John Bowen

John Bowen , MJE , is an adjunct professor at Kent State , chair of Journalism Education Association ( JEA ) Scholastic Press Rights Commitee and former Dow Jones News Fund National Journalism Teacher of the Year . Bowen has been a member of the SPLC Board of Directors and convener of the SPLC Advisory Council and a high school journalism teacher and adviser .

ow might I teach journalism students differently since we have a new president ? Following an election complete with charges of fake news and misleading social media releases , this seems to be a common question .

Not differently at all .

I taught journalism and social studies through the reign of eight presidents since Richard Nixon , and I would stress the same values : be the eyes and ears of democracy , question authority , dig , dig , dig .

Verify , verify , verify ,

Report your coverage the best it can be , no matter the platform . Support opinion pieces with credible and authoritative sources to reinforce views .

Content is king ; treat each story on its merits . Be journalistically responsible . Believe in social justice reporting . Diversify coverage so everyone sees someone like them in the reporting .

Know the journalist ’ s role is to honor the public ’ s right to know through unfettered reporting .

Those are the first steps .

I regularly presented students with fake story assignments in journalism class to see if they would think critically through story information presented them . Students did not catch the questionable information , even though they had obvious opportunities .

For example , nearly two decades ago we presented the students with an interview with the principal and assistant principal about

the introduction of drugsniffing ferrets used to go through student lockers at night because of recent evidence of increased drug use in school .

Ferrets , of course , could work through lockers more easily than dogs .

The administrators gave students detailed information about the need and how the ferrets would operate . They also shared information about a training center for ferrets in a nearby community and studies that showed why ferrets were better than dogs . They included a phone number so students could follow up with trainers . They shared the name of the police department contact .

Students were to write a story on the ferrets due several days later , which they did .