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Round Rock School Newspaper Story To Run

November 30, 2007 Uncategorized

But wait a second, this isn’t some great journalism victory over censorship…
A student-written article about drug use caused the principal to pull the paper. After a review and a written response from the principal, the article is now going out. When the principal first pulled the newspapers I know everyone cried foul and censorship and “Oh well, that’s Williamson County” (or was that just me?) But, here’s a couple of very key statements about this controversy I hope you folks don’t skip over.
1. The article claimed that counselors saw 15-25 students a week with drug problems. The actual number is more like four. Is embellishment one of the tenets of good journalism?
2. The anonymous source thing. If the above statement is so out of whack and presented as a fact, how can you then believe anything else in the article?
The article about rampant drug use in a school is damaging. It’s damaging to the school, to the district, to the careers of the people responsible for those children and to rely on some kid with no journalistic integrity is, being generous, a stretch.
Then there is the student law center’s comments:
“The picture of a government official collecting newspapers from preventing to be read is a disturbing one, and I don’t want to leave that picture in our next generation of citizens,” said Mike Hiestand, attorney and legal consultant with the Student Press Law Center.
DUM DUM DUMMMMM! That’s right! Government censorship of media!! Run for your protest kits today! Why didn’t the law center say something about the picture of a high school kid writing bad facts in a story that can damage reputations and careers being a picture that nobody wants to see damage the integrity of journalism? Oh…because that’s not sensational and likely to get all the reporters writing this story up as some great “freedom of the press” bullshit.
I hope this kid isn’t walking around the school like they are the big shit because as even the school’s sponsor said, “overall an okay article.” Ah, the kid is already striving for mediocrity at what? Sixteen? Dare to dream, kid…dare to dream.

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