Gaylord Media Mondays

Oklahoma Scholastic Media, formerly known as Oklahoma Interscholastic Press Association, is the oldest continuously-running organization supporting scholastic journalism in the nation. Hosted within the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma, OSM supports contests and conferences for media students at more than 80 high schools and middle schools all across the state.

In 1916, founder, Professor H. H. Herbert, professor of journalism, started the organization with a desire to teach younger students the craft of journalism, and early conferences centered around newspapers and yearbooks. Now in our 102nd year of supporting scholastic media, our contests continue to award outstanding student newspapers and yearbooks, but also magazines, broadcasts and digital publications.

A donation to OSM helps us do our part in supporting and educating future media professionals. 

Each fall and spring semester OSM hosts an event, known as Media Monday, on the OU campus that brings between 400-700 scholastic media students per semester to campus. (Our Fall 2018 Media Monday on Oct. 29 just brought in 709 attendees--a record breaking attendance for the past decade!) With around 40 sessions to choose from at each event, students and their media teachers learn from professionals and professors on topics ranging from photography to journalism ethics, from building news websites to building strong interviewing skills, from the basics of writing a headline to what the future holds for media technology. 

While attending the OSM events, many students see the OU campus and Gaylord College for the first time, and many choose to come to OU based on their experiences with OSM.

Because Oklahoma schools are feeling their budgets tighten, many schools cannot be as active as they want or need to be in OSM. Your donations will help OSM continue to keep our costs down, so schools can continue to participate, but also to keep our standards high to give the students and teachers the quality they deserve from our organization. Students' work is critiqued by media professionals, top student work and the best overall publications are awarded plaques to recognize their efforts, and hosting a group this large each semester requires a lot of hard work and funding. 

Research shows that students who participate in journalism activities or media publications in high school go on to be better informed citizens and are more likely to choose a career path in journalism or a similar field of study (Bobkowski, Goodman and Bowen, 2012.)

Participation in scholastic publications also positively impacts students' critical thinking, interpersonal communication and problem solving (Maksl and Fromm, 2014).

We need to keep the next generation of journalists well informed and support them in their craft. Good journalism promotes good democracy. A donation to OSM helps us do our part in supporting and educating future media professionals. 

Research Sources

Bobkowski, P. S., Goodman, M., & Bowen, C. P. (2012). Student Media in U.S. Secondary Schools: Associations with School Demographic Characteristics. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 67(3), 252-266. 

Maksl, A. & Fromm, M. (July 24, 2014). More than yearbooks or newspapers: High school journalism is about the process. MediaShift. Retrieved from http://mediashift.org/2014/07/more-than-yearbooks-or-newspapers-high-school-journalism-is-about-the-process/