This skill-building webinar designed by and for student journalists showed how to use public records to tell important stories. The one-hour session featured (1) examples of real-world reporting you can replicate at your high school or college campus (2) a tutorial on how to successfully write and submit your first records request, and (3) an introduction to resources available to you!
This webinar was open to high school and college student journalists and their allies, with a specific focus on the California Public Records Act.
FEATURED SPEAKERS
Delilah Brumer
Brumer was the 2023 California High School Journalist of the Year. As print editor-in-chief of The Pearl Post at Daniel Pearl Magnet High School in Southern California, she published stories based on successful public records requests. She is a freelance journalist and journalism student in Los Angeles.
Staff of The Citizen
The Citizen is the award-winning student-run publication of the Peralta Community College District in the San Francisco Bay Area. The team recently took a public records battle to court in order to stand up for their rights and pursue important accountability journalism. Hear from current and former newspaper staff members Shiloh Johnston, Li Khan, Lylah Schmedel-Permanna, and Leo Premnath-Ray, along with journalism instructor and adviser Eleni Economides Gastis.
FAC Staff
The open-government experts of the First Amendment Coalition will provide a tutorial on how to get started with your own records requests and give an overview of free resources available to you.
STUDENT PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2024
The session is part of Student Press Freedom Day 2024, a day of activity created by the Student Press Law Center. This year’s theme is Powerfully Persistent. It takes courage to pursue hard truths, to doggedly investigate important stories, to fight back against censorship, to withstand pressures to self-censor, and to advocate for policies and laws that will protect press freedom for future students. Student journalists do this difficult work every day — and their campuses and communities are stronger for it.
One of the focuses of student Student Press Freedom Day is promoting accountability and transparency. This webinar will help student journalists sharpen skills to fulfill their important role as watchdogs of our democracy.
PRESENTED BY
The First Amendment Coalition proudly presented this free educational workshop in partnership with: the Student Press Law Center, the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), the Los Angeles Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the San Diego Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, Bay City News Foundation, NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists, Los Angeles chapter; the Institute for Media and Public Trust at Fresno State; the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association; the Los Angeles Chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association; and the Journalism Education Association of Northern California.