Sept. 5, 2002

RESTON, Va. – The American Society of Newspaper Editors Foundation has awarded $147,366 to 38 high schools and their 33 daily newspaper partners to revive or dramatically improve scholastic journalism.

“This initiative continues to grow significantly in scope and impact,” said Diane H. McFarlin, 2002-03 ASNE president and publisher of the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune. The original plan for 2002 was to award 20 partnership grants totaling $100,000.

“The response from newspapers large and small has been extraordinary and illustrates a commitment to nurturing the next diverse generation of journalists. Partnership schools benefit from having a strong and vibrant scholastic press,’’ McFarlin said.

ASNE Partnerships are formed when editors of daily newspapers seek out a high school and takes the lead in developing a yearlong program of training and mentoring students, teachers and administrators who are interested in starting or improving a journalism program.

The daily newspaper and school then apply to ASNE for a grant of up to $5,000 that is used to equip the school with the hardware and software needed to produce a student newspaper. A budget, statement of goals and timeline are required. In some instances, a local college or university journalism program also takes part.

“The ASNE Partnerships strengthen an understanding of the First Amendment and democracy. It’s a unique opportunity for high school journalists and newspaper pros to work and learn together,” said Judy Pace Christie, 2002-03 chair of ASNE’s High School Journalism Committee and editor of The Times, Shreveport, La.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation provided ASNE with a $4.8 million grant to pursue high school journalism initiatives from 2001-03, including the ASNE Partnerships.

“Let’s hope this wave of new student newspapers become a tidal wave,” said Eric Newton, director of journalism initiatives of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. “The best way to be sure students become the voters and joiners and readers of tomorrow is to give them a chance to try it today, through student elections, student organizations and student media.”

Partnership schools are being encouraged to sign up for my.highschooljournalism.org, the best and easiest way to start an online school newspaper. Existing school newspapers that go online gain access to search and archiving capabilities. The hosting service is free. A one-time $25 application fee is used toward journalism materials for the school. No special computer language skills are needed to place a high school newspaper online.

This third round of Partnership grants brings the total awarded since 2001 to $329,866, involving 92 schools and a Boy Scouts council partnered with 69 daily newspapers. To view a complete list of ASNE Partnerships from 2001-03, go to: http://www.highschooljournalism.org/editors/partnerships.htm

The 2002-03 academic year ASNE Partners are:

• Amarillo (Texas) Globe-News and Perryton High School, Perryton.
• The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, Bourgade Catholic High School, Phoenix, and the Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University, Tempe.
• Atlanta Journal and Constitution and Columbia High School, Decatur.
• The Beaumont (Texas) Enterprise and West Brook High School, Beaumont.
• Chattanooga (Tenn.) Times Free Press and Brainerd High School, Chattanooga.
• Chillicothe (Ohio) Gazette, Zane Trace High School, Chillicothe, and the College of Communication at Ohio University, Athens.
• Columbus (Ga.) Ledger-Enquirer and William H. Shaw High School, Columbus.
• Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller-Times and W.B. Ray High School, Corpus Christi.
• The Courier, Houma, La., and Terrebonne High School, Houma.
• The Desert Sun’s “Youthyack.com,” and seven schools in the Palm Springs, Calif., and the Palm Springs, Desert Sands and Coachella Valley unified school districts.
• Grand Island (Neb.) Independent and Grand Island Central Catholic.
• The Honolulu Advertiser, Kahaku High School, Honolulu, and the student media office at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
• The Ledger, Lakeland, Fla. and Haines City High School.
• Los Angeles Times and Phineas Banning High School, Wilmington.
• The Marietta (Ohio) Times and Frontier High School, New Matamoras.
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Washington High School, Milwaukee.
• Ocala (Fla.) Star-Banner and North Florida Council, Boy Scouts of America, Jacksonville.
• The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City, and Capitol Hill High School, Oklahoma City.
• The Oregonian, Portland, and Parkrose High School, Portland.
• The Perry (Okla.) Daily Journal and Perry High School.
• Piqua (Ohio) Daily Call and Piqua High School.
• The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, and James Ford Rhodes High School, Cleveland.
• The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Calif., and Cajon High School, San Bernardino. (A small amount of funding to complete a partnership established in 2001-02).
• The Repository, Canton, Ohio, and Tuslaw High School, Massillon.
• The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee and Sacramento High School.
• St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times and Gibbs High School.
• San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News and Silver Creek High School, San Jose.
• The Sun-Herald, Biloxi, Miss., and Long Beach (Miss.) High School.
• The Times, Trenton, N.J., and Trenton Central High School.
• The Times, Shreveport, La., and Booker T. Washington High School, Shreveport.
• Times-Georgian, Carrollton, Ga., Bowdon (Ga.) High School and the State University of West Georgia’s Mass Communications and Theatre Arts department, Carrollton.
• The Washington Post and Calvin Coolidge and Spingarn Senior High schools, both in Washington, D.C.
• Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, Wis., and East High School.

Of these schools, 19 report that students of color make up more than 50 percent of the student body.

Application forms for the 2003-04 academic year Partnerships will be mailed to the editors of daily newspapers in the spring of 2003.

Other ASNE High School Journalism initiatives include:

ASNE High School Journalism Institute: An expenses-paid, intensive two-week journalism-training program for high school teachers held at universities around the country. Every summer, 175 high school newspaper advisers will earn at least three graduate credits in journalism. Tuition, transportation, housing, meals and materials are covered through ASNE.

www.highschooljournalism.org: A Web site for students interested in journalism, their teachers/advisers, guidance counselors and newspaper editors. Content, which is updated several times a week, includes skills-building exercises, sample lesson plans, a spotlight on high school newspapers across the country, interaction with professional journalists, updates on scholastic press freedom issues and links to university journalism programs.

ASNE is the principal organization of the top editors at daily newspapers throughout the Americas. Founded in 1922 as a non-profit professional organization, ASNE focuses on the professional development of its members and journalism-related issues, including the First Amendment, newsroom staff diversity, journalism education, editorial innovation, journalism credibility and the newspaper’s role in providing information necessary to the informed practice of citizenship.

The Knight Foundation’s Journalism Program, based in Miami, supports organizations engaged in the education of current and future journalists.

For more information contact:

Diana Mitsu Klos
ASNE Senior Project Director
703-453-1125, dmk@asne.org