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The last time Teachapalooza met in person was 2019. Welcome back to St. Pete, friends! Save the date for June 10-12. (Courtesy)

I’ve got three big announcements, none of which is that I’ve married into royalty (nor have I married a commoner and been forced to give up my royal status).


** Teachapalooza dates and format
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The big news is that we’ve nailed down dates and a format for the venerable Teachapalooza, which will take place both in-person and online in 2022.

Please save the dates of June 10-12, when we will host as many of you as possible in St. Petersburg, Florida. Those of you who cannot make the trip to Florida will be able to stream our programming live. This is Poynter’s premier event for collegiate journalism educators. If you’ve never been, I would ask that you seriously contemplate a trip.

We will have more details, including registration information and cost, after the first of the year. We are thrilled to be meeting in person again and I would love to meet you in Florida!


** Campus Correspondents are ready to train your classes
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A limited number of spots are available for instructors to host one of MediaWise’s trained collegiate fact-checkers in your classroom virtually. If you are interested in having one of our students Zoom into your classroom, please fill out this very brief Google Form ([link removed]) and we will reach out to you with more details. As of me hitting “publish” on this piece, there are about 25 spots for the spring semester (we will offer 50 more in the fall, so stay tuned). Once we hit the max for the spring semester, I’ll turn the form into a waitlist so that interested parties can still sign up and we can reach out if something changes.


** Who’d like $100?
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I’ve been writing this newsletter for 18 months, and it’s one of the best parts of my job. I spend a lot of time on it, and you all occasionally email me nice things like, “I really like your newsletter!” or “I am a prince in a faraway country and you can help secure my financial future,” but you rarely say, “I particularly enjoy your collection of headlines to share with my students but you could do a better job diversifying to include more video and audio.” Or something like that. So I’m left to assume! And you know what they say about assuming. In any case, I’ve never really systematically examined what this newsletter consists of and how it’s used. That changes today. I’m offering one randomly selected reader who fills out this survey ([link removed]) a $100 Amazon gift card.

I deeply appreciate your help!


** In other news …
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If you have December graduates, Report for America has opened up applications ([link removed]) for 150 reporter positions and added 70 new newsrooms. From their story: “The newly-selected newsrooms, along with those renewing their partnership, will expand Report for America’s corps size to 325, including nearly 270 newsrooms across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, in 2022.”


The Global Investigative Journalism Network is out with “​​Making Your Mark: Tips for Up-and-Coming Investigative Journalists,” ([link removed]) which features six young international investigative journalists. While none of the six work in North America (where most of my readers are), I think there are some quality takeaways from their Q&As that might inspire your students.


Ouch. These like-minded professors have some pretty strong words about some other words — specifically, the phrase “student athlete.”

The trio penned “‘Student-Athlete’ Has Always Been a Lie” ([link removed]) for The Chronicle of Higher Education: “However you slice it, it’s a lie designed to sell the myth that the unpaid labor of college sport is a form of prestige and privilege. In fact, the phrase ‘student-athlete’ disguises and sustains a brutal system of indenture. In the exchange that occurs between athlete and university, the ivory tower makes off like a bandit.”

This would be an interesting one to throw at your sports reporters before bowl game season.


Oh, now this is going to get interesting. Should the NIL contracts of “student athletes” be public record? This journalist obviously thinks so, as do some outlets in Louisiana and Georgia — SEC country — who’ve sued the states’ flagship universities over their unwillingness to share information about what their players are getting paid for their name, image and likeness.

Sportico is on it, with “GEORGIA, LSU NIL deals spark fights over media and privacy rights.” ([link removed]) You’ll never guess what law the universities are citing to “protect” student information. FERPA strikes again. I’m certain this is happening and will happen elsewhere, but it’s just now making its way to my news feeds. How are your student media outlets handling this issue?


Speaking of access to public records, here’s a great argument ([link removed]) as to why PACER should be free, as well as a good explainer about how the federal judiciary records database is structured and its history. From the piece in Government Executive: “There are few principles more important to the American concept of government than transparency. The public literally and figuratively buys in to our government, and we expect that we will be able to see what our tax dollars have paid for. This transparency, and the oversight that facilitates it, is how we ensure that public resources are being used wisely and effectively. That is why the current paywall that exists between the public and federal court records is so appalling and why Congress should act to abolish it.”


** College headlines
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* Police kill Florida Tech student armed with ‘edged weapon’ ([link removed]) (AP)
* Family of Georgia Tech student fatally shot by campus police settles lawsuit for $1 million dollars ([link removed]) (CNN)


** Great journalism to share with your students
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* Up all night with a Twitch millionaire: The loneliness and rage of the Internet’s new rock stars ([link removed]) (Washington Post)
* Loving Lies | Stephen Glass, the most notorious fraud in journalism, decided he would live by one simple rule: Always tell the truth. Then he broke that rule. ([link removed]) (Air Mail)
* Where the Despairing Log On, and Learn Ways to Die ([link removed]) (New York Times)


** Diverse headlines
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One valuable way that you can reinforce diversity, equity and inclusion in your classroom is by sharing journalism about, by and for diverse communities.
* More deaf creators are getting behind the camera and changing the industry ([link removed]) (CNN)
* How Atlanta’s oldest Black newspaper covered the Ahmaud Arbery trial ([link removed]) (NBCU Academy)
* A White teacher taught White students about White privilege. It cost him his job. ([link removed]) (Washington Post)


** Internship Database ([link removed])
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This week, we’re featuring the ​​Pennsylvania Capitol Reporting Internship ([link removed]) , a 12-week program that pays $600 a week. Here’s what the organizers had to say: “The internship program, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association, offers two college students the opportunity to work in the newsroom at the state Capitol in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The 12-week program typically begins in mid-May and runs until late July/early August. It typically consists of rotations at the following news organizations: The Allentown Morning Call, Capitolwire.com, The Caucus/LNP, Pennlive.com/The Patriot-News, Pennsylvania Capital-Star and Spotlight PA/The Philadelphia Inquirer.”


** The Lead
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This week, we ran “The work student journalists are most proud of from 2021,” ([link removed]) which featured more than 70 submissions from high school and college journalists.

Subscribe to The Lead ([link removed]) , Poynter’s weekly newsletter for student journalists, and encourage your students to do the same.


** This week’s Professor’s Press Pass ([link removed])
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This week, The New York Times ran a story about a website that features explicit instructions on how to end your own life. The reporters interviewed parents and friends of people who used the site and then died. In this week’s Professor’s Press Pass ([link removed]) , we look at some of the very serious ethical issues the journalists behind the reporting had to assess and the ways they navigated that coverage.


** One last thing
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Well this is just sweet: “Why a media executive left his career to help maligned donkeys and save them from slaughter.” ([link removed])


** One other last thing
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This is my last email newsletter until after the semester break. I’ll see you back here in January! I wish you very merry, holly jolly, silver and gold days as we wrap up this year and look hopefully into the next.

And to whoever needs to hear this: You’re really great. I am proud of you.

Be well and take care of yourself and others.


** Resources for Journalists
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* Get access to a growing library of case studies —Professor’s Press Pass ([link removed])
* Every day, PolitiFact journalists pore over statements to hold the people in power accountable. Subscribe to their newsletter for the week’s top fact-checks. ([link removed])
* How to Spot Misinformation Online ([link removed]) (Webinar) — Start anytime


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