Today marks the fourth annual News Engagement Day, a yearly event created to encourage engagement with news and promote understanding about the principles and processes of journalism in a democratic society.
It is sponsored nationally by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), the world’s largest association of journalism and mass communication educators. It began as an initiative of 2013-2014 AEJMC president Paula Poindexter, a University of Texas-Austin journalism professor, and is held on the first Tuesday in October.
In four years, News Engagement Day has grown from a campus event into one that is worldwide. It encourages people of all ages across the globe to read, watch, listen to and discuss news.
It is intended to call attention to journalism’s purpose and principles, the importance of a free press in a democratic society and why being informed matters.
With that in mind, the Chippewa Valley Post invites readers to write (to cvpostwi@gmail.com) and share a story or a photograph that you have saved from a newspaper (either online or on newsprint). Along with the photo or story, tell is why you cared enough to save that particular item.
We’re also issuing an invitation to write a brief (75 to 100 words) essay on why a free press matters to a democratic society. . . or, conversely, why the news media have lost your trust. We’ll publish the best essay (or essays) we receive.
The News Engagement Day website can be reached at http://www.newsengagement.org/. A tab with a list of helpful resources can be found on the website, or it can be accessed directly at http://www.newsengagement.org/resources/. Included there is a link to the Center for News Excellence and Engagement, which is AEJMC’s year-round virtual spotlight on news engagement and journalism excellence.