West Virginia might be in the middle of doing something awesome. A bill in front of the West Virginia Senate, Senate Bill 121, would strengthen student press freedom in the state. The Student Journalist Press Freedom Protection Act would “allow for the free expression of student journalists in school sponsored media,” as well as allow for civil and legal actions if a student journalist’s rights are somehow violated. The bill has passed the West Virginia Senate unanimously and is awaiting action in the House.
But West Virginia has been here before. This is the third time a bill like this has come before the state’s legislature. The first bill received a committee hearing in 2021. The second one, limited to protecting the rights of college journalists only, passed the senate in 2022. This year’s bill was also originally reserved for just college students, but it was eventually expanded to include high school journalists. All the previous bills died in the West Virginia House. Hopefully SB 121 won’t suffer the same fate.
The good news is that West Virginia isn’t alone in this fight. Other states including Connecticut, Missouri, Kentucky and New York are also considering what the Student Law Press Center (SPLC) calls “New Voices” laws.
These laws are designed to counteract a 1988 Supreme Court decision. The case that caused this hubbub is Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier. According to a federal case summary, the student newspaper at Hazelwood East High School in St. Louis was set to publish stories “about their peers’ experiences with teen pregnancy and the impact of divorce.” The school’s principal, however, deleted the pages that contained the stories before it went to press. He also didn’t tell the students. The kids sued. It went to the Supreme Court, which, in a 5-3 decision, said that the “paper was sponsored by the school and, as such, the school had a legitimate interest in preventing the publication of articles that it deemed inappropriate and that might appear to have the imprimatur of the school.” Basically, schools could censor student journalists.
Some states have pushed back. According to the SPLC, 16 states have laws on the books protecting student journalists and their right to publish. Iowa was one of the first to act, passing the Student Exercise of Free Expression in 1989. The law protects Iowa student journalists and allows them to publish what they want as long as it’s not libelous, slanderous, or obscene. But the law does have some loopholes. It states that the Board of Directors of a public school can create a “written publication code” that student publications must follow. They can also censor anything that might “cause the material and substantial disruption of the orderly operation of the school.” That could cover a lot of things.
One thing the bill doesn’t cover: journalists at private schools like Drake.
It's why, even in one of the few states where student journalists are protected, it’s still important to support Student Press Freedom Day this Thurs., Feb. 23. You can join a webinar with Des Moines’s own Mary Beth Tinker of Tinker V. Des Moines fame, as well as Cathy Kuhlmeier, one-time editor of that Hazelwood student newspaper, on how to advocate for student free speech. You can also use some of the SPLC’s assets to post about Student Press Freedom Day on social media. Or hit one of their other workshops. At a minimum, make sure to check in with Drake’s great student media. They do awesome work and deserve your time.
Ok, now on with the memo!
Up In Your DDMs
While most of us, JMM included, are counting the minutes until spring break, fall is coming quickly. Sure, it’s most of a semester, a summer, and a questionable choice or two away, but fall—or at least fall registration—is right around the corner. So is the deadline to apply for the DotDash Meredith Apprenticeship.
The program is all about giving you both opportunities to work at the largest digital and print publisher in the country and score a paycheck. Editorial apprentices work for major media brands like In Style, Real Simple, Travel & Leisure and more. Designers get their hands dirty creating layouts for magazines, crafting online illustrations and more. You’ll get credit, as well as $15 an hour. The catch: You must be a junior or senior and be a student at Drake for the entire 2023-24 academic year.
To apply, submit a single PDF containing the following: a cover letter addressed to “DDM Supervisors”; a resume; and five work samples that show your skill as a writer, designer or social media maven. Applications are due March 10 at 5 p.m. Email your PDF or a link to your application materials to Prof. Inman at jeff.inman@drake.edu.
We Are/Continue to Be the Champions
It was another great week in bling for SJMC students. Junior Michael Cummings (DMP) scored a second place prize in the Promotional category of the Film & Video Competition of the Broadcast Education Association’s annual Festival of Media Arts contest with Part 1 of a video he made for Karl Kustoms, a custom car shop in Ankeny.
Drake Mag grabbed two awards from the Associated Collegiate Press’s fall Clips & Clicks contest. Senior Annie Peterson (Mags, GD) won first place in the Best Magazine Page/Spread contest for her design of the Fall 2022 “Falling for Figs” story. Senior Emily Postlethwait (Mags, GD) also received an Honorable Mention in the Best Feature category for her story “Food Insecurity Isn’t Taboo.”
Senior Kendall Hunt (GD, Ads) and recent grads Lydia White (CS, GD) and Kim Bates (Mags) were named Best in Show in the student competition of the Des Moines ADDYs from the American Advertising Awards for the food share app they created in J195/Art 161. Their app will now move on to the regional competition. The app also was the winner of the Best Online/Interactive Design category.
Finally, MMJ senior CJ Younger’s Times-Delphic story “Tchaikovsky Versus Splendid Isolation” keeps collecting awards. This time it finished in seventh place in the Best Feature category of the Hearst Journalism Awards, one of the largest journalism competitions in the country.
Internship Round Up
JMM isn’t the only one dropping lots of internship links. Prof. Snider also has a habit of posting internship links on his LinkedIn page. But come spring, dude goes crazy. Last week was the launch of his spring internship roundup and included links to gigs at Conde Nast like this Teen Vogue editorial internship, a Hy-Vee graphic design opportunity, and a summer editorial job at 5280, Denver’s award-winning city magazine. If you don’t already follow him on LinkedIn, consider this JMM’s endorsement.
Debunked
Self-help books, whether intentionally or not, are often ridiculous. Which is why senior Mathany Ahmed (Mark, Mags) and her sister Ma’any, a sophomore currently studying education at Kirkwood, have launched That’s Faux Deep, a podcast designed to dismantle what they call the “Self-Help Industrial Complex.” Example: The sisters’ most recent episode is a takedown of The Tate Bible, known scumbag Andrew Tate’s self-help book that’s doubles as a guide on how to build your own human trafficking network (gross).
"Each episode, one of us reads a self-help book and uses evidence-based research and a healthy dose of our opinions to dispel the claims in the book,” Mathany says. “Our hope is that when people listen to the podcast, they’ll leave feeling more critical of the self-help industry and more compassionate for themselves."
Of course, after hearing some of the quotes from Tate’s book it’s hard to feel anything but rage—except maybe nausea.
Panel of Power
Mark your calendar for the Women in Leadership panel on Wednesday, March 1, 4-5:30pm, in Levitt Hall. Five female Drake alumni from Bankers Trust and Sammons Financial Group will discuss their experiences in leadership positions, advice, working with a mentor, and even make recommendations for some great books. You will have the opportunity to meet with the panelists in a small group to ask questions or ask for additional advice. RSVP here.
Panelists:
Emily Abbas, JO’97, ’09
Hillary Carlson, JO’11, ‘20
Jillian Sievel, JO‘11
Lisa Dwight, JO’02
Abby Delaney, JO’13
Get rec’d
Little Village, Iowa’s free monthly magazine, needs your help. It’s in the process of putting together its annual recreation issue and is looking for article pitches. The focus: racquet sports. That means pickleball, of course, but also those other lesser racquet sports like tennis, ping pong and racquet ball. Editors are looking for longform stories (1,500 words or more). They are also looking for stories on other seasonal actives with an eye towards the lesser covered sports like fencing, archery, skateboarding, rodeo, or roller derby. Finally, issues and topics adjacent to sports pitches will also be considered. For more information or to submit your pitch, email Associate Published and Multimedia Editor Adria Carpenter at adria@littlevillagemag.com.
College Knowledge
News site Insider recently posted that it’s looking for college students or recent grads to write essays about their time on campus. In a recent post on Twitter, senior editor Conz Preti said that pitches can be “from dating, to cost, to how to decorate a door room, and more!” You can email your pitches to Preti at cpreti@insider.com.
Oriented
JMM knows summer is hard for Drake students. The lack of ‘Gram photos with Griff II is soul depleting. Of course, if you work as a Student Orientation Leader, welcoming newbies on to campus for the first time, you’ll have gobs of Griff moments. You’ll also get the giddy joy of helping those incoming first years grab their initial close-up with Drake’s favorite pup. Of course, you’ll have to do some other things too, like answer questions, lead tours, and play games outside. But Griff is all that matters.
Bonus: You’ll work with junior Mia Stefani (Anthro, Mags), one of the Lead Orientation Leaders. She says Drake specifically needs more SJMC students to apply. You can submit your app here. For questions, contact Marina Verlengia at marina.verlengia@drake.edu.
The Rehash:
• Be a student media leader. You can now submit your application to oversee one of Drake’s six student media organizations: Drake Broadcasting System, Drake Mag, Drake Political Review, DUiN, Periphery and the Times-Delphic. To apply, send a PDF of your resume along with a cover letter to jeff.inman@drake.edu and gannon.henry@drake.edu. The deadline to apply is Fri., March 10, at 4:59 p.m.
• CNN en Espanol is looking for summer interns in production, digital editorial, and more. The deadline to apply is March 10.
• Penguin Random House has a remote summer editorial internship. Applications are due March 24.
• KCCI has open internships for summer and fall in its news department. So does its sister station, KMBC 9 in Kansas City.
• Blumhouse, the production company behind the horror movie Megan and some many more, is looking for summer interns.
• DotDash Meredith is looking for year-long post-grad fellows for several of its brands, include Southern Living, Allrecipes.com and EatingWell. Applications are due Feb. 28.
Want to Share Some Tea with JMM?
Do you have some essential info or maybe you’ve been named one of the 40 Under 40 in electronic finance like Lizzie Pine (News, ’11), the executive director and head of CB Commercial Card at JPMorgan Chase & Co.? If you do, send them on over to jeff.inman@drake.edu. JMM will treat it like this 2006 WHO report that features a slightly younger Timm Pilcher and share it with everyone. And, of course, you will get all the credit.
Finally, the English language makes no sense.