The document discusses the evolution of scholastic journalism, emphasizing the importance of both print and digital media. It highlights the benefits and drawbacks of each medium while urging student journalists to engage their audience through social media and online platforms. It concludes with actionable strategies for improving journalistic practices and delivering content effectively.

1. Print, Pixels & People
Ideas for today’s
student journalist
Logan Aimone, MJE, executive director
National Scholastic Press Association

2. Print
What’s working?
Print, Pixels & People

3. Print
• For generations, the printed page has been
the dominant medium in scholastic
journalism.
• Although it has faced challenges from
broadcast media, it remains the most
common, widespread and portable form of
mass media.
Print, Pixels & People

4. Print: Benefits
• It’s pretty inexpensive.
• It’s relatively easy to produce in a basic
form.
• It’s portable.
Print, Pixels & People

5. Print
What’s not working?
Print, Pixels & People

6. Print: Drawbacks
• It’s more expensive than it used to be
• It’s not easy to teach the skills necessary to
produce quality.
• It’s hard to get people to pick it up and read
it.
Print, Pixels & People

7. Pixels
What’s new?
Print, Pixels & People

8. Pixels
• While the printed page has been the
dominant medium in scholastic
journalism, online publishing has started
to take off.
• More student newspapers — and even
magazines and yearbooks — are turning to
the Web for a variety of reasons.
Print, Pixels & People

9. Pixels: Benefits
• The Internet allows for instant publishing
of content rather than the infrequent
publication of print.
• Compared to the expense of printing an
edition of the newspaper, a Web site is
dramatically less expensive — maybe even
free.
Print, Pixels & People

10. Pixels: Benefits
• Online tools allow a media staff to combine
multiple media to deliver content in the
most appropriate format: text, audio,
images or video.
• Online networks like MySpace, Facebook,
Delicious and Twitter allow users to build a
community and to customize and share
content.
Print, Pixels & People

11. Pixels
What’s not working?
Print, Pixels & People

12. Pixels: Drawbacks
• Students and advisers may not have the
necessary skills beyond the basics of
uploading text.
• It’s easy to get caught up in the behind-
the-scenes system administration.
• Technology limitations: cost, availability,
time to produce.
Print, Pixels & People

13. People
What’s it all about?
Print, Pixels & People

14. People
• Ultimately, it’s the content that matters.
• You have to be in a position to deliver the
content in the most appropriate format and
platform.
Print, Pixels & People

15. Putting it
together
What does today’s
student journalist
need to think about?
Print, Pixels & People

16. Convergence!
• The term convergence means a “coming
together” — and that’s what you have
available to you today.
• Members of Generation Y (that’s you!) are
comfortable with and operating in a
converged media environment.
Print, Pixels & People

17. Social Media
• Because teens are comfortable in this
environment, you need to shift your focus
to take advantage of where your readers/
viewers are.
• Engage your readers in a way that helps
them (they get news) and helps you (you
get tips for more news).
Print, Pixels & People

18. Social Media
• Do you have any idea how big of an impact
social media are having on every aspect of
our lives?
• Let’s watch a short video and see…
Print, Pixels & People

19. Social Media
• A few highlights from the video:
• Nearly all of you (96%) are on a social
network.
• That’s the #1 Web activity.
• More than 300 million people are on
Facebook.
• Fastest-growing segment is women 55-65
(that’s your mom or grandma!).
Print, Pixels & People

20. Social Media
• More highlights from the video:
• 80% of Twitter use is by mobile device.
• That’s instant discussion, good or bad.
• Studies show Wikipedia is more accurate
than Encyclopedia Brittanica.
• But that’s not an excuse for using it as
your sole source.
Print, Pixels & People

21. Social Media
• More highlights from the video:
• 78% of people trust peer
recommendations. Only 14% trust ads.
• 25% of Americans watched a short video
in the last month on their phone.
Print, Pixels & People

22. 13 Things you
should be doing
Improving your operation
in 2009-2010
Print, Pixels & People

23. 1. Be excellent
• It probably goes without saying, but I’ll say
it anyway: Strive for excellence.
• Excellence isn’t settling for pretty good.
• Good enough is not good enough.
• Set goals to improve with each edition or
deadline.
Print, Pixels & People

24. 2. Get out there
• You can’t really get a story unless you get
out and talk to people. In person.
• Yes, in person!
• You can always tell the difference when a
writer has observed and interviewed in
person.
• E-mail or chat interviews fill a need, but
they are not as effective as being there.
Print, Pixels & People

25. 3. Find stories
• Establish a solid beat system in place to
gather the routine news.
• Expect that each beat will yield some briefs
and longer stories.
• Demand enterprise from reporters (editors,
too). That means digging around to find
something newsworthy and writing it in a
compelling, interesting and useful way.
Print, Pixels & People

26. 4. Show us
• Probably the most widely read (and most
liked) stories are those that tell interesting
stories about people.
• Your school and community are full of
these stories.
• Localize national issues with the stories of
people around you.
Print, Pixels & People

27. 5. Get a Web site
• There’s really no excuse today for not
having at least a basic Web site
• Basic: You could post a PDF version of the
printed paper.
• Advanced: You could update news
throughout the school day.
• An online presence opens up a new
universe of multimedia opportunities.
Print, Pixels & People

28. 6. Get social
• MySpace and Facebook accounts are free.
• You can use the pages to interact with your
readers not just by posting links to stories
but by getting tips from them.
• Ask them to let you know about events
occuring outside the school (or at school
but not known).
• Let them submit photos, letters, etc., to
you through these pages.
Print, Pixels & People

29. 7. Start Tweeting
• Twitter is a free “microblogging” site that
works in 140-character messages.
• As you gather “followers” you will be able
to pass along messages to a wide group of
people. That means instantly informing
your followers when news happens (sports
scores, lockdown, free burritos at
Chipotle).
• Use hashtags (#word) to label and search.
Print, Pixels & People

30. 8. Get Delicious
• Delicious.com is a social bookmarking site
that is, guess what, free.
• You can post links there that will be useful
to others.
• The links can be labeled and sorted in a
number of ways.
• This is a way to enhance content beyond
the printed page.
• You can also see what others bookmarked.
Print, Pixels & People

31. 9. Do multimedia
• With a Web site, not only can you update
news and information as frequently as you
want, you can improve the content.
• The newspaper can showcase one or two
images from an event. Online, you can
have dozens — with audio and captions.
• Yearbook staffs can promote the book
through “sneak peeks” or extras that are
posted online.
Print, Pixels & People

32. 10. Be the #1 source
• Be serious about being the top information
source for all things about your school.
• If someone wants to know a fact, score,
date, record, time or whatever — be the
place they turn for that information.
• Own sports stats, especially JV and lower
squads.
• Scoop the local paper. Doesn’t it feel good
when that happens?
Print, Pixels & People

33. 11. Do fewer…
• Horoscopes and advice columns
• Superficial columns (carpe diem,
senioritis, slow drivers, etc.) that could be
in any year
• Double-truck stories on “hot topics” that
aren’t tied to a news event. Make sure you
have a news peg if you’re committing that
much space.
Print, Pixels & People

34. 12. Follow the law
• Obey copyright.
• Only use “fair use” images or get
permission.
• Use copyright-free music unless you pay
a royalty.
• Saying it’s “for education” doesn’t let you
off the hook.
• Know privacy rules.
• Know your rights. In Kansas you have
Print, Pixels & People
more!

35. 13. Remember…
• Your role on campus is to inform and
enlighten your audience.
• You have a responsibility — an obligation,
even — to take that seriously and to do it
well.
• Your audience needs you to tell them the
things no one else will tell them.
Print, Pixels & People

36. Summary
Time to wake up if you
have been sleeping!
Print, Pixels & People

37. Print
Keep doing it.
• It’s perfect for long stories.
• People can pick it up and take it with
them.
• It’s permanent. (You can’t tape a Web page
in your scrapbook.)
Print, Pixels & People

38. Pixels
Get more digital.
• It’s instant.
• You build a community.
• Readers expect you to be online.
• If you don’t someone else will.
Print, Pixels & People

39. People
It’s always about them.
• Whether in print or online, it’s the story
that matters most.
• Find the platform that is most appropriate.
• Converge multiple platforms to
experiment.
• Be excellent.
Print, Pixels & People

40. Thanks!
Twitter: @NSPA
Facebook:
National Scholastic
Press Association
Any questions?
Print, Pixels & People