently, Memorial Day," she wrote..

Ortega quotes Horneck as saying: "When people read my blogs they probably will know where I stand, but it's basically more informative." 

For more, see " Passion for politics ."