[Editor’s Note] Lessons Learned

by Bryan Doyle
October 8, 2008

I remember walking through the door of David Molina’s office in May, confidently strolling up to his desk and handing him a packet of papers that read “Jackson Media Literacy Project” across the front. Molina, whom I had worked with as an intern at the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation until I finished my studies at the University of Mississippi, had asked me to prepare a formal proposal for the summer program we were developing for the members of the Civil Rights Civil Liberties Club in Jackson.

Though I had little experience working with high schoolers in such a setting, I sat in that chair in Vardaman Hall quite sure of myself. After all, I had worked with college students for three years at the Ole Miss college paper, The Daily Mississippian. Teaching high school kids about journalism? No big deal.

I was halfway to daydreaming about exactly how I would pontificate about the ethics of journalism during our first session when David slid the packet back toward me.

“This is wrong. Change it.”

The problem, I later found, was my rhetoric. Throughout the document, I probably mentioned “teachers” and “students” some 10 to 15 times. It was clear that I intended to extend the young people’s school year by about three months, though I didn’t realize it at the time. They would come into the doors of the Jackson Free Press classroom, receive their media knowledge from the “expert,” and then go home and ponder it all.

This would, of course, never have worked for two reasons. The first is the most obvious: With my three months of professional experience, I have rather much to learn about journalism before I can assume the position of “teaching” anyone anything.

Secondly, though high school students are legally bound to receive similar treatment from their teachers during the school year, no area youth would subject themselves to that sort of torture voluntarily. If one thing needed to be clear to the students (whom we would later refer to as “associates”), it was that I was not going to be a teacher, but a coordinating member of their group.

In the next draft of the proposal, I cut words like “sir” and “teacher” and “student” and especially “kids” from the vernacular. I eventually learned that I needed to work with them as a learning member of the group. I wouldn’t be teaching anyone anything. I would be allowing them an opportunity to find out for themselves.

What’s the first thing you think of when you read the phrase “media literacy?” I’ve asked many of my friends this, both in and outside journalism circles, and the interpretation I found most common answer was “the understanding of how the media works.”

One of the most effective ways to teach youth about media is to allow them to create it themselves, just as one would do when teaching someone how to write, advises Steven Goodman, founder of the New York-based Educational Video Center and author of “Teaching Youth Media: A Critical Guide to Literacy, Video Production and Social Change.” I hoped to accomplish this mission by letting associates do the work themselves.

This is not to say my process was perfect. Several times, I got in the way of what was meant to be an organic, engaging process. As much as I claimed I was helping empower the associates by giving them the tools they needed to work on their own, I had difficulty practicing it. I’m ashamed that I too often ascribed to the myths about youth that the associates and I so often lampooned during our meetings at the Eudora Welty Library: Sure, I had confidence in their ability to complete smaller tasks at our meetings. But despite the hours they worked, recording youth coverage in the 100 issues of newspapers we found at the library, at times I refused to give them control of their own project.

By working with these young people, I learned that taking on a disproportionate amount of the work isn’t what makes a good leader. Leadership is a willingness to take those sometimes uncomfortable, always necessary moments to show your co-workers how they can best accomplish a goal, no matter the obstacle. The brilliance of our summer is that despite these hitches, we were able to create a product that wasn’t there before, something with substance, as you’ll see.

It’s important to note that our study is not meant to represent a comprehensive evaluation of all media in the Jackson metro. We did not have the resources to look at every local publication, let alone the four area television stations. We also decided not to study the Jackson Free Press. Since the JFP played such a big part by hosting the project, we did not want the perception or the reality of showing bias in our coverage. What we have is a snapshot into where Jackson youth show up in certain papers in the area.

Finally, note that area editors who agreed to meet often attributed our findings to systemic problems, and blamed readers and public relations staffers for not submitting more ideas about under-represented youth. We understand that newspaper staffs can’t cover everyone all of the time. Local journalists work hard, and this work is easily ignored. Yet we encourage local newspaper staffs to be deliberate about their coverage of youth, and work hard to move beyond the daily rut to truly capture the adults of tomorrow.

A special thank you goes to William Winter Institute Director Susan Glisson, JFP Editor Donna Ladd and William Institute Project Coordinator David Molina for providing the resources for making this project a reality. The project could not have been done without the hard work of JFP interns Lisa Anderson, Ward Schaefer and Natalie Clericuzio.

A very special thank you to members of the community who volunteered their time to help: Robert Bland, Emily Braden Knight, Lara Law, Janine Jankovitz and Sarah Young.

Finally, the following students also provided important contributions to the group: Adia Wallace, Joshua Towers and Adrian Conic from Jim Hill High School; Andrew Wise from St. Andrew’s Episcopal High School; Katie Gill and Kaitlyn Barnes from Murrah High School; and Patrick Knight from Northwest Rankin Middle School.

Young people interested in writing for the Jackson Free Press’ upcoming youth blog should contact Bryan Doyle at or call 601-362-6121, ext. 2.

Full Jackson Media Literacy Project package:

Screw Friendship Bracelets
Eyes on the Machine: Jackson Teens Cover the Media
Editors Speak Up
'Yes, We Can'
The Mouth Of Babes
Intentional Bias
Now What?

Related:
David Molina's Blog Post on the Jackson M-Lit's genesis (+ great photos)

 
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