I have recently been appointed Managing Editor of my school's newspaper. I'm very excited, but also a little bit scared. Our paper has two issues at the moment and I‘d like some advice from fellow student journalists and advisors on how we can improve our situation.
1. Journalism class at my school is extremely exclusive. Around 16-18 students in the Senior Class are selected for jobs on the staff of the newspaper and school television show. We had to submit applications, receive three recommendations from core curriculum teachers, have taken Honors or AP courses, etc and so on. This year there are 15 of us. We are an extremely bright, creative group, the supposed “best our school has to offer“. Most of us are extremely talented writers. Great, huh? Our articles should be wonderful. We’ve got great ideas, basically...we’ve got it made. Except...um, turns out, we totally don’t.
See, the average reading level for a student at our school is third/fourth grade. Thus, we are being asked to dumb down our articles. It sounds like it would be easy, but “turning off the smart” (as our advisor calls it) is actually pretty hard. Most of the staff actually feels like running for the hills. It’s especially difficult for the editing staff. It’s hard to write editorials when most of your readership doesn’t understand you. Anyone having similar issues? Also, any advice on how to boost the morale of the staff concerning the situation?
2. According to our advisor, we are supposed to be a “public relations committee” for the school. Basically, it means that we can’t print anything controversial and everything that we write has to be happy, shiny, hunky-dory stuff that paints the school in a good light. We cannot print an article about dissatisfaction with our school’s dress code policy, or student’s feelings about the current teacher-led crusade to remove the vending machines from our school. We’re not even allowed to criticize school lunches. We can’t even send our paper to J&S unless the administrators have okayed it first. Um, isn’t this a bad thing? And what can we do about it, as students without the support of our advisor.
Responses
Meghan, 9/20/2005, 7:39:14 PM
Oh man, I apologize for how weird this looks. I typed it in Microsoft Works and then copy and pasted. :\
student editor, 9/24/2005, 3:09:16 PM
In response to your first concern: I think a more fundamental problem is that newspaper staffers are selected in part because they come from a specific background (i.e. AP and honors classes). A school newspaper (or any newspaper, for that matter) exists to serve the school community. As such, stories, etc. should be representative of the ENTIRE student body. The fact that the entire newspaper staff was selected on the basis of classes means that they probably interact with the same group of people, and that finding diverse sources is a challenge. Maybe classes shouldn't be a criteria for staff selection.
#2: The Student Press Law Center (http://www.splc.org/) is an excellent resource on student press rights.
sp, 9/25/2005, 4:57:49 PM
I kinda disagree with the whole "public relations committee" thing. My advisor specifically says that we aren't supposed to be that.
michael, 9/28/2005, 9:14:34 PM
I agree with "sp". The school newspaper isnt there for the administration but its there for the students. Even though the school pays for it (if that is, at all the case) they must at the same time accept that there might be some ideas that are unpopular. Your adviser should be in full support of whatever you write whether it is the opinion of your administration or not. let your adviser know this. I personally dont think you should let your administration check it, but i cant really say anything to improve it since I havent gone through the experience myself. I can only say that what's happening isnt exactly... right. I personally dont think you should dumb down your diction either. students should challenge themselves to read it. encourage the english teachers in your school to push their students to read it and ask questions about words or phrases they dont know. there's not much else I think you can do. Good luck.
jv, 10/8/2005, 9:37:09 AM
i agree with student editor that your school should definetly allow students with a more diverse background onto the paper. And about how you have to dumb down your paper, most real newspapers are written to a fourth grade reading level anyway. The idea of journalism is not to string together your SAT words but rather to tell your story simply.
Sarah Mackenzie, 10/16/2005, 7:25:21 PM
Most real newspapers are written at an eight grade reading level. Meghan, I'm sorry that you go to a school where people cannot read at a higher level and don't have as many opportunities available. I don't think you should dumb down the articles. If anything, sophisticated diction will make students look up the words in the dictionary, which is the greatest way to learn vocabulary.
, 11/5/2005, 11:22:59 AM
all of those responses offer great advice, definetly something needs to be done. One thing that we have to understand is that sometimes (most times) the advisor does not have the final say, the administation does. Chances are your adivsor wants to let you print everything you want to write, it's just not always possible.
As far as "dumbing down" your paper, I understand your concern. Perhaps writing on complex issues, (like political columns) in a way that is easy to understand will actually improve the student body. No matter how much you love your paper and no matter how smart it makes the writers look, even no one reads what you've written because you haven't considered your audience then what does it matter?
Ruairi Fox, 11/7/2005, 11:09:10 PM
You could invite students that weren't selected to be on the staff to write articles. That way you would be reaching more people.
About the whole "censorship" thing, it really is in the best interest of you. People are very picky these days about what is written about them. You are probably just being censored so that the school/advisor/you aren't sued. But if you feel strongly about it, you should talk to the administration about it. All of our papers are reveiwed by admin before being published, but then again I go to a private school so they don't have to honor your freedom of speech.
