Pam Marino here, remembering my days at The Epitaph, the student newspaper at Homestead High School in Cupertino. I was a reporter there for three years under the guidance of an exceptional teacher, Nick Ferentinos.
Nick knew my one and only professional desire was to be a newspaper reporter. When it came time for me to choose a college major he said, “Don’t major in journalism. I’ve taught you everything you need to know. Major in what you want to cover.” He was absolutely right: He did teach me everything I needed to know. I majored in political science and minored in journalism.
My memories were sparked this week by Weekly Editor Sara Rubin’s Spin column in our print edition, “New School; School newspapers give a hopeful template for the future of journalism.” Rubin wrote about two local school papers, The Rancho Review at Rancho San Juan High School in Salinas, and The Sandpiper at Carmel High in Carmel. It was heartening to hear about students learning—and getting excited—about journalism.
My feelings are conflicted when it comes to what else they’re learning about, namely the business side of paying the bills. At The Sandpiper students fundraise and sell ads to pay for the $1,200 printing cost per edition. (The paper does receive a budget of $7,500 from the school.) On the one hand, it’s valuable to understand that there are costs to publishing and a need for advertising and community financial support. On the other hand, I wish the students could focus their time and mental energies mostly on producing good journalism.
As we are finding out in a very painful way here in the U.S., democracy depends on having a free and robust press. (Look no farther than what’s been happening in McCurtain County, Oklahoma this past week for a good example.) We need a well-trained, diverse workforce in journalism to provide readers and viewers with accurate news far into the future.
I hope we as a community can support high school newspapers—or digital news sites, as the case may be—which ultimately support our students and our future.
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