Before students have the opportunity to become staff writers or editors for the school newspaper, they must go through one semester of an intro to journalism course in which they learn the ethics of being a journalist, events that have set legal precedence for journalism and basic journalistic writing style, as well as photography and interviewing skills. Intro to journalism or J1, can be taken by all students regardless of grade.
Junior Micah Feldman is currently taking the class as a low-stress, interactive way to learn these skills. “My initial impression of journalism was that it was a fun class without the common pressures of AP and honors level classes, and a way to improve my writing a lot without having to worry too much about my grade,” Feldman said.
The first concept learned in J1 is the basic ethical components of delivering factually accurate and timely information as well as how students got these rights. For example, students learn that Tinker vs. Des Moines is the historic Supreme Court ruling that guaranteed students the First Amendment rights to freedom of speech in public schools. asic Associated Press writing style is taught afterward with units focusing on each kind of writing style including news, features and opinions. “Recently we have been learning how to write each type of article, and now we have started with captions and photojournalism,” Feldman said.
While students are refining their writing skills, publishable articles are posted on the Common Sense website (wootttoncommonsense.com). Feldman’s news piece about this year’s implementation of safety day was one such article. “Getting published early on made me feel proud, I was a little bit surprised but it was a good experience seeing my work in Common Sense,” Feldman said.
Along with the ethics and writing styles, putting in the work to interview, compile information and write it in a cohesive manner is a time commitment. “The writing process for me is first gathering all the public information and doing general research. Before conducting interviews I like to ask myself ‘what do I hope to gain from this interview?’ and then formulate my questions based on that. I really enjoy the interviews because I can get a lot of information and the editing process allows my work to come together and flow,” Feldman said.
As the second quarter approaches its end and the first semester is soon to be over, the J1 writers are finalizing their skills to join the newspaper and become official staff writers. “I am really looking forward to newspaper because of the responsibility and the continued improvement of my writing,” Feldman said.
