Tinkerversary celebrates 50 years of student free speech
February 22, 2019
By Mark Walsh / Education Week February 21, 2019 This Education Week blog post provides a quick history of the Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District Supreme Court case, while also taking readers to Iowa and the ten days of Mary Beth and John Tinker sharing thei...
Five schools awarded vouchers honoring great ONE DAY coverage
December 4, 2018
There were a limited number of entries in our ad hoc coverage contest, called ONE DAY, but the quality was so high that five schools will share in the awards. Each school will receive a $200 voucher to be used toward paying for any CSMA-sponsored event, including J-Day 2019. The contest asked media...
ONE DAY coverage contest focuses on Friday, Nov. 9
November 8, 2018
Our ONE DAY coverage challenge returns with a fall date this time around. Ernie Pyle, the great WWII reporter, once said, “If you want to tell the story of a war, tell the story of one soldier.” For student media, we might amend this to, "If you want to tell the story of a school, tel...
Teaching is not for the faint of heart
May 16, 2018
The next time someone spouts off about teachers whining or not working enough or whatever the latest angle might be justifying current working conditions, this column by Dave Perry, of the Aurora Sentinel, might provide some counterarguments. Thanks to Rangeview HS adviser Zeb Carabello for all h...
Support the Five Freedoms with our fall First Amendment Contest
August 30, 2017
Last year our special fall contest grew from FEARLESS, and we hope you and your staffs will continue to be fearless in reporting and leading the community. This year we are sponsoring a contest highlighting the First Amendment, and the Five Freedoms it promises our nation. Of course, a promise is not...
Student reporting helps community avoid unqualified adminstrator
April 22, 2017
Here is the best-reported article on how Pittsburgh, Kansas student journalists used dogged reporting to expose a new principal as unqualified. They are heading to Washington for the White House Correspondence Dinner, among many other honors. Kansas was the fifth state (right after Colorado) to pass a stu...
Three media programs honored for FEARless reporting
February 8, 2017
The top three entrees in our fall, 2016 coverage challenge, titled FEARless, each received a $300 voucher to use toward any CSMA sponsored event in 2017. Judges included Jeff Browne, Mary Beth Tinker, and Jack Kennedy (basically as a tie-breaker). Eagle Valley HS From the school's entry: The First Ame...
Winter Thaw focuses on journalistic ethics
February 7, 2017
DOING ETHICS Paul Voakes, who teaches Media Law & Ethics at CU Boulder: Ethics can be taught. We DO ethics, as opposed to HAVE ethics. He began with a discussion of Deontology (see PowerPoint shared by Paul), with has the advantage of being less gray than situational ethics, for instance, wit...
The results of the election have increased fear among some
November 14, 2016
Some school communities may be experiencing post-election stress. Some communities may be feeling outright fear. Some are applauding the election results. Some are puzzled about the future. Check out this segment from NPR's Science Friday program from Nov. 10 for some insights on reporting you might consider in the near future. And if you were surpri...
