Best issue of the year

We distributed our paper yesterday morning, and I have to admit I was a little nervous about this one. I expected to get phone calls from a couple of different people because of the stories we ran, but my phone remained quiet through the day. I stand by the content of the stories, but I know some people in our community just don't like us talking about certain things. This batch of stories was probably the most solid batch we have run all year.

Our c-spread and cover story was about the rise in fights at our school this year. My students discovered that 47 students have been suspended for fighting so far this year, and we had 30 all of last year. They had data for each grade level and quotes from the principal, police liaison officer, students, hall monitors and teachers. When I returned to my office after distribution, one of my coworkers immediately told me it was about time we talked about this story.

One of the veteran English teachers at our school took the time to rip out and comment on two stories that her former students had written because she was impressed by their depth and voice. It was the first thing she did that morning. She has always supported us, but she has never done this before. One of the stories was an editorial about why we can't pull ourselves away from watching the fights. I talked to her briefly and she gushed over this student's insight and leadership on this role. The interesting thing was when we talked more about the larger topic and our c-spread, she seemed to think we shouldn't have done it as a c-spread because it makes our school look bad.

The other story I expected to take heat from was the story in the variety section on the selection process for the a capella choirs at HHS. There is some angst among singers about the fact that current members of the a capella choir members get to have input on who will succeed them. I asked several choir members in my classes and they confirmed this angst. I personally think it is a petty frustration after reading the story and finding out what the process is from current members and the choir director. Nevertheless, the choir director approached me asking that any story we cover about his program be done so in a positive manner. I said we would be fair and verify our facts. When my student went down to him to verify his quotes, he solicited two other music teachers to try to convince her that running this story would make people who do make the choir feel like they did not earn it and that it would discourage others from trying out.

I don't think the sky in the choir room has fallen yet, but I have not heard from him. I hope he found the story fair, as 90 percent of it was dedicated to factually outlining the process of auditions and he and his a capella choir students were given significant ink.

Our issue can be found @ http://issuu.com/royalpage/docs/marchissuu.

Today reminds me of why we need journalists

I woke up at 3 a.m. last night dealing with a sinus infection. It drove me to the basement couch where I turned on the television and was immediately taken with the images from Japan that I was seeing on CBS. I followed the story all day, listening to the live updates on the radio on the way in to school, checking CNN.com and the StarTribune.com for updates on tsunami damage and the growing threat of a Nuclear Meltdown. All of this is possible because we have professional journalists who are reporting accurate and important information.

Yes, they are showing pictures that citizen journalists have sent in, but it is the state media's, NHK, helicopter that is capturing the awesome pictures from the air of the Tsunami as it makes its way across the country. These pictures will tell us invaluable information about the behavior of tsunamis and will document this historic and horrific event in a way that no "new media" journalist can.

I saw an interview with a Reuters reporter from Tokyo, and he outlined the way that the government used the media to get information out to their citizens. Our country established long ago that the public airwaves of television and radio were to be used for public service in the event of natural disasters or emergencies. They established that the owners of the companies that use the airwaves have a clear social responsibility to provide a streamlined medium with which to communicate with citizens in the case of an emergency. We see this most frequently when severe weather strikes, but in the case of today's earthquake, it was clear that Japan had a structure in place by which journalists could serve the role of social responsibility by giving instructions, advisories and updates through the media.

Social media does allow us to be much more connected with what is happening in all corners of this disaster. I have a high school and college classmate that had to evacuate her hotel in Hawaii with her husband and 6 month old, and I was interested to hear her updates today. Citizen journalists are also providing photos and updates that will prove helpful, but it will only be helpful if that information is funneled through fewer sources. In an emergency like this, media consumers will look to media they trust, and they will expect them to fulfill, above all else, the social responsibility role.

We are nearly ready for layout, and this will be our best issue of the year.

This push to be more socially responsible in my newspaper has resulted in some real, substantive change in my classroom. In our news story selection, our editorial selection, and our editorial discussions surrounding this edition, my students (especially the ones who are leaders) are looking at what they do with a more serious lens.

The c-spread story about fights at our school has produced a solid 1,000 word draft. Our C-spread stories are not usually that long, but I am glad this one is breaking the mold because it is the most important one we have done. Our writers who collaborated on this project interviewed the Principal, the registrar, the school police liaison officer, two students who broke up a fight, teachers that have broken up fights and hall monitors. They have real data on how many fights we have had this year as compared to last year and the consequences.

In my first draft critique, I suggested they contact the school psychologist, parents, students that have been in fights and find data on neighboring schools of similar size and demographics. The registrar provided them with a lot of information and explained a lot of stuff to them, but he told me he "left out some information like the race of those who have been suspended for fighting." My students also didn't ask about it, so we'll see if they can take some hints and solicit that info.

The editorials are the most substantive pieces we have had all year. My news editor made a specific point to comment on how he was impressed that even a normally less-serious writer tackled the more reflective and substantive topic of why his classmates know so much more about Charlie Sheen than they do about Libya. My news editor also wrote an editorial connected to our c-spread about why we can't turn away when a fight happens at our school.

So far, I would call this experiment a success in so far as my students are purposefully making editorial decisions and they are writing better stories.