This syndicate offers four recommendations to help educators adjust curricula to accommodate the rapid integration of data into journalism. First, instruction in numeracy and basic descriptive statistics must be required as either modules in existing courses or as separate offerings. Second, students should be taught to avoid mistakes in…

News literacy is an important part of journalism and liberal arts education. Adapting a tool called the Frayer Model, the activity guides students in developing a conceptual understanding of news by creating a definition, listing essential characteristics, and coming up with examples and non-examples. This activity is intended to set the stage for…

The author of this article describes an upper-level economics course where students learn to write economic news articles, which improves communication and audience-targeting skills. The course was created in partnership with a media outlet and designed around authentic assessments to provide students with a genuine experience based on academic…

While some journalists analyze and verify "open source" materials such as social media, eyewitness video, and satellite imagery to hold leaders and institutions accountable, many journalists and students are not learning basic digital verification skills. Research shows that journalists find this work challenging and that newsrooms do…

Courses: Introduction to advanced classes in Media Studies, Women's Studies, Gender Studies, Race, Communication, and Advertising. Objectives: In this unit activity, students critically assess advertisements that co-opt female empowerment and then identify ways they can resist such strategies.

Journalistic skills courses often involve the production of a media project such as a multimedia website, which requires students to decide which media in their multimedia toolkit can best convey the story. To make the right match between content and form, students should understand the advantages of each of the available modes of communication.…

Objectives: Students will demonstrate research, decision making, team building, and public speaking skills, while applying issues management and crisis communication concepts in a realistic setting. Courses: Introduction to Public Relations, Public Relations Cases, Crisis Communication.

Describes a class exercise in which a teacher prepared a newsletter containing samples of student work and sent it to editors. Notes the benefits of the exercise, including the offers of editors to accept some of the stories. (FL)

Argues that an extended field trip can be a wonderful experience for both students and faculty members. Describes one such experience. (FL)

Given the increasing influence of public journalism on the daily routines of newspapers across the United States, students need to be taught how to find a workable balance between consulting and reporting on conventional information sources and consulting and reporting on the perspectives provided by ordinary citizens. This paper discusses ways in…

Discusses ways journalism faculty can contribute to the goals of Writing across the Curriculum (WAC) programs, including: speaking at WAC teacher training seminars and publishing student writing. (MS)

Describes five common headline styles, how to place them properly, and their advantages and disadvantages. (SRT)

Describes the production of an hour-long television documentary on the quality of education in a community as an important learning experience for students of broadcast journalism. (PD)

Explains how the use of charts can help students sort out the many and varied cases and concepts in communication law. Contains an example of such a chart. (FL)

Describes a project in which students planned and produced a cable television program. Contains the guidelines used in the project and a statement of the philosophy underlying it. (FL)