Learning and Leading - March/April 2010

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Can Our Students Save Journalism?

Much has been written over the past two years about the demise of journalism. The hemorrhage of circulation in both the newspaper and magazine industry internationally has spurred massive staff cutbacks, plant closures, and the coinage of such phrases as journacide (journalists leaving the business in droves) and journosaurs (scribes on the verge of extinction).

Many people who grew up addicted to reading newspapers decry the very loss of democracy itself. And some of them are wildly pointing fingers at the Internet, where free Web content has lured people away from paid sources of news.

“This is disastrous for our culture and democracy… Web 2.0 won’t solve this problem,” tweeted ed tech guru Gary Stager in reaction to an article about the sharp decrease in freelance writers’ wages.

In his blog Weblogged, Will Richardson takes issue with Stager in the post “Norms of Participation.” Richardson doesn’t deny that there is an erosion of quality journalism; he just thinks there is a solution.

Whether we see the Web as beast or feast, it’s long past the moment that anyone can argue it away on the grounds that decency and civility and intellectual engagement are being lost. That leaves us with how do we make the most of it? How do we (and it’s not “can we?” because I believe we can) take this huge disruptive force that is the Web and turn it into something that celebrates culture, promotes and supports the best of our democratic ideals, and improves the world in ways that maybe we can’t yet imagine?

And this is where digital citizenship comes in. In Richardson’s words, we need to “find and promote the real intellectual value of these tools in literate ways. Because they exist, and because, like it or not, we’re the ones who, in Clay Shirky’s words, have to set the norms for their use.”

Many of the 15 commenters to Richardson’s post were optimistic about the possibilities and felt that the Internet does offer responsible, quality journalism:

I have read good and bad prose in all media. I am not
concerned. Democracy has a better chance in the In-
ternet age than it ever did during the television age.
—Harold Jarche

I don’t believe the Web is destroying writing. The Web is transforming culture, and it is our responsibility as educators to tap into the students’ willingness to write, to nurture it, to guide them, and to be willing to learn along the way. —Dolores Gende

I think it’s time to rethink how we teach children about digital resources. Yes, it’s time to be more open to accepting Wikipedia and similar media as factual (vetted, of course). But who’s holding the New York Times, Washington Post, Washington Times, Fox News, CNN et al. accountable? —Don Watkins

I guess I will choose connectedness over disconnectedness. I’ll take the good, the bad, and what Stager says, because within all that I am able to get some pretty good stuff a lot easier than I could have just a few years back. —Patrick Larkin

The tools that allow everyone to express themselves also allow everyone to find the best content. Ultimately, the trash will fall to the bottom, and the cream will rise to the top. —Tim Goree

Bryan Fuqua responded to Richardson’s post on his blog, Preparing Students for Tomorrow. In “Why Must We Use Web 2.0 in Our Classrooms!” ( http://bfuqua.risd-blogs. org/2010/01/12/why-must-we-use-web-2-0-in-out-class- rooms), he writes:

Literacy has changed. It is extremely important to teach our students how to research and share their findings, how to communicate globally, how to collaborate, and how to express themselves in an appropriate manner.