Franklin Hall will be crowded with 400 more people today- in addition to college students.

Today and Saturday, 400 high school students and teachers will attend the first statewide high school journalism event.

Students and teachers from 38 high schools will participate in the first Statewide Media Convention Weekend called the Ohio Scholastic Media Association Press Day.

OSMA formed when three press associations combined: Journalism Association of Ohio Schools, Northeast Ohio Scholastic Press Association, Great Lakes Interscholastic Press Association.

Once students come to Kent State, they can choose to attend over 50 sessions covering topics including print media, television, radio, design, cartooning, law and ethics and yearbook publishing.

Mark Goodman, professor and Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism, will teach two sessions: “Can I Download that Photo?” and “Law and Ethics” that will also be taught with adjunct faculty member John Bowen.

In the session called “Can I Download that Photo?” Goodman will discuss how copyright laws apply to journalists.

“Part of my job is to help them understand they can’t ignore copyright laws,” Goodman said.

An example of going against the law is when a photo is taken without the permission of the photographer and put in a publication, Goodman said. To correctly follow the law, the publication needs permission from the person who took the picture.

“The photographer has a right to say no, or to even charge the publication for the right to use it,” Goodman said. “The problem is that most Americans do not understand copyright law.”

The “Law and Ethics” session will be an open forum where students can bring up situations they have confronted.

“I hope students come away from this program with enthusiasm and knowledge that can help them do a good job, so they can avoid problems,” Goodman said.

Candace Perkins Bowen, assistant professor and OSMA executive director, will be teaching a session called “Story Ideas Often Overlooked.”

She plans on teaching students where they can get and continue to get story ideas from.

Bowen said she could ask students “What has made them angry lately? Maybe it is how they are angry with their sister. Most students will think that it isn’t a story. But there is a story about sibling rivalry there.”

In addition to informative sessions, OSMA Press Day also features Day-of contests in news writing, newspaper and yearbook design, event coverage and photography.

College students will also be participating in the event. They will be moderating, judging, presenting sessions and overseeing the award distribution.

Last year, more than 1,000 high school journalism students from 54 Ohio high schools attended the 69th annual Northeast Ohio Scholarship Press Association Press day.

Sophomore Stater safety reporter, Kiera Manion-Fischer, is a room moderator for the “Day-of News event contest” where students will have two hours to write up a news article covering OSMA.

“I never did high school journalism,” Manion-Fischer said. “I did this because I wanted to see what their (high school students) experiences were and I wanted to be more involved with JMC.”

Contact College of Communication and Information reporter

Brittany Senary at [email protected].