Week 4: A copy editor

For the scoop on Jon Mendelson's take on this day's class, go to his blog, Second Thoughts.

Week 3: A photographer

Glenn Moore is scheduled to talk about newspaper photography — and also take a look at the class cameras. And we'll have a surprise for Mr. Eddy!
- Cheri

Week 2: A reporter

Aaron Rognstad, our newest reporter, shared his experiences as a reporter, both for newspapers and the military.

Here's his notes on today's class:

Jack asked me what the most important things about being a journalist were, and I told him to make sure the information you write is accurate and free of factual errors. I told the students to always double-check spellings of names (something I should do more of!) and to make sure they get the technical details correct. Most importantly though, I stressed integrity and honesty in your writing, because without that, a journalist isn’t worth his word, and that’s everything in journalism.

I also went a little into my background and how I came to be a journalist. I told the class it was the military that got me into reporting, and I expressed a desire to be a war correspondent at some point down the road. I told the students if they want to a future in the journalism biz, they should immediately try to write for their student newspaper and get published as soon as possible to begin to get experience and some clips under their belts. I also told them to get on with their college newspaper when they go off to university, and then after that to get an internship. I stressed these stepping stones as crucial to landing a job as a reporter some day.

Any questions comments about the class today? Feel free to leave some!

Millennium's journalists

Mr. Eddy asked me to talk today about newspapers in the 21st century, but I started by talking about Gutenberg, who invented the printing press in 1447, and I described the growth of the newspaper industry through the Industrial Revolution, the emergence of radio and TV, and the technological revolution.

Finally, when I got to modern times, we talked about what's changed for newspapers in just the last 10 years, besides technology — demographics, reading habits and revenues.

I tried to convince everybody that newspapers aren't toast. While we haven't been quick to respond to change, we're now seeing the hybridization of print and digital media, and we're still cheap (for readers), convenient and easy to read, arguably trustworthy in our newsgathering and open to community journalism. And we're the best watchdog of government and freedom of information there is.

The five, bright students in this class want to start an electronic newspaper and a blog. They want to ask questions, write stories, take photos, take video and more. I think it's going to be fun!

Andrew Sanabra (left), Jorden Holden, Danielle Lamb, Dane Tran and Matt West.
(Photos by Anthony Brenes)

Feel free to post comments or questions here!

Hello, Millennium students

I want to revive this blog. Thursday will be my first meeting with Jack Eddy's Millennium High School journalism class. The class topic is "The Newspaper in the 21st Century."

More info, coming soon!