Web Tips

All the sites we mention in this column should come in handy for students as well as professional journalists, but there are a several good sites aimed specifically at student journalists.

Here are some of the best designed for high school students. Next week I'll tell you about sites for college students.

HIGHSCHOOLJOURNALISM.ORG
ASNE'S High School Journalism Page offers tips, interviews with professional journalists, career guidance, lesson plans for teachers, and even a journalism skills quiz. The quiz is fun for professionals as well -- if you're already in the business, give it a shot and see how you do. If you don't pass, you'd better keep reading this tip.

HighSchoolJournalism.org also has a nice section designed for professional journalists, which discusses newspaper-school partnerships, internships, and how professionals can help student journalists. ASNE also recently launched my.highschooljournalism.org, a site that hosts high school newspapers around the country -- a good way to survey what other high school publications are writing.

POYNTER'S HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALISM GUIDE
Poynter's High School Journalism Guide is a fantastic collection of essays and tips collected by Doug White. Among the features: "Effective Editing," "An Ethics Checklist," "Succeeding in Broadcast," "Photojournalism Tips," "Creating Good Design," Writing the Editorial," and "Diversifying Your Coverage." It also includes an entertaining Q&A with Dave Barry in which the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist talks about a humorous article he wrote for his high school newspaper about a drunken game called "Loadball." (Editor's Note: Poynter's High School Journalism Guide has moved. It is now available at http://www.poynter.org/highschool.)

NATIONAL SCHOLASTIC PRESS ASSOCIATION
National Scholastic Press Association's site offers news, tips, and information about conventions and contests. The forums are a great way to get tips from other high school journalists around the country -- here's a discussion, for example, about covering a faculty death. The best part of this site is the NSPA's Student Media Sourcebook, which includes links to more than 200 resources for student journalists.

THE J-SPOT
The J-Spot is an online magazine for high school journalists published by students at the USC Annenberg School for Communication that includes articles on how to cover controversial subjects such as murder and sex, as well as features on high school journalism programs.

STUDENT PRESS LAW CENTER
The Student Press Law Center is a non-profit group that provides free information, advice and legal assistance to high school journalists. Especially valuable is the Legal Issues section, which includes dozens of guides to legal issues of interest to students, such as press freedom and censorship; access to records and meetings; libel and privacy invasion; and protecting sources and information. The SPLC also offers annual
Courage in Student Journalism Awards, so be brave and get to work!

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