For National News Literacy Week, taking place this week, the Union Sun & Journal invited Lockport High School’s student reporters and broadcasters to discuss the value of news coverage and how to assure accuracy.
Students from the Cyber Lions, who develop and present video and audio reports, and the Towpath newspaper, were very aware of the challenges of separating news from advertising in today’s array of social media, digital media, and traditional news sources. The News Literacy Project, a national organization that researches and advocates for news analysis skills, found that teenagers can have difficulty recognizing sponsored Google search results and branded material as advertising.
Student Cecilia Millen of the Cyber Lions said she has looked up the categories certain media outlets, such as YouTube, use to identify advertising. “I try to know the signals,” she said. Cyber Lions students agreed that when material refers the user to an online sales link, it’s a good indicator that it is not news.
When developing their news announcements for the school, Auggie Gong, president of the Cyber Lions, said they focus on positive stories about school sports, student arts performances, and national recognition dates. Millen said they have also written about historical figures and the Black history movement. Students have conducted interviews with teachers, coaches, and interns to hear directly from those involved in activities. The students acknowledged that coverage of “bad news” is also important and that tragedies that affect people need to be acknowledged.
While students agreed that the best news appeals to many readers, Jocelyn Velazquez said other standards also need to be considered. She said struggles that are unique to a small number of people are still newsworthy. “Just because it’s different doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be heard. It’s our job as a paper to empathize and educate people.”
Nyema Campbell, a Towpath reporter, said school shootings have become “a sad reality” for students, with lock-down drills held at Lockport High School every year. Hearing fellow students joke about the drills made Campbell wonder why some didn’t take them seriously. After researching the topic, Campbell wrote a Towpath article about student desensitization to school violence. “We have no power in the situation,” she said of students. “We don’t have control over gun laws.”
The experience made it clear to Campbell how government policies like gun control can impact students and that student newspapers have a role in examining them.
Students have also branched off to write op/eds, taking the facts and building essays including their viewpoints. Abbey Glover explored and addressed Gov. Kathy Hochul’s school cellphone ban, advocating that cellphones are too valuable in emergencies to be put off limits to students. Emma Kranz wrote that learning about imaginary numbers in Algebra 2 class has few real-world applications after graduation for the majority of students.
Towpath students said they engage in peer review of articles and ideas, to check newsworthiness and gain feedback that helps them develop their skills.
“The paper is reflecting Lockport High School,” Velazquez said. “We want to make sure we’re always embodying what Lockport stands for.”