Journalism Education as a Gateway Discipline Toward Fostering Moral, Civic, Ideological, and Activist Transformations

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

This symposium proposes journalism education as a “gateway discipline” for civic literacies, and moral and ideological development. Researchers present studies from five different journalism education contexts, ranging from middle school students to professional journalists, and elaborate on the implications of engaging in journalism for moral and social development, fostering activist and cosmopolitan identities, and civic engagement. Drawing on Author et al.’s (2017) framework for civic journalism, which maps the cognitive skills of professional journalists onto key skills embedded in participatory politics (Kahne, Hodgin, Eidman-Aadahl, 2016) and connected civics (Ito et al., 2015), we propose journalism education as a “gateway discipline” that can be socially transformative as young people construct narratives about and engage with their worlds.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Writing and Literacies

Chair

• Robyn Ilten-Gee, Simon Fraser University

Papers

• Journalism as a Framework for Civic and Information Literacies - Natalia Smirnov, Northwestern University; Gulnaz Tajoddin Saiyed, Northwestern University; Matthew Easterday, Northwestern University; Wan Shun Eva Lam, Northwestern University

• Facilitating Critical Moral Reasoning Transformations Through Podcast Production and Praxis - Robyn Ilten-Gee, Simon Fraser University

• Fostering Productive Ideological Reasoning With Differences Through Journalistic Practices - Amy Chang, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy Human Development and Social Policy

• Journalism and Activism Anew: Participatory Movements With Adolescents Writing for Change - Emily Plummer Catena, Florida State University

Discussant

• Richard Ayers, University of San Francisco