Dear Shasta High School newspaper students,
You have my deepest sympathies regarding the death of the Shasta High Volcano, your school newspaper.
I’m also saddened to hear that your MIA adviser allowed you to take the heat for a few students’ controversial actions.
In the corporate newspaper world, that’s called “throwing your people under the bus.”
The whole situation sucks.
As a 1974 Shasta High graduate, I assure you that your school has a long history of publishing its own newspaper.
I started to say the Volcano has a long “honorable” history. But that would be wrong, because you can bet that throughout Shasta’s history, some Volcano editions were not honorable. Some may have been real stinkers.
In fact, I’ll bet — to quote our president — mistakes were made at the Volcano along the way, perhaps even by Shasta High students during your grandparents’ era, and before: Unfortunate word choices. Sensational stories. Provocative photos. Misquotes. Made-up quotes. Plagiarism. Sophomoric writing (even from juniors and seniors).
Cut yourselves some slack. Blunders occur even at the best newspapers. Why? Because humans provide newspaper content, and humans screw up. We can only hope that those screw-ups will allow us opportunities to learn, especially when the stakes are low enough not to bring serious harm.
Speaking of royal screw-ups, it’s been said that your principal ended the Volcano because of what he believed was inappropriate editorial content in your newspaper’s last issue. Supposedly, the offending content centered on your paper’s cover photo with many images, including a young man setting fire to an American flag. An opinion piece inside the Volcano defended Americans’ right to do that.
Strangely, your principal offered two reasons for killing The Volcano. 1. Objectionable content (see above) and 2. Budget issues.
Although it would have been wiser for your principal to pick just one, I’m guessing he now wishes with all his heart that he’d chosen Door No. 2.
See, budget cuts are boring. Shutting down a student newspaper over a free-speech issue is a hot-button, radioactive story.
Trust me when I say that eventually, this story will die down. Summer will pass. Public attention will move elsewhere.
And Shasta High School will begin. Without the Volcano.
What if that’s not such a bad thing?
What if you ditched the old-school, paper-wasting newspaper? What if you published an interactive, really cool online version of your Volcano on a Web site?
You’re perfect for it. Nobody’s more plugged in than you and your peers. Besides, paper’s so passé.
Gather some dedicated, bright and dependable high school writers, photographers and techie people.
You can do this.
Imagine the perks of an online student newspaper. You and your fellow newspaper staffers could beam your stories, photos, audio and video clips to one another electronically. From anywhere.
You’ll be the envy of high schools that still publish newspapers pretty much as their grandparents did.
You’ll gain the admiration of many when you rise up to creatively overcome this dramatic setback.
No college essay would match yours when you recount your story of how you turned initial defeat into eventual achievement.
Best of all, the joy and success of your online newspaper may cause you to fall so madly in love with journalism that you’ll pursue it in college. There, you’ll be light years ahead of the paper-and-ink-trained high school students.
But first, I do recommend you find an adult, online-savvy journalism adviser, one who’ll teach you and guide you, one who’ll stand beside you. Even in your darkest hours.
Find someone who’ll remind you that just because you have the right to do something in a newspaper, and just because you can do something in a newspaper — doesn’t mean you should, or that it’s a good idea.
After that, the rest is simple. Write on, Shasta High journalism students.
Sincerely,
Doni Greenberg
Former newspaper journalist
