Continuing education key to convergence
The annual Indiana High School Press Association convention is missing one ingredient: Continuing education for journalism advisers.
The convention, at Franklin College on Oct. 16-17, has taken on media convergence as its theme. Recognizing that the internet is the great equalizer, “The Convergention” aims to teach students to tell stories across media platforms. That means newspapers and broadcast news using video, alternative story forms, slideshows, blogs, interactive Web sites and more.
But technology is changing quickly in high school newsrooms where the adviser is the only holdover.
On Day 2 of the IHSPA convention, students split into sessions – some for writers, some for photographers, some for designers and more. The sessions look like handy tool kits for high school journalists. But convergence is too complicated, too involved, for an average group of high school editors to grasp without a steady and experienced guiding hand capable of reinforcing the lessons of the convention.
That’s why it’s crucial that more journalism advisers take advantage of one powerful continuing education opportunity the IHSPA offers – four-week summer internships at media outlets across Indiana.
The internship program pays $1,400 for that month-long commitment, and there’s little doubt on-the-job experience is the best way to stay abreast of professional industry trends and technology.
Sadly, according to IHSPA executive director Diana Hadley, just three advisers took part in the program last year. The year before, none did.
It’s nearly impossible for advisers who haven’t spent any time post-convergence newsrooms to gain the requisite basic foundations it takes to push their student media staffs into a new age of journalism. The only fallback for those advisers is relying on talented students that don’t come along every year.
So while the convention is about the students, learning convergence takes a commitment on the part of advisers, too.
