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Yes (Club)
Yes (Club)
Sofia V.
With the years Balitang Bamboo has been in ISM, it has provided news and information to students, keeping them informed and aware about issues inside and outside of campus. The students who are taking the journalism elective are the same students providing the content and articles for Balitang Bamboo. One of, if not the starkest feedback, is that it is already time for Balitang Bamboo to be an extracurricular school club.
Academics
Since the journalism club and elective will be separate, published articles will not be graded and students will not be pressured to meet academic standards and requirements. This ensures that students can focus on their schoolwork first and have extracurriculars that they can enjoy on the side.
Students will also be able to work with schoolmates that have the same journalism knowledge and experience as them. According to an article by the University of British Columbia, many students have a vocal dislike of group work. There will be more cooperation in a journalism club whose students have the same expertise because the members will be on the same page.
Students will also get the chance to specialize in their chosen aspect of journalism. Students have different reasons for being interested in journalism and the members of the club already have experience in its different areas. Ranging from news writing to photojournalism and more, it is now the students’ chance to select the specialization of their choice.
Journalism Ethics
The lack of press freedom is a problem, especially in the Philippines. Impunity and media censorship hinder press freedom and journalists’ rights. The same applies to campus journalists since they are facing problems such as school administration intervention and student harassment.
A journalism club will allow Balitang Bamboo more independence and freedom, providing students with unbiased coverage on both school and social issues. Balitang Bamboo being student-led also gives way for students to practice the three core values of ISM––integrity, service, and merit––in journalism.
Students will also learn more about media and information literacy. In an article by UNESCO, it is stated that ‘while some people are starved for information, others are flooded with print, broadcast and digital content.’ The increased content by Balitang Bamboo will allow MS students the ability to think more critically about the articles and media they consume.
The students taking the journalism elective have been the heart and soul of Balitang Bamboo, providing MS students with news and media for the past few years. Even though having a journalism club for middle school sounds daunting and a big step from what the school has now, having a journalism club for Balitang Bamboo will give students more extracurricular fun, learn media and information literacy, and promote the presence of ethical campus journalism in ISM.
No (Class)
No (Class)
Maddigan S.
Balitang Bamboo has only recently become a class, called, “Journalism”, previously being just a school news publication where students can publish articles and videos about the school and current events, informing others of interesting things occurring around the world. Journalism, the class, is meant to make students dip their toes into the water where Journalism teaches the basic foundations and different types of articles such as editorials, news, and features. I believe Journalism should stay as an elective with a teacher’s guidance rather than a club run by students.
With Journalism being a class, it can be beneficial for those students who are new to journalism where they need to learn the basics of gathering, creating, and presenting information in an appealing way for readers, especially young students in middle school. Not only that, Journalism can help further enhance your writing, speaking, and reading skills, with constructive criticism given by teachers on how to better improve your journalism skills. This class is meant to test if journalism is the right path or hobby for you, and you can later pursue it more in high school’s ‘Bamboo Telegraph’, with more freedom and independence.
When writing articles for a school, rules and regulations are required about the content written whether it’s permitted or not for middle school students. The topics written should be informative, beneficial for students, and should not cause any harm or hate towards the students. Since a teacher is guiding you when writing your article, teachers can easily point out if your writing doesn’t follow the guidelines, such as committing plagiarism or conveying wrong information, which can be very problematic for the school. This will lower the risk of any issues and can complete your articles without an issue.
More people also have the opportunity to be part of Balitang Bamboo with the journalism elective. Many of the journalism students are beginners, just wanting to try out whether this suits their interests. Therefore, it could be really beneficial if more people can have the chance to write their articles and decide whether they want to continue this elective. In addition, with this being a class, you are given more time to complete your article, meeting thrice a week.
Students taking Journalism as an elective outweighs the negatives, since they are able to learn with guidance and decide whether Journalism is for them. Journalism is meant to be an introduction of how to write articles and show an inside view of what journalists do as a living. I believe that Journalism is better as an elective rather than a club since it has the guidance of a teacher and process of production rather than a student run club with students unaware of what to do next with the lack of guidance.
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