In an article from a May 2001 issue of Education Week, Freda Schwartz, a high school English and journalism teacher, explained the importance of literacy and teaching journalism in American schools. Schwartz begins the article, titled Reading, ‘Riting, Reacting, the same way she begins her classes, with a thought provoking quote. “These give rise to discussion that take my students beyond the apparent horizons of literature we explore,” Schwartz said. The quote she cited for the article, and continues to use in discussion with her students is one written by Adolph Hitler in Mein Kampf: “How fortunate for those in power that the people don’t think.”

Schwartz explains that when she attended school, the categories of media were easy to identify, as there were typically only three: print, broadcast and film media. Print media, at the time, dominated the field, thus, literacy was an ‘absolute necessity.’ Today, however; there seems to be a decline in the public school curriculum regarding the ‘priority status of literacy’ (Schwartz 41). Ironic, Schwartz explains, while in today’s age, the need for literacy is much more important with the new and continuing change in media is so prevalent. Not only are there typically only three categories of media, but now, there are too many to count, it has become a ‘lightning-fast delivery of a vastly broader and broader based body of text.’ (41) “If anything,” Schwartz said, “our students need to be more literate than before, m ore proficient at deciphering, digesting, and interpreting text, and more proficient at creating it.”

In many schools, journalism is not a fully funded elective course (41), yet as Schwartz points out, the ‘skills taught in a journalism course involving the actual production of a publication are far too valuable to marginalize; just the necessity to learn editing skills makes such programming worth any funds allocated for it.’ (41) Also as pointed out in the article, students should not only be taught the skills of literacy in the class room, which in turn create thought provoked writing, but should also be taught integrity and the difference between fact and opinion. “If the pen is mightier than the sword,” Schwartz said, “why have we abandoned our obligation to teach our youths to appreciate that might?”