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•See Cripe's column about the Knight Survey results •See Bagpiper 'fight club' story •See Cripe's story about how editors wrote the 'fight club' story •Meet Bloomingon North editor Janna Brancolini, Indiana's Journalist of the Year for 2005
•See Hadley's interview with C E Quandt, principal at North Central High School •See Hadley's interview with Steve Sipes and John Marsh, principals in Floyd County |
A Story Worth The Fight On Dec. 10, the Bagpiper newspaper staff at Floyd Central High School, published a story titled, "Friday Night Fights." The story detailed a "fight club" established by a student that featured boxing matches between Floyd Central students. The story indicated that some 60 students had paid $5 each to watch the series of fights last fall in the promoter's back yard. At a time when advisers in many Indiana schools have come under attack for covering perceived "negative" stories, Jim Lang, Bagpiper adviser, faced many concerns. Lang requires reporters justify the story to editors who in turn pitch the story idea to the adviser. All interviews and reporters' notes of the fight club story were tape recorded and early drafts of the story were shared with a local attorney. By the time the fight club story was ready for print, reporters had submitted eight drafts of the story. The result of such give and take between the adviser and editors was a story that met high professional standards while reinforcing the "free and responsible" philosophy. Tara Maloney, a co-editor with the Bagpiper, perhaps says it best. "There are no shortcuts to maintaining a professional level in our work. In every story, we have to consider the greater good." By Diana Hadley, Assistant Director The recent tribute to the first five years of “Saturday Night Live” celebrated the memory of one of its best, the late Gilda Radner. Gilda’s character, Rosanna Rosannadanna, was known for the line: “It’s always something.” There may be no better description of the current climate of scholastic journalism than that line. In the last few months IHSPA “somethings” have included First Amendment issues, the snail’s pace toward adoption of Core 40/Journalism Standards, scheduling challenges, and the state’s funding freeze. Last week an e-mail from an IHSPA associate member alerted us to House Bill 1474. In addition to the fact that it looked like trouble for yearbook staffs, the “something” that was most troubling was the fact that most of the people it would most affect were unaware of its very existence. After some investigation, we hear that it is unlikely the bill will pass and that it might not cause much trouble regardless. (A line in the bill that says any photo submitted must “meet the specifications of the yearbook staff” should avoid chaos.) That doesn’t diminish the opportunity an important tip gave us to be proactive. This incident should remind everyone to work at being informed about issues that affect our programs and our schools. Advisers are too busy to scan the Indiana Assembly calendar every day to see what is happening, but it is an interesting website and is a good assignment, possibly a beat for a staff reporter. One of the state’s biggest businesses is education, and bills that relate to educational issues are abundant. Like many of the stories newspaper staffs tackle, coverage of legislative issues will give students additional tools to use in their best hands-on civics training—scholastic journalism. Anyone who uncovers any kind of good or bad “something” that applies to our group is encouraged to share the information so that every member of IHSPA benefits. |
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Cripe
Hadley