What if the most important stories in our community went untold? Who would hold the people in power accountable? Who would inform people about what’s going on in their community? In a world filled with information, how do we know what is real and what is fake? These are all real aspects of journalism that make a bigger impact than you might realize. That National Geographic your mom sent you about giraffes or that New York Times article your teacher made you read about deforestation -that’s all journalism. You see it every day, and all those articles were written by people, people who probably started just like you and me, from a high school newspaper.
Even if you don’t want to become a journalist, it still looks great on college applications. Being a part of journalism teaches you so many life skills that college recruiters recognize and look for. While in journalism, you’ll learn:
- Writing and communication: You’ll be talking to and interviewing people for some articles, and you’ll learn how to efficiently communicate with your superiors.
- Critical thinking and analysis: You’ll learn how to efficiently and effectively analyze information to use in your writing.
- Leadership and teamwork: All of us at The Russ are a team; we work together, so you’ll get to practice your teamwork skills. And of course, also your leadership skills, especially if you’re an editor.
- Time management and meeting deadlines: Both of these are some of the most important skills for college students. In college, you’ll need to learn how to manage your time so that you can meet deadlines, same with journalism. Most articles are time sensitive, so you’ll need to turn them in promptly.
Beyond personal skills, journalists also play a big role in society. At times like this, it is more important than ever that we have good and reliable journalists who are willing and able to speak out and share their voices. Journalists have such a big role in decisions and actions, some of them are…
A check on power, journalism is used to keep the government and the powerful in check. As of right now, political reporters are being suppressed and punished by the government, and we must keep speaking up so that information gets pushed out. This can also be applied to our school in a way. The students are the heart of a school, and if they are well-informed, they have the power to change things around the school.
Amplify unheard voices; freedom of speech is one of the most liberating things for journalists; it gives us the freedom to share our writing. Here at SDHS, we have so many people from so many places. These people have stories, experiences, and perspectives, all of which we could learn from. If we are more receptive and open to hearing those stories, then we will learn more than you can imagine.
Fuel informed decisions; behind every informed decision, there have to be people doing the informing, that’s us. The government is a democracy built on a foundation of informed voters. If these voters aren’t well-informed, decisions are made, and not necessarily good ones. These decisions can be based on false narratives or misinformation and can lead to harmful outcomes.
All of us at The Russ just want you to succeed, so we are all here to help. Also, if you’re worried about writing mistakes, all writing goes through a section editor and then the Editor in Chief before it gets published. Journalism is such a valuable part of education and practices valuable life skills. We can’t wait to welcome all your new voices to the Russ
