Due 10/31 and Attendance

Here are a few reminders and resources for you heading into next week.

1. Goals. As we discussed in class, you should come to club ready to tell us about three goals next week: A goal for the year, a goal for the season, and a goal external to debate. We will keep track of these goals, and strive to do everything we can to help you achieve them.
2. Flows/Ballots. Always bring your flows from past rounds. Bringing your flows and notes from your most recent debates is necessary for you to learn everything you can from those experiences, and we will be running drills that rely on these flows. If you don’t bring your flows, you may not be able to participate.
3. Resources: We are going to spend some time discussing objectivity next week. For that, you should look over some of these sources, especially the codes of ethics, and come to club ready to discuss.

• Journalist Codes of Ethics:
  • Society for Professional Journalists Code of Ethics: https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp
  • Associated Press outlines its principles/values: https://www.ap.org/about/news-values-and-principles/
  • New York Times editorial standards: https://www.nytimes.com/editorial-standards/ethical-journalism.html
  • Wall Street Journal Code of Ethics: https://newsliteracy.wsj.com/standards-and-ethics/
• Dueling Articles on Objectivity:
  • Original article: https://www.cjr.org/special_report/ag-sulzberger-new-york-times-journalisms-essential-value-objectivity-independence.php
    Response: https://www.poynter.org/ethics-trust/2023/stop-arguing-about-objectivity-and-start-serving-your-audience/
• Other sources (optional):
  • Poynter is a good resource for coverage/critique of journalism/media as well as trainings:- https://www.poynter.org/shop/ethics/ethics_of_journalism/ – https://www.poynter.org/tag/objectivity/
  • Nieman Lab similarly covers/critiques journalism/media: – https://www.niemanlab.org/tag/objectivity/
  • Article: https://archives.cjr.org/feature/rethinking_objectivity.php

Non-excused absences the past couple of weeks have skyrocketed. Last week there were only 16 of you, and this week only 13. That is just over half of the students signed up for LD. To get the most out of club and to be able to build off of what we are collectively learning, it is important for everyone to come to club on a regular basis. We appreciate those of you who have let us know when and why you are unable to come, but please remember that it is not acceptable to just not show up and not tell us (telling Mr. Vaughan about being gone for speech doesn’t count). Lincoln Douglas may be an individual event, but we want club to function more like a team. Please show respect to your peers and coaches by making every effort to show up. Your team needs you!

Finally, for those of you who are competing in the round-robin this week, best of luck! We will be rooting for you and praying for you. We know this will be an important learning experience for you all. For some of you, this is the first real step into the world of debate, and we can’t wait to hear all about it! Year after year, we hear from first-year students who return after their first tournament dizzy with all they have learned, but also hungry for more, because they have finally realized what debate is all about.

We will plan on doing debate rounds again the week of 10/31 to leave some time next week to build on what you learned at the tournament.

As always, keep workshopping your cases and researching for new and unique arguments. Please email us if you have questions or want feedback on your cases. We will be on vacation this weekend, but can jump back into case editing next week.

Best,

Peter and Sierra