This story is syndicated from The Heights Herald, the newspaper of Columbia Heights High School in Columbia Heights, MN. The original version of the story ran here.
Our choices matter. They speak to our values and our goals.
Imagine this: you’re browsing the aisles shopping and come across two near-identical products. They’re both well-made. The only discernible difference — one was made commercially, and the other, by a small business.
The way we each approach our news feeds marks a similar choice. Does one have objectively more value than the other if they’re both of equal quality? Or might the second be even better than the first — less influenced by others for profit, more true to the original need?
The line between professional and student journalism continues to blur in the age of disinformation. With AI assistance and easy website builders like WordPress, the barrier to entry for basic, professional-looking publications is lower than ever. Meanwhile, as traditional local news outlets continue to shutter their windows and create “news deserts,” the burden on school newspapers to cover their communities is only increasing.
Now, under the second Trump administration, even professional publications cannot guarantee their legal safety through accurate reporting, with big names like ABC, CBS, CNN, the Associated Press and even the Pulitzer Center under attack.
Student journalists are poised to pick up the slack.
As professional publications get pummeled, journalists like Jeff Pieters, editor of the Post Bulletin Forum Communications and Kelly Smith, News Editor at the Star Tribune, both sense student journalism’s vital role in shaping future professionals and informing communities.
“I found my passion for journalism as a student journalist — I still have my high school newspapers, and recently thumbed through those and found my first-ever published story,” Pieters said. “From there, I was involved with my college newspaper and an internship at college.”
Smith shared a similar experience complete with internships, but at the post-secondary level to start — another common trajectory for journalists.
“I joined my college newspaper my freshman year of college to get involved on campus and found out that I loved reporting and writing,” Smith said. “I went on to be the news editor and Editor-in-Chief of the weekly student newspaper, and also completed internships each summer at local weekly and daily professional newspapers.”
Scholastic journalism programs have a hidden superpower: they teach ethics. For emerging journalists, understanding ethical practices is not just about following the rules; it’s about a mindset that values learning, transparency, accuracy and accountability. Newer sites, in their rush to produce and even manipulate, don’t always share these approaches that schools mandate.
Student journalism provides a place to explore procedure and safely report. Student journalists, just like professional ones, can and do learn from mistakes by working with their editors and advisers.
In fact, it’s school papers’ strong reporting and ethical practices that often bring about attempts at censorship, experiences that journalists will draw from for the rest of their careers.
“Outside of work, I’m the advisor of the college newspaper at St. Ben’s and St. John’s, so I know student newspapers can face more challenges about censorship, especially at private institutions,” she said. “There have been several situations, most recently in 2023, where students on campus were upset about the college newspaper’s content and threw away or damaged stacks of newspapers, which is considered theft and a form of censorship.”
In 1977, California became the first state to pass a “New Voices” law to protect student journalism and limit unjust pressures from school officials and the public. The groundbreaking, grassroots legislation from state lawmakers marked a significant shift in censorship policies within schools, empowering students to have their voices not just truly heard, but truly amplified. 17 other states have since enacted their own New Voices laws to protect student press freedom, but most states still lack such protections, leaving student journalists dangerously vulnerable to censorship and administrative pressure.
The laws, when in place, open the door for even more expansive, in-depth and fearless student journalism, the exact kind we need.
“I am gratified to see that this profession continues to be appealing and relevant to new practitioners,” Pieters said. “We have a handful of journalists in our newsroom who are fresh out of college, and I’m impressed with their training and abilities, to say nothing of their boundless enthusiasm.”
Smith has concerns about the future of journalism for students and how past and recent events have created a negative outlook on authentic media reporting.
“High school and college newspapers play a critical role in informing the student body about issues impacting them and also help teens begin a tradition of reading newspapers to be civically engaged citizens,” Smith said. “Instead, students are relying more on social media for their information, which is inundated with misinformation and disinformation.”
Apps like Student News Source provide one way to support student journalism digitally. A product of the web host School Newspapers Online, the app allows users to tag local school papers to receive notifications when they post stories. SNO’s network includes thousands of scholastic papers, from middle school through college.
SNO isn’t alone in its mission to bolster student journalism programs. The nonprofit Student Press Law Center has worked with many of those schools, ensuring their content is reported well and offering legal guidance for sensitive content.
This month, student journalists from around the country will gather at Columbia University for the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s annual Spring convention. They’ll swap best practices, share reporting adventures and learn how to carry the burden of the country’s news. Conventions like it have become a support group for this pivotal cohort as they work to define our nation’s trajectory.
Value isn’t always measured by price, polish and Pulitzers. When scrolling the aisles of your phone, the product you come across made by students’ hands may not just be the future of news, but also its best at present.