Student editors
and staff members
at the Archer
School for Girls
work on an article
to post for their
online news site of
The Oracle. (photo
by Kristin Taylor)
Her co-editor Sarah Wagner
explained they were setting a
precedent for the future, too.
standards of good journalism
were and then applying
them.
The school’s mission
statement has some valuable
points that support an
uncensored press. Taylor
said that was instrumental
in her approach to the
administration.
The students were putting
out a paper that was pretty
error-free, pretty unbiased
except for the opinion
page, one that got facts
right and consequently
began receiving awards
from regional and national
scholastic press associations
One bullet point is “We
strengthen girls’ voices in a
diverse and culturally rich
environment.” “You can’t say
that and then censor those
voices,” Taylor said.
When Tracy Anne Sena,
became adviser of The
Broadview at Convent of
the Sacred Heart in San
Francisco, “we were under full
prior review,” she said. She
was the tech support — the
PageMaker expert — and she
and another teacher started
the print publication after
she arrived in 1996.
There wasn’t much prior restraint – just a few words and
not entire articles, she said.
“The fear was mostly that
something would be bad PR
for the school.”
The school’s official goals
support free speech,
however. The fifth one is “to
educate to personal growth
in an atmosphere of wise
f reedom.”
Meanwhile, in an effort to
learn more about student
media, she and her students
were attending conventions
and learning what the
“By being our best selves,
we really set ourselves up for
getting press freedom,” Sena
said.
She admitted to getting
her “hackles up” the first
time something was pulled
from the paper. So when
the school had a change in
administration, “I started the
conversation,” she said.
The interim director said
she had “seen the paper for
years” before she came to the
school, and she didn’t have
to worry about it. “She saw
[each issue] for the first time
when it came out,” Sena said.
Then when current head
Rachel Simpson arrived three
years ago, she asked Sena the
best educational practices
as far as prior review is
concerned. “Prior review has
NO educational purpose,”
Sena said, adding that
Simpson then said, “I want to
go with best practices.” Thus
prior review was officially
gone.
She thinks it’s important for
students to have a safe place
where they can fail, Sena
said. “She really trusts the
program – trusts the fact we
do so much training in ethics.
And we discuss things a lot.”
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For both these private
schools, having a quality
publication, reaching out to
administrators, building a
good relationship and using
the school’s own mission
statement as support were all
important to ensure students
had the chance to make all
content decisions and not
face prior review.
“Don’t just assume it’s
unattainable,” Wagner said.
“Always try. . . We were
pleasantly surprised about
how open our administration
was to the idea – it wasn’t
really a fight. It was just a
conversation.”
The nine public schools
that also won this year are
Chantilly (Virginia) High
School; Felix Varela High
School, Miami; Francis
Howell North High School,
St. Charles, Missouri;
Harrisonburg (Virginia) High
School; Kirkwood (Missouri)
High School; Mountlake
Terrace (Washington) High
School; Smoky Hill High
School, Aurora, Colorado; St.
Louis Park (Minnesota) High
School; and Whitney High
School, Rocklin, California.
The schools will receive
plaques April 14 during the
opening ceremonies at the
JEA/NSPA Spring National
High School Journalism Convention in Los Angeles.
This is the 16th year for
the award. First round
applications are due annually
by Dec. 15. Downloadable
applications for 2017 will be
available on the JEA website
in the fall.
Candace Perkins
Bowen
Candace Perkins Bowen,
MJE, is an associate
professor in Kent State’s
School of Journalism and
Mass Communication and
director of both the Center
for Scholastic Journalism
and the Ohio Scholastic
Media Association. A
former Dow Jones News
Fund Journalism Teacher
of the Year, she has served
as the president of the
Journalism Education
Association. She is part
of the Student Press
Law Center’s Steering
Committee for its Advisory
Council and past head of
the Scholastic Journalism
Division of AEJMC