The student journalists at the Heights Herald anticipate some criticism as they report on politics affecting their school and community just outside of Minneapolis, especially during such a divisive and fraught election year.
That hasn鈥檛 stopped their reporting. 鈥淜nowing something is controversial and doing it anyway is something that can come with writing about politics,鈥� said student journalist and high school junior Skylen Raleigh.
The staff at the Herald, the student newspaper for Columbia Heights High School, are covering their local school board race. They鈥檝e published an article on the presidential debate and plan to follow the election. They鈥檙e devising social media posts about voting for 18-year-olds heading to the polls for the first time. Even though the community might not like that they鈥檙e covering these topics, the journalists say they feel it鈥檚 important that they do.
鈥淲hen it comes from student voices like us, it lets others in our audience鈥攐f students and district members鈥攌now that politics is not just something that won鈥檛 affect them, that doesn鈥檛 affect them, that doesn鈥檛 matter,鈥� said co-editor-in-chief Cassidy Wise, a senior. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something that we care about, too, as students. We think it鈥檚 important for each other to know.鈥�
Their age is an asset, co-editor-in-chief and senior Hiedi Lee added, allowing them to offer fresh perspectives to the conversation.
鈥淲hile professionals cover broader topics, student journalists focus on issues that matter directly to students, reporting on events in our own schools and neighborhoods that impact friends, classmates, and families,鈥� she said.
Researchers have found, where political clashes are playing out at the state and local levels, student journalists are grappling with controversial topics and political dialogue. It鈥檚 how they become informed participants in democracy, experts say.
It鈥檚 becoming harder for high school journalists to navigate that, however. School administrators across the country have censored student media that veered into politics or controversial topics鈥攊n some cases, even .
It鈥檚 part of a broader trend: Teachers are discouraged from having tough conversations in class, as 18 states have passed legislation or other policies prohibiting teachers from talking about 鈥渄ivisive concepts.鈥� Many teachers said they didn鈥檛 plan to talk about the presidential election, partly due to fear of parent complaints. Students are likewise wary to weigh in due to the polarized climate鈥攁nd how vitriolic disagreements can get.
Student journalists have been advocating for years in state legislatures for guaranteed press rights, but as conflicts continue to infect schools, press freedom advocates worry that an outspoken student press might become a rarity.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a real feeling of hopelessness that I hope does not continue,鈥� said Leslie Klein, a professor of journalism at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 鈥淚 worry that the good student journalism that we are seeing, and all the students out there pushing to cover issues that are meaningful and important to them and their peers, will become the outlier rather than the norm.鈥�
Some student journalists are self-censoring, researchers find
The student press鈥檚 First Amendment freedom was eroded nearly 40 years ago with the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 decision in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier to grant school officials the right to restrict students鈥� writing if they could cite an educational justification for its censorship. The decision spurred a shift in student journalists鈥� ability to freely write about political or contentious issues, researchers say.
Slowly, over the course of decades, there鈥檚 become a culture of censorship against student journalism鈥攂oth self-inflicted and from school administrators. Klein found that in Florida, after the passage of legislation prohibiting discussion of gender and sexuality in the classroom.
鈥淢any of the advisers I spoke to felt like their students had just given up,鈥� Klein said. 鈥淭hey were just sort of resigned, at least in Florida, that the political climate was such that they weren鈥檛 going to be able to talk about things that were important to them.鈥�
Mike Hiestand, a lawyer at the Washington-based nonprofit Student Press Law Center, which advocates for student press freedom in state legislatures and through a free legal hotline, wonders if the reason his phone hasn鈥檛 been ringing off the hook in the lead-up to Election Day is because students are wary of taking strong political stances after heightened鈥攁nd particularly harsh鈥攃riticism.
As students covered the Israel-Hamas war, they were met with outrage, he said. One student鈥檚 story鈥攁 basic and straightforward news article鈥攔esulted in people calling her future college, demanding her acceptance be rescinded, he said.
He has concerns that student journalists may be sitting out the election as a result.
鈥淥ne of the new pieces of advice I have to provide to them and their teachers is you do need to talk about doing good journalism and doing the best work that you can, but you need to really be prepared for the criticism鈥攕ometimes pretty nasty鈥攖hat鈥檚 going to come,鈥� Hiestand said.
Student journalism is a vehicle for understanding, and engaging in, democracy
Just like talking about elections in class is vital for teaching good citizenship, an active student press teaches students about how to engage in politics and in civic life, and how to navigate difficult conversations, said Melanie Wilderman, a professor of journalism at the University of Oklahoma, who researched how often students there reported on controversial topics.
鈥淚f the schools or the teachers don鈥檛 teach that, or if they can鈥檛 teach it鈥攍ike some of our schools and teachers are feeling that pressure in Oklahoma and in other states鈥攖hen the students are really missing out on those critical discussions which are so important to their civic education and, in my opinion, democracy overall,鈥� Wilderman said. 鈥淲e need informed citizens to have a functioning democracy.鈥�
Simon Mehring, a senior at Stoughton High School in Wisconsin and editor of the student newspaper The Norse Star, encourages his staff to pursue topics that they are interested in, or subjects they and their peers don鈥檛 know about. Often, that ends up being politics, he said. They鈥檝e covered international wars, local education referendums, and the undecided voters in the upcoming election.
The student journalist may not be an expert in a subject when they start their reporting, but they are when they finish it鈥攈elping educate themselves and their peers, Simon said.
鈥淪tudent journalism is seen as kind of just a hobby or a club, and it鈥檚 easy to brush off,鈥� he said. 鈥淲ith all-time high disinformation and misinformation, with local journalism deserts across the nation, communities have to turn to their student journalists as sometimes the only newspaper in their community鈥攖he only voice in their community鈥攁nd really trust them and engage with them.鈥�
And certainly, student media are covering issues that students care deeply about, that the broader media landscape may not cover.
In Carmel, Ind., and Loudoun County, Va., researchers Andrene Castro, a professor in the department of educational leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University, and April Hewko, a graduate student there, found student journalists were pushing back on the broader conversations in local school board meetings on anti-equity policies, making the case for why diversity, equity, and inclusion policies were necessary. They tackled the topics with nuance, Castro said.
The student journalists鈥� interest went beyond those policies. They covered elections, Confederate monuments and symbols, and the scrutiny on educators.
Communities have to turn to their student journalists as sometimes the only newspaper in their community鈥攖he only voice in their community鈥攁nd really trust them and engage with them.
鈥淵outh are interpreting how these policies鈥攚hether at the national level, or at the local level鈥攁re really impacting their everyday lives, that many of the adults are not fully understanding, particularly adults outside of the school setting,鈥� Castro said.
And though there was often tension between student journalists and adults in the places where Castro and Hewko conducted their research, the teenagers did have allies, the researchers found. Teachers, club advisers, and parent-teacher associations were supportive of youth voice in both places, Castro said, which is important for students鈥� political consciousness.
At Columbia Heights High in Minnesota, Brooklyn Murdo, a junior, wrote a news article last year about Florida鈥檚 legislation restricting classroom discussion on gender and sexuality. The Herald鈥檚 adviser Chris Polley was surprised to hear that she had originally intended it to be an opinion article鈥攂ut Brooklyn had feared her opinions were too strong and the administration would censor her, which has happened to the publication in the past.
Lawmakers in at least that restores the press rights of student journalists, protecting them from censorship and shielding their advisers from retaliation. Minnesota is the latest, with Gov. Tim Walz signing such a law in May. If the law had been enacted last year, Brooklyn said she would have run her story as she鈥檇 wanted.
鈥淚 definitely would have had the freedom to say what I wanted to say,鈥� she said.
