In the News: Stories to localize for your community 10.23.22
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.?
Oct. 23, 2022
Netflix to crack down on account sharing
Netflix’s terms of service allow for household members of account holders to create? free subaccounts, but as many as 100 million households are using the video streaming service for free by using shared passwords of non-residing friends or family members, according to company estimates.?
Aside from the loss of revenue is costing the company untold hundreds of millions of dollars monthly, what are the moral implications of what seems to many to be a minor transgression? What are the other “small ways” that are common “cheats”? How do these affect the larger community (or do they)? Take an anonymous poll (Yes, adults and students.) and find out how common such practices are in your community. Interview affected companies (most have media representatives) as well as philosophy and psychology teachers, and local religious leaders or theologians to get their perspectives.
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Girls flag football may be a league sport in California next year
The California Interscholastic Federation, the governing body for high school athletics in the state, will vote in February on whether or not? to include girls flag football as an interscholastic sport in the 2023-24 school year across the state’s 10 sections, following the codification of the California South Section earlier in September. The proposal appears to be popular.?
We on the West Coast are fond of saying, “As California goes, so goes the nation,” but does it really hold true? Are girls interested in playing flag football? (If some are already playing, profile them as part of your coverage.) Has the girls athletic department considered teaching the sport, and if not, is it open to it? How might the addition of another intramural sport affect participation in other sports? Is there already club flag football or casual games that girls are playing???
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Your junior high may become the newest condos in town
Declining birth rates, especially in older sections of cities and towns, are resulting in underutilized public schools in many neighborhoods. In turn, schools are being consolidated — if not outright closed — and municipalities are putting the buildings up for sale to be repurposed as housing, churches or commercial buildings.
What is the birthrate in your town? How has the population in your school changed in the last 10 years? Since the school opened? Did your school add extra buildings to expand for the Baby Boomers’ “Echo”children, only to have too many buildings now?(Alternatively,? is your school depending on too many “temporary” — portable or modular — classrooms?) Is a change in the? student populations resulting in? fewer sections of popular electives (music, art, journalism) than it had even a few years ago? Are students getting the classes they want and need, or are they taking summer school classes to fill in the gap? Public school records are, well, public and should be accessible through the district office; private schools aren’t obligated to give out this information, but savvy staffs can get a sense of the school by examining old yearbooks. Interview teachers, department chairs, principals, superintendents, school board members — or their equivalents at your school — to find out about student needs and desires as well as how electives (including advanced courses in required subjects as well as electives) are determined.
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Fewer HS graduates choose to attend college
A small percentage of matriculating high school seniors put off attending college in the fall of 2021, the start of the first full school year during the coronavirus pandemic. Estimates for next fall are indicating 7 percent fewer students attending colleges or universities than in the fall of 2019. The ever-increasing cost of college may also account for decline. (And with the prime interest rate expected to rise at least another three-quarters of a percent before current seniors take out college loans —? coupled with inflation — college is about to get even more expensive.)? Has your school’s college matriculation rate fallen since 2019? By how much? (This information should be available from your college counseling office as it is calculated annually as part of the school’s college profile that is submitted to post-secondary institutions with students’ official academic records.) Are seniors — and even juniors — reconsidering attending college? What factors are playing into their plans? What other post-high school training opportunities can lead to well-paying careers?? Are there well-paying trades in short supply in your community or state? (This is a rhetorical question, as the U.S. is short of journeymen in general.) Which offer paid internships or apprenticeships? How does one apply for these programs, and what are the lengths of the training programs? Are additional licenses or certificates necessary? It’s also not too early to start putting together gap-year stories (hopefully involving recent graduates) and opportunities seniors may wish to consider if they decide they aren’t ready to commit to college or a trade program next fall. Those applications are usually due in late winter or early spring.?
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If you’re using these ideas, let me know.
Please shoot me a link as I’d love to read your stories. And follow me on Twitter.