Illinois Journalist of the Year and runner-up Jimmy Hibsch, editor-in-chief of The Pacer at Rolling Meadows High School, was named the IJOY for 2010. Hibsch received a plaque and a check for $300, and his name was forwrded to the national competition as the representative from Illinois. With him is runner-up Andrea Behling, editor-in-chief at Belvidere North High School. They received their awards June 5, 2010 at IJEA’s All-State Luncheon at the Executive Mansion in Springfield. Hibsch is advised by Stan Zoller and Behling by Mike Doyle.
Photo by Randy Swikle

All-State Journalism Team  Members of the 2010 All-State Journalism  Team gather on the lawn of the Executive Mansion in Springfield  prior to their induction on June 5, 2010. They are: Karen Baena, Lane Technical College Prep High School, adviser Seth Johnson; Andrea Behling, Belvidere North High School, adviser Mike Doyle; Nicholas Chaskin, University of Chicago Laboratory High School, Chicago, adviser Wayne Brasler; Will Fernandez, University of Illinois Laboratory High School, Urbana, adviser Dave Porreca; (not pictured) Cierra Goolsby, Harrisburg High School, adviser Cathy Wall; Jake Hamilton, O’Fallon School High School, adviser Mary Dempsey, Andrea Perkins, John Hersey High School, adviser Janet Levin; Cazzie Reyes, Richwoods High School, adviser Dan Kerns; Megan Thilmony, Oakwood High School, adviser Tim Lee; Carriann Willis, Bloom Trail High School, adviser Stephanie Kapaldo. Special recognition, Jimmy Hibsch, Rolling Meadows High School, adviser Stan Zoller.
Photo by Randy Swikle.

Illinois Journalism Education Association Fall Conference 
(formerly Illinois State High School Press Association)
Friday, Sept. 10, 2010

“How to Tell a Great Story” Great storytellers can grab and hook a reader in a matter of seconds. A great story enthralls us completely and becomes engrained in our memories. But why is it so good? Why can’t we put it down? This years’ keynote topic will look at bringing together the elements that make for unforgettable stories. The keynote speaker is Walt Harrington, a former award-winning writer and editor at the Washington Post and the author of 6 books including one used at some of the best journalism schools in the country entitled, “Intimate Journalism: The Art and Craft of Reporting Everyday Life.”  Click to see the Program for the 2010 IJEA Fall Conference. Go to www.media.illinois.edu/ijea/ for more information.

Please click here to go to the application or view it on the membership page.

JEA/NSPA Convention Photos from Washington D.C. Click here to see photos of Illinois advisers having fun at the JEA/NSPA Convention in Washington D.C. in November 2009.

Former Coulterville High School adviser and longtime IJEA and SISPA member Herman Albers receives a Lifetime Achievement Award from JEA Secretary Linda Drake at the fall 2009 convention in Washington, D.C.(photo by Randy Swikle)

Thill received award Each year, to recognize scholastic journalists and educators who confront the limits of free speech for student journalists, the SPLC and the National Scholastic Press Association present the Courage in Student Journalism Award. One of this year’s winners is IJEA’s own Barb Thill of Stevenson High School, cited as an example of bravery and dedication in standing up for press freedom. Read the full story in the winter 2009-2010 issue of SPLC’s Report: www.splc.org/report_detail.asp?id=1539&edition=51

Dear Illinois advisers:

It’s now easy for you to stay on top of the latest trends and techniques in photo and video journalism.

Rather than bookmark a bunch of sites/blogs and carve out time to visit them regularly, hsj.org has created an RSS mashup that you can dip into – at your convenience.

Click here to see a live preview of this photo/video mashup:http://hsj.org/content.cfm?id=217

To learn more about this feed or subscribe to it, please go tohttp://hsj.org/content.cfm?id=213

And please share this note with your photo and video journalism colleagues. This feed is useful for pros and students alike.

This is the second RSS mashup hsj.org has created. Many of you are already subscribing to the Journo-Tech feed, also featured on http://hsj.org/content.cfm?id=213

If you have suggestions on sites/blogs to add to either feed, drop a note to dmk@asne.org.

Brought to you by ASNE’s youth journalism initiative, http://hsj.org/content.cfm?id=192

Thank you.

Diana Mitsu Klos, Craig Branson and Connie Southard

Please visit hsj.org/reynolds to find out more information about this conference being held around the United States this summer for high school advisers and their staffs.

Check out this Chicago Tribune story that touches on the  Stevenson HS sitatuation and some perspectives from IJEA member Dennis  Brown, adviser at Huntley HS, and Matt Tooley, adviser at Libertyville  HS, and their students.

Click here to see a story regarding censorship at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire from Randy Swikle, Illinois state director of the Journalism Education Association.

Illinois JEA State Director Randy Swikle put it to the audience: While most administrators would be proud if their student journalists interviewing the president of the United States during times of crisis, would they also be proud of those same students covering local administrators during times of crisis?

Recent history in Illinois suggests no.

Thus began the Protocol for Free and Responsible Student News Media conference at Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Ill., Feb. 8-9, 2010, bringing together student journalists, advisers and administrators with the task of creating an ethical protocol, a framework and guide to making decisions that will cultivate a strong student media. The idea was for all the stakeholders in the business of school media to have a chance to explain their points of views.

Read the rest of this entry »

IJEA President Sarah Doerner urges us all to fight against prior review, to learn to respond to criticism, to organize, to work toward legislation and to organize. Read her latest message.