Social Role of Journalism (Curriculum) 

With journalism's evolving role in society – and media as a unit – the pressure is closing in on uncovering the social responsibility of journalists. How do we dissect the truth from opinion? How do we focus on quality to serve the community? What would happen if journalism lost its fundamental core functions and we simply relied on headlines to further discussions in our society?
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The social role of journalism is more important than ever as unverified information has the ability to spread just as fast (sometimes faster) than quality reporting. Journalism’s social role is increasingly important to maintain a balanced network of information for the community that is based on honesty, transparency, open dialogue and verified information/sources.
In the following project, students will uncover the importance of the social role of journalism and its impact on our community far beyond the headline. 

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Mission

To develop an understanding on the changing news medium while continuing to prioritize the core fundamentals of journalism.

Lessons

• Identifying mirror and candle theories in journalism
• Verifying your news
• Journalism standards for sources
• Avoiding Fake news
• Fighting Rumors and Fake News
• Handling Sensitive Topics
• Seeing isn’t always believing
• STUDENT MEDIA: Social Media Policy​
• Social Media Journalism (How to use it and when?)
• Blogging about your reporting journey
• Citizen Journalists
• Responding to Information as a Journalist
• Can you become a watchdog?
• Reporting (Burnham Style)
• The Five Es in Journalism
• Journalism Values
• Rethinking News Mediums 
• Power and Language​

Outline

In the following curriculum, students will: 

- Read and follow material to gain a better understanding of the social role of journalism.

- Complete activities as you move through the lessons. 

- Begin to  brainstorm a what a 5-day training session for their newsroom would include. This will part of the final project. 

Final Project

You are the leader in your newsroom. You've been given the task to develop an week-long training course on the topics of your choice. Each day (5 days) should include a new topic with a summary of its importance in newsrooms and the role it will play in the way journalists share stories. 

Develop a planner with at least one group and one individual activity each day.  Each day should be associated with a theme that you've learned about over the course of the semester. They should include sources and references for each topic with information that will be helpful to guide the training sessions. 

Write a position paper to discuss the social role of journalism based on the lessons you worked on this semester. How do you plan to incorporate what you've learned into your newsroom as a student leader? How will your 5-day training session help? 

Below is a summary example of a scheduled session:

MONDAY:

• TOPIC: Social Media Footprint 
• GROUP ACTIVITY: Have your newsroom develop their own social media guideline. Can the guidelines be revised each year as a new technology is introduced? 
• INDIVIDUAL ACTIVITY:  Search for examples of appropriate and questionable ways journalists are using social media.
  • Create a list a share with the team.

 

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