Journalism Education Association Resources: Empowering the Next Generation of Journalists

The Journalism Education Association (JEA) stands as the largest scholastic journalism organization for teachers and advisers, leading the way in scholastic journalism and media education since 1924. With the evolving landscape of the 21st-century classroom, JEA equips educators with the resources and support they need to guide students through the ever-changing world of journalism.

Comprehensive Curriculum and Resources

JEA's curriculum initiative offers a wealth of resources designed to complement high school journalism classrooms across the country. Over the course of 11 months, JEA collaborated with 14 members, identified as national leaders in their areas of expertise, to develop nearly 200 weeks' worth of lessons. JEA’s curriculum offers hundreds of lessons in areas including writing, multimedia, design, and law and ethics. These turnkey materials are designed for immediate use in any scholastic media program for view-only access with the links provided. At the same time, teachers may want to modify elements to match the specific needs or practices of their program, school or situation.

This electronic resource is kept current and dynamic by curriculum leaders who provide updated lesson plans and examples that reflect the newest trends and technology. They collaborate with other JEA committees such as certification and Career & Technical Education to ensure that the organization is at the forefront of defining 21st century journalism. They coordinate with our national Professional Advisory Committee to ensure our student learning objectives align with industry standards. They showcase their curriculum and lessons at national conventions and conferences.

Key Areas of Focus

The curriculum covers a wide range of essential journalism skills and topics, including:

Multimedia Storytelling: Students learn how to structure two-column script writing and the abbreviations for the elements that appear in the average script. They are introduced to basic audio terms, audio equipment, audio accessories and relate them to real world applications in multimedia broadcast situations. Students start by learning about video camera terminology that directly relates to operating a professional-level video camera. Students will spend time working on advanced multimedia broadcast stories to improve their production skills. This lesson will take you through the process of story mapping, which will help students keep multimedia in mind throughout the publication process. This lesson will give students a chance to explore these apps with a critical eye, allowing them to brainstorm specific uses for the apps in a journalism class setting.

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Law and Ethics: JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee works to empower and educate students and advisers concerning legal and ethical issues.

Scholastic Journalism Week

A poster design from Theo Slade, senior at North Springs High School, Atlanta, was voted by the JEA community to represent Scholastic Journalism Week 2026, which will take place Feb. Sept.

Conventions, Contests, and Awards

JEA provides training around the country at national conventions and institutes.

National High School Journalism Convention

We’re excited to welcome you to the JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention scheduled for April 16-18 in Minneapolis.

National Student Media Contests

Let your students shine in the spring 2026 JEA National Student Media Contests. The contests offer high school students a platform to showcase journalism excellence, earn recognition and receive feedback on their work.

Awards

Ellen Austin, MJE, of Rockford, Illinois, is the 2026 Linda S. Puntney Teacher Inspiration Award winner.
Morgan Bricker, MJE, adviser at Weir High School in Weirton, West Virginia, is this year’s winner of the Candace and John Bowen Adviser First Amendment Leadership Award.
Carrie Faust of Smoky Hill High School in Aurora, Colorado, is the 2025 H.L. Hall National Yearbook Adviser of the Year.

JEA Forum

The JEA Forum has replaced the Listserv that was hosted by Kansas State University as the new community discussion platform for JEA members.

Ethical Considerations for Student Journalists

JEA emphasizes the importance of ethical conduct in journalism. Here's a breakdown of key ethical considerations for student journalists:

Prior Review and Censorship: The Journalism Education Association has found prior review has no educational value. Instead, JEA believes it is simply the first step toward censorship and fake news. Prior review also contributes to self-censorship and lack of trust between students, advisers and administrators. Prior review and prior restraint of student media content by school officials are weapons in the arsenal of censorship.
Editorial Policies: Editorial policies are the foundations for your journalism program. What should go into an editorial policy? What should not?
Reporting on Sensitive Topics: It’s important to have a guideline in place before a student or staff member dies. Journalists should report a student or staff death in an objective, consistent manner that has been decided when the staff manual is being revised.

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Senior Quotes: Avoid senior quotes; give them to senior class for publishingThe question of using senior quotes in student media came up recently on JEA’s listserv. Yes, some find them acceptable, but their negatives far outweigh their positives.
Source Preview: Allowing sources to preview content is ethically questionableThe newest reporter on staff chooses to cover the story about the Science Department’s new policy on studying animal life. To do so, she must interview the head about a new policy on studying animal life.
Corrections: Mistakes happen. Students should know when to make corrections and when (if ever) to remove online stories entirely. Minor proofreading errors that don’t impact the meaning of the content don’t require corrections.
Copyright: Publishing memes also means knowing copyright rulesEntertainment. Political statements. And, if not done correctly, says Mark Goodman, Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism, a way to violate the owner’s copyright. Determine who owns student work before publication beginsAbsent a written agreement indicating otherwise, student journalists own the copyright to the works they create.
Editorial Boards: Because student media are productions of student work, only students should be on editorial boards of student media.
Controversy: Covering controversyAlthough some administrators would like for students to only publish “positive” stories, a journalist’s job is to watch and report on the school.
Disturbing Images: Disturbing images: public’s right to know v. invasion of privacyA 9-year-old girl, burning from napalm, runs naked down a Vietnam road. A vulture watches a Sudanese child, emaciated from famine, crawl across the ground.
Adviser's Role: The role of the adviser is multifold, but ethically, practically not a doerThe role of the adviser in student-run media incorporates teacher, coach, counselor, listener and devil’s advocate but not doer. Advisers may want student media that reflects students’ technical proficiency such as mechanics, grammar and style.
Student Rights: Muzzle Hazelwood with strong journalism status as an open public forumForum concept reinforced by Dean v. What, students have rights? Since 1943Before the Barnette decision, when students came into conflict with public schools, the courts decided their cases-often against the students-without mentioning students’ right. They considered if the punishment was excessive (beating with a rawhide strap was okay in 1859). They also debated if it was the parents’ right or the schools’ right to discipline the students.
Yearbook Coverage: Ethical guidelines for monitoring yearbook coverageArguably, the two biggest complaints most yearbook staffs hear are that a wide cross section of the school is not covered adequately, and quotes are not represented accurately.
Photo Editing: Ethical photo editing, visualsStudent media should avoid electronic manipulation that alters the truth of a photograph unless it is used as art.
Academic Dishonesty: Academic dishonesty lessens media effectivenessDishonesty compromises the integrity and credibility of the student publication.
Online Comments: Handling online commentsDeciding whether to accept online comments can be a tough decision they can carry a lot of baggage. How to review and verify them?
Source Availability: When sources don’t respondThe publication staff will provide every reasonable opportunity for sources to respond to a request for an interview. Students must first attempt to contact the source in person or through an administrative assistant. If the person is not available, they should attempt calling and leaving a message with a request for an in-person interview.
Student Decision-Making: Empowering student decision-makingThe role of the adviser in student-run media incorporates teacher, coach, counselor, listener and devil’s advocate but not doer.
Staff Edits: The importance of staff edits: critical thinking, leadershipStudent editors are busy. That said, students should establish clear criteria for identifying the authors, receiving and verifying the information. The process of deciding staff editorialsKeys to effective editorials include focused positions, credible sources and meaningful topics.
Authenticity: “I wrote that just to get a grade:” Students should write what they believeTo ensure credibility, students should only write opinion stories that represent their beliefs.
Source Credibility: Interviewing ‘people on the street’Four categories of sources exist: experts, authorities, knowledgeable and reactors (sometimes called bozos). The first three should be credible.
Recording Interviews: Students should ask permission to record before interviews begin and ethical reminders about interviewingOne of those areas easily overlooked is asking for permission to record interviews. Professional journalists have struggled with this problem for years.
Verification: Make it matter: Verification essential as journalists seek truthOne key component of every journalist’s ethical code is truth. However. Seeking visual truth is just as important as written truthA reporter working on a story pauses from her transcription. “Hm,” she thinks. “This is a good quote, but my source could have said it so much better. By this point, responsible student journalists and their advisers are horrified. Of course you can’t change a source’s quote!
Emotional Impact of Images: Consider emotional impact as well as news values when choosing imagesWhen the editors of the Panther Prowler, the student-run school newspaper for Newbury Park High School, decided to write a feature article about teenagers having sex in 2015, they knew it was going to be controversial.
Advertising: For example, students should attempt to include advertisers from multiple perspectives. According to the federal court decision in Yeo v. Sponsored content and native advertising, two media terms for paid materials, are becoming a fact of life for media and consumers. The thinking was the advertising and promotion of products should not appear to influence a newspaper’s editorial choices. Student media do not necessarily endorse the products or services offered in advertisements. Students should strive to retain as much control of funds or services obtained from the sale of advertising, subscriptions or other student fundraisers as possible. Accepting ads from competing organizationsStudents who sell ads sometimes hesitate to solicit advertising from competing companies. This is a good problem to have. Example: Student media will not accept advertising content that includes profanity, obscenity or nudity (with the exception of baby pictures for the personal ads).
Truth and Accuracy: Journalistic truth “means much more than mere accuracy,” according the seminal text “The Elements of Journalism” by Kovach and Rosenstiel. Journalism is based on truth and accuracy. Using unnamed sources risks both of those standards. In order to maintain credibility, student reporters and editors should strive to be transparent in all aspects of their reporting.
Solutions Journalism: Solutions Journalism doesn’t offer its solution to issues.
Social Media Tone: Staffs should have clear guidelines for the tone of information published in social media. Although tweets are often used to promote people or events, that’s not the job of news media - student-run or otherwise.
First Amendment Rights: If public school student journalists face censorship, they can turn to the First Amendment. Because public schools are funded by the government, school officials are government agents. Free expression isn’t always a friendly venture. Informed citizens are a crucial part of a democracy. Imagine the American press was only allowed to report on good news. Doing this provides credibility and authority to their views.

Additional Resources and Support

Beyond curriculum and ethical guidelines, JEA provides avenues for virtual discussion among teachers, as well as communities and mentoring to learn best practices.

This collection of resources, curated by the nonprofit American Press Institute, is an excellent starting point for both students and advisers who are new to journalism or who want to brush up on the basics before getting down to more advanced work. Along with NSPA, there are five other national scholastic journalism groups.

Other scholastic press associations:

The Northeastern Wisconsin Scholastic Press Association (NEWSPA) began in 1969 with a small group of college students traveling to local high schools, teaching students about journalism.
The Kettle Moraine Press Association is dedicated to supporting students in scholastic journalism throughout Wisconsin and Illinois schools. Students and teachers are supported through conferences, workshops, competitions and scholarships.

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