Multiplatform Delivery Systems
Online Training
The Foundation’s second collaboration with The Poynter Institute’s News U, “Targeting New Audiences: Finding Your Niche,” launched in August. This self-paced course is designed to help media companies get to know their audiences and to help newspaper professionals develop a better understanding of audience-development strategies – print, online or both.
The Foundation also developed an online NIE training course. The course takes about an hour to complete and provides basic information for a new NIE professional’s needs.
Web Site
Two widgets were added to the Foundation Web site: one for the new e-edition of NAA Foundation Update and the other for Reading Rockets. In March, NAA Foundation Update became an exact replica e-edition. The Reading Rockets widget takes users to a page on the Foundation Web site that features a listing of major education stories from media around the world, including newspapers. This news feed is updated daily.
Both visitors and page views rose through the first part of the year and then dropped off in spring and summer, which reflects the end of the school year. Totals for January through August were 64,076 page views and 17,220 unique visitors. The top download this year is the 2008 NIE Week Teacher’s Guide, with a total of 897 downloads.
E-Forums
Membership in both the NIE and the YEA e-forums remains fairly consistent. Both are regularly used to market Foundation products and events.
In September, the e-forums became part of NAA.org Community, a social networking application designed to enhance online communication. In addition to the e-forums, NAA.org Community gives users tools to expand their online discussions: file sharing, personal messaging, photo galleries and blogs. The Foundation has a blog and a photo gallery of its own.
Research
Scholastic Journalism
“High School Journalism Matters” was released during the Foundation’s session at the NAA/American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) Capital Conference in April. The study is based on a total sample of 31,175 students who took the ACT college entrance exam during their senior year in high school and who completed at least one year of college. A key independent variable for the study involved the almost 20 percent (6,137) who served on the staffs of their high school newspapers or yearbooks, compared with those (25,038) who did not.
Findings showed that students with high school journalism experience earned statistically significant higher scores in 12 areas, including ACT composite, ACT English, ACT reading, first college English course (usually English composition) and overall freshman college grade point average.
An executive summary was distributed at the Capital Conference and also was mailed to publishers/number-one contacts, NIE professionals, youth editors, state and regional press association representatives and scholastic journalism advocates. Copies of the summary were distributed at various other related organizations’ conference. The full report was released in conjunction with the Foundation Young Reader Conference in May and posted on the Foundation Web site.
Youth and Media
The Foundation contracted with DECODE of Canada for the U.S. portion of “Youth Media DNA,” a research study from the World Association of Newspapers.
The study focused on how young people ages 15 to 29 interact with media at different life stages, assessing them by four groups: individuals living with parents; individuals living alone or with a roommate; couples; and families with children.
The study revealed that parental influence is vital to future newspaper readership, indicated that NIE programs may not be happening early enough and suggested that newspapers should work diligently to retain young readers as they travel through various life stages.
Preliminary U.S. results were released during the Foundation’s session at the Capital Conference in April. Complete study results were delivered to the Foundation in June. A white paper was developed and posted on the Foundation Web site in September. An executive summary will be mailed to publishers in October.
Grants
Twelve high schools were selected for participation in the 2008 Student/Newspaper Partnership Grant program. The grant program was created to help establish or revive student newspapers. Grants are awarded to partnership proposals between middle and high schools and their local newspapers to create a newspaper where none exists, or to stabilize and strengthen struggling ones.
The Foundation awarded five middle-school grants to selected schools that agreed to use and report on use of the Foundation’s High Five curriculum as part of their newspaper publication efforts. An 18-week program, High Five contains three units on media literacy, the craft of journalism and newspaper production featuring the daily newspaper as a textbook and information source.
The Foundation awarded grants in partnership with the Journalism Education Association (JEA) for the following initiatives and projects:
• A mentorship program in which three veteran journalism adviser each will work with two new advisers for a two-year period. One adviser in each pair will be an adviser of color or an adviser at a minority-majority school.
• The creation and distribution to all public high schools of the following: an informational letter on the importance of journalism and the “Responsible Journalism” package available for download; one poster to school counselors about the results of the Foundation’s “High School Journalism Matters” research study; and one poster on the “Six Tenets of Responsible Journalism” for journalism teachers and media advisers.
• Fellowships for four minority or minority-majority school newspaper advisers to attend the JEA/National Scholastic Press Association spring convention.
Young Reader Conference
The effort to bring NIE, the Youth Editorial Alliance (YEA) and student journalism into a unified young reader approach continued to move forward with the second Foundation Young Reader Conference in May in Phoenix. The digital NIE pre-seminar session in Phoenix attracted a significant number of people. Plans are under way for the third Young Reader Conference, scheduled for May 14-16, 2009 in Arlington, Va.
The Teen Fellow program brought eight young journalists who work with newspapers across the nation on teen content in their local newspapers to Phoenix. They participated in an all-day educational workshop and put together a general session for adult seminar participants on what newspapers can do better to engage young people.
Communications
The “Driving Newspapers YouTube Contest,” designed to promote the Foundation’s 2007 research study on civic engagement, ended in February. Danny F. Vigour of Crozet, Va., the winner, attended and was recognized during the Foundation’s session at the Capital Conference in April.
The NAA Communications Department promotional efforts in conjunction with the April release of “High School Journalism Matters” included news releases, a podcast and a radio campaign. Plans for the release of “Youth Media DNA” in September and October will include an e-mail blast to publishers from Foundation Chairman Bruce Bradley, a column for state press associations, an article in PRESSTIME, a podcast with Robert Barnard of DECODE and an executive summary/mailer to publishers.
NIE and Literacy Programs
NIE Week
The 2008 NIE Week Guide, “Connect to the World,” was posted on the Foundation Web site in January. It was designed to help students make connections to self, the world and text through the newspaper. Newspapers could either download the guide or post the link on their Web sites.
The Foundation has contracted with a vendor to create a guide and matching in-paper messages for NIE Week 2009. “Newspapers Now” will emphasize the basic principles and goals of NIE Week – helping students to learn about and with the newspaper. These materials will be available on the Foundation Web site in January 2009.
Serial Stories
The Foundation partnered with Drop Everything and Read (D.E.A.R.) Day and HarperCollins Children’s Books to serialize “Ramona the Pest” by Beverly Cleary. More than 434 newspapers downloaded materials from the Foundation Web site; the story was posted in both English and Spanish. The Foundation, D.E.A.R. and HarperCollins Children’s Books have discussed a partnership on another Cleary book, the Newbery-winning “Dear Mr. Henshaw,” for D.E.A.R. 2009.
The Foundation will offer a free serial from HarperCollins Children’s Books, “Into the Wild” by Erin Hunter, in January 2009. The serial is adapted from the first installment in the popular “Warriors” series; more than 1 million copies have been sold. If the serial is well-received by NIE professionals, HarperCollins is willing to provide a “Warriors” serial on an annual basis.
High Five
This middle-school curriculum targets minority, low-income and non-English-speaking students. High Five lesson plans introduce students to journalism concepts and meet national language-arts standards. The curriculum has three units – media literacy, the craft of journalism and newspaper production.
During field testing students were tested before and after they used the High Five curriculum. Students not using the curriculum also were tested as a control group. Results indicated that students in classrooms using the curriculum performed better on vocabulary tests than those in the control group. The High Five group scored no better or worse in reading comprehension than the control group.
The High Five curriculum was revised to address issues from field testing, then edited and posted on the Foundation Web site in July. As a first step in a nationwide awareness campaign, newspaper partnership grants stipulating its use were awarded to five middle schools.
International Literacy Day
The World Association of Newspapers created and provided “Frannie Learns a Lesson”, a serial story and matching illustrations in recognition of this and shared them with U.S. newspapers. Information on the WAN materials was posted along with a link on the Foundation Web site.
Scholastic Journalism
Fellowships
The Foundation provided fellowships for five minority advisers and students to attend the 2008 Southern Interscholastic Press Association (SIPA) convention in February.
The Foundation funded four fellowships for the spring Journalism Education Association/National Scholastic Press Association (JEA/NSPA) Outreach Academy and conference in April.
“N the News” High School Journalism Curriculum
Design and content edits of this nine-unit high school journalism curriculum were conducted and the revised curriculum will be available for download in October.
Report compiled by:
Margaret D. Vassilikos
Senior Vice President/Chief Financial Officer
NAA and NAA Foundation
October 2, 2008
To view previous national reports, please click below:
January 2008
April 2006
November 2005
November 2004
