Recently, the Journalism Education Association celebrated the 27th annual Scholastic Journalism Week, prompting a look at the importance of journalism in schools and the benefits of a strong journalism program.

Among most traditional classifications, journalism is considered an elective, non-essential additive to an English program. However, English educators across the nation have begun to implement journalism programs in order to help students better grasp both the reading and writing of non-fiction literature. According to PBS Learning Media, approximately 70 percent of the texts that high school students are expected to encounter should be non-fiction. A journalism program is able to address literacy with these types of documents, through the necessary research that students engage in while working on stories for their media outlets. Additionally, journalism gives students a familiarity and fluency in writing, which can be applied in almost every aspect of a student’s scholastic career.

As Denise Estfan, the head of Xavier’s journalism program said, “Journalism really helps students to verbally express themselves, which assists in any standardized testing, ACT, SAT, as well as with enriching vocabularies and improving students all across the curriculum.”

The myriad of skills honed by a journalism program are not just important in a student’s education, but also in the world beyond. Breagh Watson, Editor of the Xpress, cannot praise the training she has received more highly. She said, “Being an editor for Xpress has taught me so many useful skills for a career in journalism- design, writing, editing, leadership and working in a team, for example.” While it is clear that a journalism program will be useful for anyone hoping to become a journalist, these skills extend into virtually every career one can imagine. Dean Hume, an educator at Lakota East High School, cites the interdisciplinary nature of journalistic content as a source of fertile learning opportunity for his students, giving them a chance to educate themselves about a wide range of topics, from social issues to finance. A journalism program does not just create journalists, it creates leaders, activists, lawyers, politicians, authors, accountants, teachers, and infinitely more.

Carletta Hurt, an educator at Howard University middle school, believes that the public nature of a journalism program is a great motivator for students. The skills bestowed by a student run journalism program do not only create better students, but better people. By creating their own materials, students are able to create something that is uniquely theirs, something they can take pride in. They are allowed to write about things that are important to them, allowing them to become more passionate and informed about the issues that affect them the most. This passion is then absorbed by their peers, those who are reading student-run news sources, creating a domino effect of involved students. Additionally, the organization, leadership and initiative that are necessary in the effective operation of a student-run news source, allow students to learn the responsibility and maturity necessary in handling oneself outside of the classroom.

While the scholastic advantages to a journalism program are seemingly endless, the benefits of journalism extend far outside the scope of the classroom. “Journalism encourages students to dig deeper into current events, to think critically and to care about what is going on around them. It teaches students to think, to not just accept what is presented by mass media, but to form opinions for themselves, creating not just smart students, but smart people, with the capabilities to make a difference in the world around them, especially in their own communities,” said Estfan.