In the News: Stories to localize for your community 09.24.23
Of course, this is just a sampling of current stories that your staff could localize. The list is ongoing, and links to previous weeks are at the bottom.?
Posted: Sept. 24, 2023
U.S. Senate relaxes dress code — and not everyone is thrilled
Senator Tammy Duckworth went to cast her vote on the Senate floor in 2018 with her newborn daughter wearing a mint-green jacket over a ducky onesie (was a pun intended?) to conform to the chamber’s dress code, and Sen. Barb Mikulski staged the “Women’s Pantsuit Rebellion” in 1997 that lead to women no longer needing to wear a skirt and hosiery when working on the Senate floor, but perhaps nothing prepared members for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s announcement this week that the sergeant-at-arms would no longer enforce the chamber’s dress code.??
Should national leaders (or even local aldermen or council members) be required to dress formally when performing their official duties in a formal setting? Should accommodations be made for individuals facing medical issues or religious or cultural reasons? (See last three links for more on the last idea.) What do studies show about performance and engagement and their relationship to? a dress code? Is this different for individuals according to age groups or businesses? What are the advantages and disadvantages to dress codes? How does gender play into dress codes, and should it? Is there a way to “level” dress codes so that they are fair, or are they intrinsically not so? Does “authority” or “subordination” come with a dress code? How do these ideas relate to your school’s dress code??
Closely related to the issue of dress codes is the story of a Black student in Texas who was suspended for the length of his hair despite it being neatly arranged within the school’s dress code, and just days before a state law forbidding hair discrimination went into effect.?
UAW strike widens; SAG negotiations at a reported standstill
Unions were in the news this past week with the Writers Guild of America settling its 5-month-long strike late on Sunday night, even as the Screen Actors Guild moved into the second month. Meanwhile, the United Auto Workers expanded its strike that initially involved 13,000 assembly plant workers in just Missouri, Michigan and Ohio to include workers in 20 states and 38 distribution plants for General Motors and Chrysler-parent Stellantis vehicles. (The UAW did not expand its strike with Ford due to negotiations that the union said were progressing.)
Even if you are not in an area that’s not immediately affected by a SAG or UAW workstopage, chances are that you may have teachers or nurses who are renegotiating contracts, or your coffee shop chain or online shopping warehouse has workers who are trying to unionize.
How have strikes affected individuals in your community, whether it be the workers themselves, the people who rely on their services, or nearby businesses that rely on plants workers as their primary customers?? What are the issues that these workers want to negotiate with their employers? Do these issues affect the safety or general welfare of employees or the recipients of their services? How might negotiations now affect employees in the future? Did workers make concessions to help keep their companies open during the last recession? What are the salaries of the highest and lowest paid workers in these companies or organizations? What are the profit margins in these companies or organizations? Did these companies receive government payouts during the pandemic or recession, and if so, does this affect a “social obligation” to increase salaries or benefits now??
Are there companies or organizations that perform services and are union or non-union and how do job responsibilities and compensation compare? What are “replacement workers”? How do members of your community feel about crossing picket lines? Do union members feel differently than nonmembers? In addressing these last questions, be sure to represent a wide range of opinions — and ask follow-up questions to get nuanced reasons rather than just “gut reactions.”
Even if you don’t have union issues in your community, the UAW’s negotiations over pensions could be news peg for educating readers about thinking about retirement as they enter the workforce rather than when they reach their 30 — or later.? How are pensions different from individual retirement accounts (IRAs) or 401k’s? Work with a math teacher to understand (and explain to readers) how compound interest and saving even a small portion of one’s paycheck in one’s early 20s could reap higher earnings than playing “catch up” after 35 or 40, even with making bigger contributions — and leave more money in one’s pocket in the present and during retirement.? What is the recommended “three-legged stool” for retirement income? How does one calculate how much one will need for retirement? What is the savings average for seniors in your community? Is this enough money to keep them above the poverty rate? What is the anticipated age of retirement for your student body members to reach before they can collect full Social Security benefits (assuming that it will still be around, which is a whole different story). A certified financial adviser could be a great resource for understanding and helping reporters to write about this issue and help teens understand how important it is to start saving for the future. Don’t forget to use a librarian to help you understand how to collect published statistics about your wider community.
This story was edited on Sept. 25 to reflect the settling of the Writers Guild of America strike on Sunday night. WGA was on strike for five months, whereas SAG is in its second month.
And closely related to the AUW strike: EVs
The Biden administration is allocating resources to expand the network of electric vehicle charging stations around the country* (and there’s a related issue in the UAW strike; What is it?), but as of now, many Americans are leery of purchasing a vehicle that may demand up to 12 hours to fully charge when a gasoline-powered vehicle takes minutes to refuel. As public charging stations become more widely available, even in economically disadvantaged areas, the U.S. may have already hit the tipping point for accepting electric vehicles as the future of privately-owned transportation.
What percentage of families in your community own an EV? What advantages or disadvantages have they found in having an EV? Where do they charge their vehicle? Is the charging source solar or another renewable energy, or is the electrical current generated from fossil fuels? Why might the source be relevant to the country’s energy goal and to climate change? What percentage of families (or simply drivers and potential drivers) in your community would consider owning an EV? What are their concerns about owning an EV? Where are public EV charging stations in your community? Does your city, state, or even school (as many have in Northern California) have plans to install EV charging stations with electricity derived from solar panels?
*Note the source in the first paragraph is a White House press release, and as such may contain biases or “spin.” It’s up to the reporter to verify information reported as fact and aim for objectivity.?
Ethics: How would you cover this?
A video clip of a high school band director being tasered multiple times while police arrested him went viral this week and made national news. The edited video from an officer-worn camera shows the teacher took a few minutes between receiving a police directive to stop the band from playing and for them to leave the stadium before the band actually concluded its performance.
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If this incident took place at your school, why would or wouldn’t your publication cover it? If you were the reporter assigned this piece and you were not at the game, how would you obtain and verify the facts of the incident? To what degree is the police video —?or any video — reliable? How might the recollection of people who saw the encounter be reliable or not reliable? Would you post this incident on social media soon after it took place if you have images or video? Does your staff have “guardrails” in place to ensure objectivity, accuracy and discernment when publishing images that could be disturbing to many viewers — both on social media and in your publication?
If you’re using these ideas, let me know.
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Posted 09.24.23
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