Rawson story ideas

Story 1

Story Idea: New Voices legislation will reach the floors of the NJ Senate and House of Representatives for a vote, most likely during this upcoming year.

Story mission and need: This story will chronicle the past, present, and future of student press rights, explain the journey of this bill, highlight cases of censorship in NJ, and clarify how this bill could change the climate for scholastic journalism in the state.

Why report it now?: It’s timely. The bill unanimously passed in a Senate Education Committee vote in June and will be lobbied for in September during a session in Trenton.

Essential Questions: How do First Amendment rights currently apply to student journalists in NJ, and how could they change?

Who is advocating for this bill, who is opposing this bill, and why?

What effects have New Voices bills had on scholastic journalism in other states?

Sources: Tom McHale, Hunterdon Central English teacher and former journalism teacher/adviser who encountered censorship issues. He has been doing much of the legwork in introducing the bill.

John Tagliarini, retired journalism teacher/adviser at Bergenfield. He has been the other one pushing the bill with McHale.

Adelina Colaku, former editor in chief of the newspaper at Northern Highlands High School. Her administration censored a story until she fought it legally and won.

Someone from the SPLC as an expert source to explain the ins and outs of New Voices legislation and their impact on the states that have it.

The bill itself and the language therein is also a source.

Potential issues with sources and how to solve them: I don’t really see many potential issues with sources. Colaku has been traveling a lot in recent months, but I’m sure the reporter can pin her down. The sources for this story are people who would be motivated to talk about it.

Medium/media to best tell the story: A written story will be the main piece.

Range of story angles, supporting materials: We could include an opinion column and/or an editorial, as well as stories about those who have encountered censorship issues, such as McHale and Colaku.

Alternative story forms: Video and audio clips can be embedded, as well as infographics depicting states that have passed similar legislation and a summary of the key aspects of the bill.

Possible legal/ethical/social responsibility questions: I’m wondering if we should bring our situation into the equation (the fact that we have prior review at my school).

Story 2

Name: Bill Rawson

School: Pascack Valley High School

Email: wrawson@pascack.org

Story Idea: A nationally elite gymnast is from the town in which our school is located. Her older sister graduated from our school in June, but she is home schooled so that she can train at a national facility.

Story mission and need: This story intends to tell the story of a girl’s unconventional teen years.

Why report it now?: Why not? It’s a fairly timeless story, and she’s off to college next year.

Essential Questions: What is her daily routine?

Why did she choose this lifestyle?

What are her long-term goals?

Sources: The girl, Olivia

Her parents and sister

Her coach or representative from her gym

Potential issues with sources and how to solve them: The coaches/representatives could be tough to pin down.

Medium/media to best tell the story: This could be a chunked written piece or a video segment.

Range of story angles, supporting materials: We could include a sidebar with her daily schedule listed.

Alternative story forms: Embedded clips of her competing and the sidebar with her daily routine, which could be info-graph-ish.

Possible legal/ethical/social responsibility questions: None to speak of.

Story 3

Name: Bill Rawson

School: Pascack Valley High School

Email: wrawson@pascack.org

Story Idea: Dan Fogelman, the creator of the popular TV show “This is Us,” is a graduate of our school.

Story mission and need: This will tell the story of Fogelman’s journey to success. The story will be localized by his reflections about Pascack Valley.

Why report it now?: The show is successful now.

Essential Questions: What are his most prominent memories about Pascack Valley?

How did he get his start in show business, and what does it take to be successful in it?

Sources: Fogelman

Teachers who knew him

Someone who went to school with him (there are about a dozen teachers at my school who are graduates of it, too).

Potential issues with sources and how to solve them: We’ve tried to get in touch with him before. It’s tough, because obviously he’s usually in California and you have to go through his rep. We actually did have a reporter reach him and set up a phone interview a couple years ago, but something came up with him and he had to cancel. We were unable to reschedule.

Medium/media to best tell the story: This is likely to be a written story.

Range of story angles, supporting materials: We could include a sidebar — possibly a video piece — where teachers share their memories of him.

Alternative story forms: Embedded video clips of the TV show and a bio box.

Possible legal/ethical/social responsibility questions: None to speak of.

Story 4

Name: Bill Rawson

School: Pascack Valley High School

Email: wrawson@pascack.org

Story Idea: The coordinator of our school’s internship program has operated a food cart from her office for the better part of the last couple years.

Story mission and need: We want to find out why she is allowed to do this, since it violates at least a couple school policies, including no competing with contracted food vendors and selling caffeinated drinks. It is also unclear where the money is going.

Why report it now?: If it is operating again next school year, it will be story-worthy.

Essential Questions: Why is this cart allowed to operate?

How much money does it make, and where does this money go? And how can we verify this?

Sources: The internship coordinator

Her cousin, who is a history teacher and also occasionally runs the cart from her room across the hall

The principal

A rep from the company that provides food service during lunch (since her cart competes with them, which is one of the school policy violations)

Potential issues with sources and how to solve them: The internship coordinator is likely to get defensive when questioned. She is the type of person who also can become unpleasant in situations like this. The interview with the principal could be tough, too, since prevailing sentiment is that he okayed this while knowing it violates several school policies.

Medium/media to best tell the story: This would likely be a written story.

Range of story angles, supporting materials: We could include reactions from teachers and students as a side story, as well as an opinion column and/or editorial.

Alternative story forms: An infographic that follows the money. Possibly another that, if we can find out where she buys the items, shows what she pays, what she charges, and what she profits.

Possible legal/ethical/social responsibility questions: We want to be a careful in our calculations and in our verification. It’s important that we report all of the dollar figures correctly and trace everything diligently. We also might not want to arrive at an exact dollar figure that is “missing” (if that ends up being the case). Instead, it’s best to frame it as a number that we had trouble accounting for.