MINNESOTA--Mounds View High School's student newspaper,
the Viewer, has reached a compromise with administrators on their
publications policy model. After a six-week hiatus, the Viewer resumed
publication after negotiations with administrators and is now established as a
"limited open forum" under the new policy.
The publications policy was called into question after the Feb. 12 issue of
the Viewer. The paper reported a story naming the two students who were
disciplined after posting a "joke" picture of their teacher on Facebook.
Principal Julie Wikelius implemented prior review following publication.
Editor-in-Chief Christina Xia and Managing Editor Marysa Meyer elected to
suspend publication of the Viewer and sought legal counsel with Steve
Aggergaard, a Student Press Law Center volunteer attorney. The Viewer
resumed publication on April 9.
"This policy clears up a lot of the gray areas since our old policy
was only two paragraphs long...We are also trying to increase communications
with the administration and put more efforts toward make the paper a forum for
the exchanging of opinions and ideas." Xia said. "In case issues are
to arise in the future, the policy also outlines what procedure to follow, which
is to first establish an advisory student-faculty committee."
Wikelius said the new policy offers less room for misunderstandings.
"Everyone's very comfortable with where we are and I'm very pleased
that the students decided to resume publication," Wikelius said.
Martha Rush, adviser for the Viewer said she is pleased with the
decision.
"[The students] feel really good that we came to a resolution that we
could agree on and that gives them responsibility and allows them to have as
much freedom of the press as possible in a school setting," Rush
said.
New editors are being selected for next year, and they will be writing a
manual with Rush during the summer that will establish expectations for the
class and the new policy, among others.
The policy does not specifically give the administration the ability to
remove stories from the Viewer. It states the Viewer will seek the
"counsel of the administration" on certain issues. In addition, the
policy states there is a high expectation for balanced reporting and calls for
the sensitive treatment of controversial topics.
Xia said she is happy with the result and how quickly the Viewer and
the administration were able to come to an agreement.
"The new policy will definitely hold Viewer to a higher standard, but
I think that is a good thing. Obviously, I wish this did not happen, but
I'm very glad that we have a more coherent policy and procedures that
outlines what would happen in the future problem if issues do arise," said
Xia.
Xia said she suggests for student editors who find themselves in a similar
situation to be calm, reasonable and respectful but to still be assertive.
"You will realize that the journalism community is very supportive
and a tight knit group...Getting past editors, parents, and students to write in
could be a great way to let the administration know how important this
journalism experience is," Xia said.
By Nicole Ocran, SPLC staff writer
