1. WHAT CULTURAL LIFE SKILLS CAN STUDENTS LEARN FROM READING AND ENGAGING WITH THE NEWSPAPER?

2. ROLE OF THE PRESS IN SOCIETY First amendment rights Key to democracy and a democratic society Hold the government and those in power in check, independent of the judicial process Question authority Dissemination of “the truth” A fourth step in the checks and balance process – the “fourth estate”3 branches of government PLUS the free press Facilitate information flow Interpret facts – provide a context so the public can make sense of the issues Fair interpretation of this information. Not passive, but also not biased. Induce people to debate in an open society Recognize that there has to be some tolerance for error, the press is not faultless nor is it errorless. Trade off: error better than repression

3. STUDENT SKILLS Life long learning skills  Reading – essential tool for lifelong learning  Writing  Critical thinking  Research  Soft skills  Interviewing – more than just questions and answers  Communication – email, SMS, appointments, peer-to-peer and with adults  People skills  Technical computer

4. STUDENT SKILLS Specific journalism skills  Voice of the student body  Open forum of student expression  Understand the variety of writing styles in a publication  Hard news  Soft news  Opinions  Sports  Feature  Editorial

5. STUDENT SKILLS  Analyze sources for validity  Question motives and reasoning for decision making by adults and students on campus  Recognize fallacy in arguments  Fact checking through the entire writing process  Preparing in advance for everything  Meeting and keeping deadlines  Organizational skills  Calendar  Good note taking skills  Paperwork  The revision process – writing in drafts

6. WHAT MY FORMER STUDENTS SAY: 1.Learning to deal with deadlines – keeping a calendar, checking email daily, etc. 2.Cramming – late nights 3.Organization in the writing process 4.Researching properly 5.High expectations of the work level 6.Analyzing problems 7.Celebrating successes 8.Having fun while working hard