Topic: College of Communication Information and Media
January 4, 2007
Ball State's J-Ideas formed a national alliance of scholastic journalism and civic education leaders this week in order to change public policy and firmly entrench the First Amendment in the nation's schools.
Warren Watson, director of J-Ideas, formalized the J-Ideas First Amendment Public Policy Alliance Jan. 4 at "Beyond the First Amendment Study: Public Policy Implications," a symposium hosted by the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The goal of the symposium is to identify and promote a public policy agenda for the alliance. Participants include about 45 student journalism and media leaders, and a strong national mix of civic educators and public policy experts.
"We will then bring together a smaller group of 15 to 20 scholastic journalism and civic education leaders to look at how we can impact public policy activities in the coming months," Watson said. "We believe that the understanding and teaching of the First Amendment in schools is critical to educating students about our country.
"But we have to do more than simply teach what the First Amendment means," he said. "We must shape public policy to create an environment that allows the First Amendment to become deeply entrenched in our schools."
Other topics to be discussed at the symposium include: public policy initiatives as a means of creating a stronger platform for student journalism and First Amendment teaching, First Amendment training for principals and administrators, legislation providing enhanced press rights for student journalists, journalism advanced placement courses, and public policy and digital media.
Also participating in the conference will be Joe McKinney, chair of Ball State's educational leadership department. He will join Watson on a panel discussion to review "Taking the First Amendment to Principals and Administrators."
J-Ideas was founded at Ball State to develop and encourage excellence in high school journalism through on-site activities, tailored programs, distance learning and digital activities and scholarship. J-Ideas' goal is to foster First Amendment and civic awareness in our public and private schools, and to bring teachers, students, principals and professional editors together to develop the best and brightest young talent for the journalism profession.
More information about J-Ideas may be found at www.jideas.org.
By Marc Ransford, Senior Communications Strategist