Written by (KENT, OHIO) Nov. 29, 2011 – The recently released 2011 Scholastic Journalism Census conducted by the Center for Scholastic Journalism at Kent State University reveals that online student media represent a shockingly small percentage of all student media in public high schools.
Findings show that 96 percent of American public high schools provide some opportunity to participate in student media, but only 33 percent of schools have any online media experience. Furthermore, barely more than one quarter (27 percent) of print student newspapers have an online component, and only 8 percent of those publish exclusively online.
Study investigators agree the data they uncovered suggest many scholastic media programs are neither exposing students to the media landscape they will confront once they graduate from high school, nor teaching students the skills they need to succeed in a multimedia world.
“The lack of online presence for many scholastic media programs is troubling,” said Mark Goodman, principal study investigator and Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism at Kent State University. “Anecdotally, I can say that frequently is not because of resistance from students or teachers; it is because school administrators put roadblocks in the way of moving online.”
Principal investigator Piotr Bobkowski added that removing administrative or other roadblocks is essential for student journalists to not only understand the online news environment, but to also deliver news to the outlets where their generation spends a large chunk of their time.
“Young people are avid users of new technologies,” Bobkowski said. “In order to reach their readers where they are, more student media need to embrace the online news environment.”
Candace Perkins Bowen, Kent State University Assistant Professor and Director of the Center for Scholastic Journalism also served as a 2011 Scholastic Journalism Census principal investigator.
In their research, the investigators mailed paper surveys to a random sample of 4,354 public high schools from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. They received responses from 1,023 of those schools between Feb. 1 and June 6, 2011, for a 23.5 percent response rate.
About the Center for Scholastic Journalism
The Center for Scholastic Journalism is a national clearinghouse committed to conducting and collecting the best research on scholastic media and the role it plays in journalism education. As an advocate for high school and middle school journalism, the Center strives to be both a resource for information about youth journalism and journalism education and one of the most effective national voices supporting scholastic journalism and freedom of press outlined in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. For more information about the Center for Scholastic Journalism, visit www.csjkent.org.
