Info Hub: NSPA Resources

Introducing our new guide to college journalism programs — almost two dozen colleges and universities, filled with info and advice.

> Download the interactive PDF.

> Get your school in the next guide.

NSPA updated its Model Code of Ethics to include a section on Generative AI in August 2023

It’s free for members and available for purchase in the NSPA store.

It was written by Randy G. Swikle, adviser at Johnsburg High School (Illinois) for more than 30 years, and its 2017 editor was Logan Aimone, former NSPA executive director, now at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools.

2019 editors were Dow Tate, Shawnee Mission East High School, Overland Park, Kansas; Mitch Eden, Kirkwood High School, St. Louis, and NSPA Board of Directors; and Ron Johnson, NSPA/ACP communications director. Johnson edited the AI update.

NSPA’s Pacemaker Master Classes are an instructional webinar series on specific topics, and NSPA’s Town Hall meetings are informational webinars.

Among them —
“Yearbook Pacemakers: The Best of the Best,” in which NSPA’s Gary Lundgren moderates a panel of our Pacemaker judges.

NSPA celebrates the best of student journalism through its awards programs, including the Pacemakers, the top award in scholastic journalism.

You’ll find the Pacemakers, as well as Individual Award and Clips & Clicks winners, in our awards archive.

The PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs offer an online resource with projects, storytelling resources and tutorials to develop audio and video storytelling skills.

Curated by Mike Reilley for the Society of Professional Journalists, the Journalist’s Toolbox is a resource that’s regularly updated and consistently helpful for journalists at all levels.

In the Toolbox are updates specifically for high school media.

Follow Reilley’s updates at @journtoolbox.

The NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists Stylebook on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Terminology complements your stylebook with terms that promote fair, accurate and inclusive coverage of LGBTQ+ people. A Spanish version is also included.

NSPA is proud to host exclusive resources from visual journalist Tim Harrower.

You’ll find helpful tutorials on story design and on objectivity and bias, as well as editable PDFs on package planning, the maestro planning concept and online-package planning.

Sign up for a 30-minute consultation session, which will help you evaluate progress and give you constructive feedback on a chosen topic of interest by publication staff.

One of NSPA’s long-time allies, the Student Press Law Center is the go-to source for legal information and advice — and support when you need it most.

SPLC has helped literally thousands of student journalists and their advisers stand in the face of challenges to their First Amendment rights.

NSPA stands in support of collegiate journalists and their advisers, and here is our statement that outlines our continuing support.

Kathleen Neumeyer, the long-time adviser to the Harvard-Westlake Chronicle and an award-winning journalist, shares helpful insight in “Advising the Chronicle.” Her alumni now pursue a broad range of careers.

Get advice on how to prepare your college essays from College Advisor. Take advantage of this free webinar.


Additional resources for student journalists

National scholastic journalism organizations

Columbia Scholastic Press Association

CSPA is an international student press association uniting student journalists and faculty advisers at schools and colleges through educational conferences, idea exchanges and award programs.

Dow Jones News Fund

The Dow Jones News Fund provides annual grants to more than 20 workshops for high school students at colleges around the country and recognizes and supports high school media advisers through its programs and publications as part of its mission to promote careers in journalism.

Journalism Education Association

The Journalism Education Association is the largest scholastic journalism organization for teachers and advisers.

It provides training around the country at national conventions and institutes. It offers national certification for teaching high school journalism.

It publishes print and online resources on the latest trends in journalism education. It provides avenues for virtual discussion among teachers, as well as communities and mentoring to learn best practices.

It monitors and actively defends First Amendment and scholastic press rights issues across the country.

Quill and Scroll

Quill and Scroll is an international honor society with the goals of encouraging excellence in high school journalism while also recognizing individual student academic and media achievements.


PDFs, links & resources

Downloadable PDFs

10 Steps to Yearbook Success
Contemporary Yearbook Branding
Design checklist / Ron Johnson
Editorial Writing Evaluation
Editorial Writing Rubric
Interviewing and News Gathering Tips
Interviewing Tips
Legal Issues for Publishing Online
Meetings Stories Handout
Newspaper Design Strategies
Obituary Policy Samples
Public Relations: 10 Tips for Improving
Typography / Ron Johnson
Student Media’s Image
Recruit, Retain, and Motivate Your Staff
Retreat, Workshop and Staff Manual Topics
Staff Evaluation Form
Staff Evaluation Rubric
Terrible Leads


Legal /
First Amendment /
Freedom of Information

American Civil Liberties Union
American Society of Access Professionals
Committee to Protect Journalists
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Federal Courts Locator
FindLaw
Free Expression
International Trademark Association
JEA Press Rights
National Coalition Against Censorship
National Freedom of Information Coalition
Freedom Forum
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Security on Campus
Student Press Law Center
U.S. Copyright Office


Web / digital

Codeacademy
College Media Network
Edabit
HTML & CSS Book
Issuu
MCT Campus
School Newspapers Online
SchoolJournalism.org
TownNews.com


Printers & publishers

Balfour
Friesen Yearbooks
Gardena Valley Web Offset
Herff Jones
Jostens
Lifetouch
Pacific Publishing Company
Picaboo Yearbooks
SchoolPrinting.com
Signature Offset
Walsworth Publishing


Advertising placement

Ad Pro
Campus Party Inc.
flytedesk
Media Bistro
MediaMate

Resources: organizations

American Medical Association
Center for Environmental Journalism
Center for Investigative Reporting
Center for Responsive Politics
D.C. Internships
Elements of Style
Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
J-Lab
Journalism Education Association
NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
National Center on Disability and Journalism
National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Organization for Women
New England Center for Investigative Reporting
Poynter Institute for Media Studies
Prof. KRG
Project Vote Smart
Public Agenda
The Pulitzer Prizes
The Journalist’s Toolbox


Resources: government

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
Central Intelligence Agency
Congress
Department of Agriculture
Department of Commerce
Department of Defense
Department of Education
Department of Energy
Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Department of Justice
Department of Labor
Department of State
Department of the Interior
Department of Transportation
Department of Treasury
Drug Enforcement Agency
Environmental Protection Agency
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Communications Commission
Federal Trade Commission
Firstgov
Food and Drug Administration
General Accounting Office
Internal Revenue Service
National Endowment for the Arts
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Selective Service System
Social Security Administration
The White House
U.S. Census Bureau
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
U.S. Customs Service


Syndicates & press services

AP Wilde World Photos
Creators Syndicate
Getty Images
King Features Syndicate
New York Times Syndicate
PR Newswire
Religion News Service
Reuters
STATS.com
The Associated Press
The Canadian Press
Tribune Media Services
United Media
United Press International
Universal Press Syndicate
Washington Post Writers Group

Technical resources

AP Newsfinder
Audit Bureau of Circulation
factchecker.org
GAPMINDER
Lexis-Nexis
Nieman Lab
Pew Research Center
Politifact
Proquest Information and Learning
Statista
TechRepublic
Web Monkey
Web Reference


Industry news & blogs

Ad Age on Campus
Adviser Update
Adweek
AEJMC scholastic Journalism Division
American Journalism Review
College Media Review
Columbia Journalism Review
Communication: Journalism Education Today (C-JET)
Community College Journalists
Fast Company
Media Matters
Medium
Narrative Magazine
Nieman Storyboard
Online Journalism Review
Poynter
PR Weekly
Quill
Quill & Scroll
Sports Journalists


Design & typography

The Tim Harrower archives
Resources from the award-winning designer and author of The Newspaper Designer’s Handbook

Adobe Type
Charles Apple: infographics
Garcia Media
HOW Design
News Page Designer
Print Mag
Society of Publication Designers
Web Design


Digital media / broadcasting

JEA Digital Media
Knight Digital Media Center
MediaShift
Storybench


Photography

B&H
College Photographer of the Year
Corbis
Flickr
Getty
iStock
Lors Studio
Nikon