St. Louis Journalism Students Gather at SSP Conference

On Monday, March 11, 2013, journalism students from Parkway North as well as other St. Louis schools attended the Sponsors of School Publications of Greater St. Louis (SSP) conference at Webster University.

Professional journalists such as Art Holliday, the newscaster at KSDK of 33 years, and Bill McClellan, a St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist, spoke at the conference, among many others.

“I thought Art Holliday’s presentation was very good for upcoming journalists in high school,” said sophomore Brian Coulter.

Holliday gave many pieces of advice to prospective journalists. He went to University of Missouri-Columbia and graduated with a journalism degree.

“Learn how to sell yourself and your talents,” said Holliday.

Holliday shared insight into his experience of being a broadcaster at KSDK. He began as a sports-caster and loved it. He later was offered a live tryout from NBC but didn’t get the job.

“Not getting the NBC job came as a blessing in disguise,” said Holliday.

Holliday wrapped up his presentation with more advice to student journalists.

“Everybody gets knocked down; it’s your fault if you don’t get back up again,” said Holliday.

McClellan gave insight into life as a newspaper journalist for 30 years.

In regards to his person preference as a writer McClellan said, “I kind of like the small, offbeat cases.”

There are many perks to being a writer because one can get access to things regular citizens cannot.

“I do visit prisons quite a bit. It’s always fun to leave,” joked McClellan.

However, there are also a few downsides to being a full-time columnist.

“I have to write something four days a week, even if I have nothing to write. Another downside to being a columnist is occasionally I do get sued,” said McClellan.

After the first two break-out sessions and lunch, the main guest speaker Mary Beth Tinker gave a presentation. Tinker was involved in a Supreme Court case in 1969, Tinker vs. Des Moines, where the court decided that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

“I didn’t know much about whom she was going into her presentation but after hearing her speak, I thought what she did was really good. She just showed that anyone can make a change if they want to,” said senior Taylor Weiss.

Over 700 students attended the conference, where many schools received awards for their outstanding student publications like newspaper, yearbook, and online newspaper.