School newspapers should be able to report any issue that affects the school community, controversial or otherwise.
A good example of this was seen recently when Harvard-Westlake’s “The Chronicle” put two stories on the front page about the cheating and drug scandals that hit the school. In one direction, the stories clearly did not reflect well on the school, but they did reflect well on the newspaper, its reporters, and the administrators who made themselves available for interviews. As journalists, it is not our job to write only about positive topics. Journalists, student or otherwise, have a job – to report the news in a fair, accurate and balanced manner while informing the community about important issues.
There are, of course, many administrators, students and parents at many schools who don’t think a school newspaper should report issues that are too sensitive or that may portray themselves or the school too negatively. And it’s true that school newspapers aren’t national newspapers and therefore have to be more sensitive because they are in an intimate educational community where everyone knows each other. Still, school newspapers should not be censored or “highly discouraged” from publishing something controversial or sensitive. Censorship is not only unfair to the community, but it also violates the spirit of the First Amendment, which calls for freedom of the press.
Some may argue that students will not be able to write objectively. This issue can be resolved easily; if a student reporter cannot remain objective, she has the responsibility to pass the article onto another reporter who believes she can write about the issue in a fair, balanced way. In the case of “The Chronicle’s” stories, all students probably had their own thoughts about the scandals. Yet even if the reporters did have an opinion, the articles did not show it. The fact is that pure objectivity is impossible for reporters at any level. Readers have to trust that reporters will do their best to suppress any personal bias. The proof of this was in the final product of “The Chronicle.” The articles were written in a very straightforward, succinct way, based on interviews with several administrators, and actually were able to stop rumors and misinformation from circulating. In this case, it was especially true since the newspaper got the information out in an incredibly timely manner. The staff only heard about the news late Monday afternoon, the day the newspaper was going to press, said Kathleen Neumeyer, “The Chronicle” adviser. Not only were the initial articles well-done, “The Chronicle” followed up with more articles that had input from administration and students.
The articles benefited the school community, as well as a national audience. A few weeks after the news was reported in “The Chronicle,” the “Los Angeles Times” ran a story about the scandals. Some may argue that having the scandal in the “LA Times” was a negative outcome, since it seems that much of the information was taken from “The Chronicle” articles. However, this is not the case – the article in the “LA Times” included the facts and informed people about what was going on at Harvard-Westlake, and linked it to a greater national trend. School newspapers have the power to affect more than just their school and are important portals to link to the outside world.
Another argument opponents may have against running controversial stories in school newspapers is that the stories will have been “tampered” with by administrators, who are trying to make sure no harm is done to the reputation of the school, before they are published. There can also be worries about newspaper advisors trying to avoid job insecurity. Neumeyer emphatically said neither was the case with “The Chronicle.” Still, one can argue that a student reporter’s writing is affected by the knowledge that administrators might not look highly upon the student reporter whose name is attached to a controversial story. Just like with the question of objectivity, though, we can only ask reporters to do their absolute best.
And this is exactly what “The Chronicle’s” reporters did – and their best was better than good. The fact is, in the face of actions that were unquestionably negative for Harvard-Westlake, “The Chronicle,” which was not stopped in any way from writing the articles, put its best foot boldly forward. Instead of hiding from the facts or the administration, the prize-winning newspaper did what it was supposed to do.
Student newspapers have a responsibility, and the reporting done by “The Chronicle” – with the encouragement of Neumeyer and with no objection by the administration – fulfilled it.
