I hate to say it, but these are lessons that are good to learn when you are young and… maybe resilient is the word?
I say this because our current adult press corps has NO IDEA WHAT TO DO with this kind of behavior. Our modern press corps will discuss both sides of an issue like this. Sigh.
At least these kids will have a head start on speaking truth to power that too many mid-career professional journalists do not have at the moment.
It is not good journalism if the bad news that is in the public interest is skipped over in place of good news which might not be as much in the public interest.
If Trump arrested Mueller and Fox news only ran a story on how cute Ivanka’s kids are… that would be an example of a feel good story being run instead of a valid public interest story.
Dunno about nazi, (with a lower-case ‘n’, he’s not in the same league as a real Nazi), I reckon he’s closer to the Stasi, or maybe the Texas Taliban, which has a nice alliterative ring to it.
He’s a pompous, self-serving asshole, whatever other label one cares to attach to the toxic cockwomble.
Great opportunity for the next issue: give the administration exactly what it wants, and publish the happiest damn newspaper the world has ever seen. Big smiley faces and overly-positive stories, to the point of absurdity. Gloming interviews with so-happy-they’re-spaced-out students and administration about what a joy it is to attend/work at their school. Tell how all the sports teams won 1 million to zero but everyone on both sides went away happy (no need for accuracy right? Since actual reporting is frowned upon)
Might as well have some fun with it, and make a point at the same time.
why is that? No chance he’s two faced?
Great word(s). Good name for a band.
The bright spot is that the teacher can get a job in some other state for $15K to $20K more per year.
Sadly, because of Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, the principal has law on his side (unless the school district, the school, or the state have laws/rules allowing for censor-free student-run publications). (Students have very little free speech protection. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazelwood_School_District_v._Kuhlmeier.)
However, surely there’s something that can done to help the students journalists and put pressure on the principal? I doubt the students would get anywhere by suing the school district. However, say, a petition signed by parents supporting student free speech and/or a move to run school board candidates that support free speech might have an effect. Or, perhaps, the kids can crowd fund a publication that is run from outside the school grounds? Maybe try to raise enough money that it can be passed off to younger students when the older kids go to college? Make it better than the school paper . . . and I’d guess the internet would provide something of a paying audience.
I worked as a student journalist and I ended up working in publishing. From my point of view, student publications are among the most educational experiences for teaching kids about citizenship and democracy. Yes, they are a pain for administrators, especially bad administrators, but . . . one reason we have shitty adult media, one reason we have Fox News, is that post-Hazelwood SD v. Kuhlmeier, students around the country have gotten used to media censored by authorities and have never really experienced anything else.
This was in Arlington, 10 years earlier.
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