Through informative sessions, the annual Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) Fall Conference on November 6 offered students and advisers from a variety of scholastic publications insights on journalism to help them improve as journalists.
Arrowhead editors and staff writers also attended the annual event.
During the conference, speakers shared their expertise on topics such as student journalists’ rights, ethics in journalism and advice on how to become better at reporting.
Staff writer Daphne Klose, who writes for her school’s online newspaper, The Falcon, appreciated how “inclusive” the conference was.
“There’s a lot at once which is really nice since you can pick sessions you want to go to and switch halfway through,” Klose said.
The conference gives students an opportunity to meet with students who share the same interests and passions.
“I was really excited to see other people who are interested in journalism since there’s not many people at my school personally. It’s kind of a smaller group. It was interesting to meet new people and talk to people here,” Klose said.
Freelance photojournalist David Berkwitz presented at the session called “Photojournalism: An Eyewitness to History,” where he shared his journey in his photojournalism career to encourage students to do “everything” they can in journalism.
“If you’re interested in journalism as a writer, or as a visual artist, photographer, or blogger, learn the whole craft,” Berkwitz said. “You need to exercise your brain muscles, that’s the only way you’re going to grow.”
According to speaker Erica Miriam Fabri, who is a photographer and poet, experience is important for aspiring journalists.
“Journalists can always grow by traveling and by meeting others and hearing stories. Journalists need to experience and research the world in order to report on it,” Fabri said.
Fabri had four sessions at the conference, which focused on how to make autobiographical writing and experimental writing more powerful. She hopes that through her sessions her students take away lessons about storytelling through writing.
“The main message I want to deliver to my students is that the more specific they are in their storytelling the more their writing will feel both rare and also more relatable and heartfelt,” Fabri said.
Speaker Dave Johnson, who is a poet, playwright, actor, translator, art historian, and author, spoke at two sessions at the conference. His first session was about the meeting place between poetry and music and his second session was focused on revisions.
Johnson has been participating in the CSPA conference for many years.
“I’ve been very lucky because I went to school here a long time ago and so it’s always really fun to be back on campus and represent the school in a way, but also because it’s a really important time in the young people’s lives who are coming here,” Johnson said.
Speaker Merrill Perlman, who is a professor and freelance editor, spoke about copy editing stories at the session entitled “Wait! Don’t Turn in That Story (or Paper) Yet!”
During the session, Perlman spoke about how important self-editing is in the writing process and she wishes for students to “absorb many different lessons.”
“I hope people will go back energized and look at their writing, work, and education in a slightly different way that gives them more enthusiasm,” Perlman said.