So, where does all this lead? I don’t know. But the brawls, the tempests, the imbroglios are no longer going to be concealed behind D:F/M’s phony facade of collegial sobriety, that’s for sure. Those days are over. Nevertheless, one more time, the email that exposed this most recent teapot tempest.
However, what follows below has been edited/modified for style, such as, Quotation Marks for Effect, “Why didn’t I think about including some of this [fill in the blanks] in the original email?Â
This email is based on conversations over the years with serious student journalists and student award winners and includes my observations as well as theirs, and it may serve as a heads-up regarding barnacles in the system.1) Will the name of the student winner or winners be included in press release information announcing all the winners and categories? Or are the students to be relegated to the shadows as they normally have been? Previous student winners were happy with the bucks, that’s for sure, but they believed they were getting short shrift in the pageantry, something akin to, Quotation Marks for Effect, “You can be seen but not heard … and thank you very much.”2) And if Arson isn’t as moribund as imagined in some circles, are the student winners being listed in some kind of archive like the pros? Is there any recording of the ceremonies for at least archival purposes? I know if I was running something like the Aronson, you can believe there would be articles and Youtube productions and podcasts and Blogs, at the very least, for an archive to use for potential fundraising stratagems. I would include a follow-up of with the award winners, like, WHERE ARE THEY NOW? I once organized a Center for Communication panel-event for an Aronson Day (back in the days when Aronson had to be held in the Lang because of the crowds it drew) so I know what I am talking about (though I promised on that date never, never to do that again, and I have kept the pledge).3) Who’s on the selection committee for the student awards? Shouldn’t their names be made public? What about the issue of transparency? I ask because there were concerns several years ago that the selection process was fixed, that is, that the winners were selected arbitrarily, based on nepotism or favoritism or some other barnacle, that there was no objective evaluation nor fair evaluation of student applicants. That’s when I stopped participating with this phase of Aronson, which, true, had started without an official selection process in order to jumpstart student interest, the WORD at the time being the only serious publication with published student articles. Now, there’s the Hunts Point Express, sort of, and a rejuvenated Envoy. Yet, only two students applied last year. I wonder what that reflects?[Okay, I know but I won’t say].3) Also, since the email sparking this response went to so-called journalism staff, it has to be said that a lot of talented students who could be applying for this award can’t because they take those writing classes that neither inspire nor require them to develop writing portfolios. Pretty much the same classes taught by colleagues who don’t require their students to rewrite their writing assignments/articles, that the students do one-time drafts. I have a problem with that and I’m going to make it an issue. We all know “most students don’t” that writing is about rewriting and not to engage students in this manner seems to imply that some colleagues want to get around the writing requirements of their W classes, which require extra effort on the part of the instructor and the students. Student learning shortchanged for a easier teaching load? Don’t colleagues believe that this undermines the progress of a lot of talented students? I do. Lots of barnacles here.4) One would also think that students should be alerted at the beginning of the academic year that there is such a thing as Aronson so that they could have time to prepare. Maybe there should be some kind of disclaimer in the College catalogue. Something like this, Quotation Marks for Effect, “Yo, students, a few F/M journalism writing classes require you to publish,most don’t, and a few, I mean a few, require you to learn to rewrite assignments and most don’t.”“Guess which ones are the most important for students who want to compete in the New York City internship-job market?5) And, last but not least, Aronson is about social justice journalism because James Aronson was about social justice journalism but the student award isn’t. Very weird. Why are the students being excluded from a vibrant journalism genre. Is it because of that barnacle of thought and perception in D:F/M regarding student worthiness?* Also, someone might tell students about the purpose of the student award for which they are being asked to apply, like, what is this Aronson student award really about and why social journalism is important.6) If Aronson, the big and the little, in tow, is headed for the elephants’ grave yard, then please ignore this email.*I remember thinking a while back that I had convinced my department that a copy editing class was important for students interested in journalism, and then learned from a Colleague With Influence that he questioned the worthiness of it for D:F/M students, that he believed that they were undeserving of such a course. I subsequently wrote one of those cranky memos (that freak out the likes of Cindy Rodiguez and others) and the class was restored. For how long? I don’t know.So, I gotta write a cranky memo every time my department sloughs off?This email is based on conversations over the years with serious student journalists and student award winners and includes my observations as well as theirs, and it may serve as a heads-up regarding barnacles in the system.
1) Will the name of the student winner or winners be included in press release information announcing all the winners and categories? Or are the students to be relegated to the shadows as they normally have been? Previous student winners were happy with the bucks, that’s for sure, but they believed they were getting short shrift in the pageantry, something akin to, Quotation Marks for Effect, €œYou can be seen but not heard … and thank you very much.
2) And if Arson isn’t as moribund as imagined in some circles, are the student winners being listed in some kind of archive like the pros? Is there any recording of the ceremonies for at least archival purposes? I know if I was running something like the Aronson, you can believe there would be articles and Youtube productions and podcasts and Blogs, at the very least, for an archive to use for potential fundraising stratagems. I would include a follow-up of with the award winners, like, WHERE ARE THEY NOW? I once organized a Center for Communication panel-event for an Aronson Day (back in the days when Aronson had to be held in the Lang because of the crowds it drew) so I know what I am talking about (though I promised on that date never, never to do that again, and I have kept the pledge).
3) Who’s on the selection committee for the student awards? Shouldn’t their names be made public? What about the issue of transparency? I ask because there were concerns several years ago that the selection process was fixed, that is, that the winners were selected arbitrarily, based on nepotism or favoritism or some other barnacle, that there was no objective evaluation nor fair evaluation of student applicants. That’s when I stopped participating with this phase of Aronson, which, true, had started without an official selection process in order to jumpstart student interest, the WORD at the time being the only serious publication with published student articles. Now, there’s the Hunts Point Express, sort of, and a rejuvenated Envoy. Yet, only two students applied last year. I wonder what that reflects?
[Okay, I know but I won’t say].3) Also, since the email sparking this response went to so-called journalism staff, it has to be said that a lot of talented students who could be applying for this award can’t because they take those writing classes that neither inspire nor require them to develop writing portfolios. Pretty much the same classes taught by colleagues who don’t require their students to rewrite their writing assignments/articles, that the students do one-time drafts. I have a problem with that and I’m going to make it an issue. We all know €“ most students don’t €“ that writing is about rewriting and not to engage students in this manner seems to imply that some colleagues want to get around the writing requirements of their W classes, which require extra effort on the part of the instructor and the students. Student learning shortchanged for a easier teaching load? Don’t colleagues believe that this undermines the progress of a lot of talented students? I do. Lots of barnacles here.
4) One would also think that students should be alerted at the beginning of the academic year that there is such a thing as Aronson so that they could have time to prepare. Maybe there should be some kind of disclaimer in the College catalogue. Something like this, Quotation Marks for Effect, students, a few F/M journalism writing classes require you to publish,most don’t, and a few, I mean a few, require you to learn to rewrite assignments and most don’t.
“Guess which ones are the most important for students who want to compete in the New York City internship-job market?5) And, last but not least, Aronson is about social justice journalism because James Aronson was about social justice journalism but the student award isn’t. Very weird. Why are the students being excluded from a vibrant journalism genre. Is it because of that barnacle of thought and perception in D:F/M regarding student worthiness?* Also, someone might tell students about the purpose of the student award for which they are being asked to apply, like, what is this Aronson student award really about and why social journalism is important.
6) If Aronson, the big and the little, in tow, is headed for the elephants’ grave yard, then please ignore this email.
*I remember thinking a while back that I had convinced my department that a copy editing class was important for students interested in journalism, and then learned from a Colleague With Influence that he questioned the worthiness of it for D:F/M students, that he believed that they were undeserving of such a course. I subsequently wrote one of those cranky memos (that freak out the likes of Cindy Rodiguez and others) and the class was restored. For how long? I don’t know.
So, I gotta write a cranky memo every time my department sloughs off?
*I remember thinking a while back that I had convinced my department that a copy editing class was important for students interested in journalism, and then learned from a Colleague With Influence that he questioned the worthiness of it for D:F/M students, that he believed that they were undeserving of such a course. I subsequently wrote one of those cranky memos (that freak out the likes of Cindy Rodiguez and others) and the class was restored. For how long? I don’t know.
So, I gotta write a cranky memo every time my department sloughs off?
The End
Tags: Academic Politics, James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism, Office Politics, Student Writing