Lesson 7.
More should be done to encourage student contact with professional journalists. My Ford Foundation project, for example, allowed students to work alongside professional journalists in the field. Arrangements like this can more productive than merely inviting professional journalists to be guest speakers in class (though I don’t disapprove of guest speakers but in my experience too many pros show up and blow big-time smoke, and are rarely candid about the dynamics of their newsrooms nor candid about the ethical quagmires they must negotiate in order to do their jobs and look themselves in the mirror).
More examples: Students working alongside professional journalists at the New Hampshire Primaries and at the Democratic National Convention in Denver and at the Presidential Inauguration though the latter was more about pageantry.Â
Imaginative projects can prepare students for the best internships and apprenticeships.Â
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