HSJ Headline News
Students, advisers talk about their high school papers "We don't want to offend people, and we have to remember a lot of people
are reading," says senior Lyndsey Mulholland, Bubbler Bulletin editor-in-chief. "We
don't want to lose their respect." The Boiling Springs High School newspaper even ends up in the school board's
hands, she adds. Both her newspaper and Cumberland Valley High's CV Eye UPDATE covered the
Passion of the Christ movie, a topic that could have embroiled readers if handled
improperly. UPDATE editor Allison Govern, a senior, says her paper "had several people
address it from different perspectives of religion. We edited it very carefully." If something controversial comes up, she says, "We make sure we address
it as an editorial board." UPDATE adviser John Kiner, who has worked with the school newspaper staff
for more than 20 years, credits the school's administration for allowing the
students to tackle tough topics. "A lot of schools wouldn't let their students write about abortion, for
example," he says. The UPDATE will run such stories; the staff makes sure "we
balance it out." He says administrators respect students' right to write, even when they're
not happy with the subject. "They just ask for a 'heads up' so they'll know what they will be talking
about when the phone starts ringing." Students in other districts echo that their administrators cooperate with
them. "I was surprised they let the whole sex thing print," Bulletin sports
editor Lindsay Cohill, a senior, says of a center spread about sex and teen
pregnancy. "I did an article about English class and criticized how it was going,
and it went to print," adds junior Megan Shellenberger, the Bulletin news
editor. But some stories do get turned away by administrators or students. A story made of "rumors" about recent drug busts at Boiling Springs
High School was "completely turned down," Mulholland says. "I
had to make that decision on my own" because adviser Tracy Mersch was
on maternity leave. Mulholland decided against it because many statements couldn't be proved,
and Principal Joseph Mancuso agreed. "We do a lot of research to make sure we have facts and not rumors," the
young editor says. The UPDATE recently held back a piece about Attention Deficit Hyperactive
Disorder because of a lawsuit the district is dealing with after administrators
asked that it be pulled. But, even with newspaper teams on the lookout for problem stories, the publications
still manage to stir people up. West Perry's The WHIP featured some candid photos of student couples clinging
to one another alongside an editorial against public displays of affection
in school hallways. "People in the pictures were mad about it," says senior Jennifer
Geyer, an editor for that paper. But the photos went to print under the school's
approval. Geyer's adviser, Celia Elmes, says it would be a "disservice" not
to allow students to write controversial stories now and then. "I'm surprised what gets us in trouble," she adds, noting one student
received an angry phone call after a less-than-flattering review of a local
restaurant. The WHIP also prints an occasional tabloid, set up to mock the made-up stories
that sometimes appear in the sensationalistic papers. One recent edition features a teacher who was said to have become a rapper,
complete with gangster "bling," and a football-player dressed as
a woman with a headline that he was a cross-dresser.
Tiffany Pakkala
The Sentinel
Carlisle, Pa.
May 16, 2004
Being editor of the student newspaper is a job area high-schoolers take seriously.
Copyrighted 2004 by The Sentinel, Carlisle, Pa. Reprinted with permission.