School Newspaper Adviser's Survival Guide

Patricia Osborn combines experience in education and professional journalism in her background. After majoring in journalism in college, she held positions as newspaper reporter, state editor and advertising copywriter before entering the field of education to become the adviser of award-winning high school newspapers as well as teacher of English and department chairman in Toledo, Ohio, public schools. Her published works include Reading Smarter; How Grammar Works (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.); Poetry By Doing; and Finding America. She has written articles, short stories and poetry for such magazines as Educational Digest, Gifted Children's Magazine, School Arts, Fine Arts Discovery, Builders, and TV Guide. Additional experience includes editing an award-winning newsletter, doing volunteer public relations for jazz organizations and serving as judge for the Great Lakes Interscholastic Press Association's annual newspaper contest. She is a member of the National Council of Teachers of English and Journalism Educators Association. A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Osborn was page editor of the BG News and assistant editor of the yearbook. She also has taken post-graduate course in television writing and production.

• Acknowledgments iiiAbout the author iiiAbout this resource ivUnit 1 Gaining Perspective, Gaining Control1-1 Priority and progress assessment 51-2 Staff application 121-3 Application for editor and staff positions 141-4 Code and contract for staff members 161-5 Staff manual: Job descriptions 191-6 Reporters' special duties 261-7 Special duty assignment sheet 271-8 Portfolio contents 291-9 Progress report: Special duty assignments 301-10 Daily staff diary 321-11 Purpose and advantages of publishing a school paper 341-12 How medium affects message 391-13 Dialogue box: Your chance to speak out 501-14 Checklist for fine-tuning your paper's coverage 521-15 It's the law! Hazelwood School District vs. Kuhlmeier January 13, 1988 571-16 The student press as public forum: Right for schools and students 601-17 Sample policy statement 611-18 Mission statement 641-19 Ground rules for reporting sensitive and controversial issues 651-20 Controversial and sensitive issues: What course to take 67Unit 2 Newswriting Workshop2-1 Beat coverage of clubs 762-2 Coverage form: Department chairpersons 792-3 Get the essentials in every summary lead 1472-4 Organizing straight news, inverted pyramid style 1552-5 Copy editing via symbols 1732-6 Steps for organizing complex news stories 1782-7 Getting your features in focus 2062-8 Preparation of copy 2702-9 Tracking sheet 2712-10 Interview evaluation request 2722-11 Reporter's assignment sheet 273Unit 3 Newspaper Layout: The Sense Behind the Style3-3 Designing reader-friendly copy blocks 2873-13 Guidelines for marking dummy layouts 2953-14 Writing effective headlines 3053-15 Newspaper headline schedule 3063-16 Character count chart for writing headlines 3103-19 Headline assignment form 3143-21 Guidelines for avoiding layout pitfalls 3183-39 Photo assignment sheet 3413-40 Photo identification form 3423-41 Guidelines for better news photos 3433-51 Guidelines for creative cropping 349Unit 4 Managing to Find Time, Finding Time to Manage4-1 Ten reasons today's school newspaper is a vital tool for learning 3534-7 Letter to potential advertisers 3684-8 Request letter to past advertisers 3694-9 End-of-year thank-you for support 3704-10 Advertising contract 3714-11 Invoice 3724-12 Glossary of keyboard shortcuts for computer commands 3814-13 Glossary of shortcuts for keyboard-generated icons 3824-14 Self-checking critique: 100 points for judging school papers 384AppendicesAppendix 1 Glossaries for Desktop Publishing and Journalism 395Appendix 2 Style manual 399Appendix 3 Ideas for stories, ads, money raisers 404Appendix 4 Resources for additional information and support 407