A former high school journalist from the ‘80s visited her old hometown recently and shot some lovely photos of the downtown streets, the artsy old theater, the city park and river running through it, and she put them on her Facebook page.
Her journalism teacher, who had also moved away, saw them and said the photos brought back good memories and thanked her for posting them. The response to that was immediate:
“Oh, my gosh, really?!?? Is it you?….you have been on my mind often lately. I’m eternally grateful for all you taught me/us about critical thinking, the importance of facts, and speaking truth to power. Those lessons have stayed with me. ❤️”
This is a good reminder to media advisers even now – maybe especially now – that we must teach more than AP style and the mechanics of writing journalistically. Eliminating an Oxford comma won’t make a difference in a student’s life – and, in fact, might get her in trouble with a college English prof. Short paragraphs might not work for other kinds of writing either, but there’s plenty students should be able to take away from a journalism class they can use in so many parts of their lives. Plus these concepts are rarely taught in other courses.
Maurico Shiroma, an expert in critical thinking education who writes for the Cambridge University Press, says students need to learn about “common sense, open-mindedness, skepticism, reasoning, logic and generalizations.” He also says he “firmly believes we can’t really think critically unless we are aware of our biases.”
Think about it: Where else in high school can you learn all those valuable skills that are the foundation of critical thinking? Take some of the real-world questions student journalists ask to help explain their world to themselves and their audience:
“Why is the district paying thousands of dollars for Astroturf when there’s nothing wrong with the football field right now?”
“Explain to me the value of that new text, when we’ve heard it doesn’t cover anything about harm to Native Americans or the Black Lives Matter Movement.”
“Where does our cafeteria food come from and who ensures it’s healthy for us?”
Good journalists learn to ask the tough questions, being skeptical of the answers, and relying on their common sense to keep asking follow-ups. Of course, journalists – whatever their age – have to recognize their own biases and keep those in perspective.
Journalists also need the facts and learn to keep asking – not the first five clueless kids in the hall – but experts, maybe ones at nearby universities, maybe communicating with someone many miles away by telephone or Zoom. And when they’ve sorted through all they’ve learned, they can speak truth to power – not be afraid to write solid editorials or ask tough questions to the school board president or the principal – to make a difference in their lives and those of their audience.
Only one thing stops young journalists as they practice these skills: Censorship. When they aren’t allowed to cover what matters, to get answers to the tough questions, to write what their audience has a need and a right to know, they can’t learn and can’t help others learn.
That’s where The Cathy Kuhlmeier Foundation comes in. Its vision: To elevate student voices as they become tomorrow’s thought leaders and problem-solvers. That can’t happen unless they’re allowed to develop those critical thinking skills, and THAT can’t happen if their topic choices, access to sources and ability to distribute what they have learned are curtailed.
Cathy Kuhlmeier learned that the hard way when stories of importance to her classmates and the community were pulled from their school paper. But she and those of us on the board of the foundation that bears her name know the value of free speech and press for students and are prepared to help them gain their freedom if they don’t have it and use it wisely and extensively if and when they do. Join us to help make that kind of difference.
by Foundation Board member, Candace Perkins Bowen, MJE
Cathy Kuhlmeier Foundation 