Stevenson High School Statesman Editor in Chief Pam Selman, left, and managing editor
Evan Ribot, right, speak before the school board in December. Post-Exchange/JAMIE LOO

Statesman editors resign

By Jamie Loo, First Amendment reporter

January 26, 2010

Editors of the Stevenson High School newspaper resigned last week after nearly two months of simmering tensions with administrators on newspaper issues.

Statesman staff felt administrators censored them when they were told to remove stories about shoplifting, teen pregnancy and the National Honor Society and mentors program from the newspaper in November. Administrators questioned the use of anonymous sources in one of the articles and claimed the stories needed more editing before going to print.

Editor in chief Pam Selman and managing editor Evan Ribot, joined nine other staff members in resigning from the school paper. Ribot said leaving the paper was a difficult decision but one that students felt was necessary.

“We believed we were dealing with an administration that refused to collaborate and that our principles as journalists were being compromised by continuing to comply and work under the given circumstances,” he said.

Jim Conrey, director of public information for Stevenson High School, said the school district is disappointed the students chose to withdraw from the newspaper class and that administrators were looking forward to addressing their concerns. Conrey said administrators will work with the current Statesman staff to clarify expectations, curriculum, grading practices, and a revised production schedule to allow more time for editing and feedback on stories.

The dispute between student editors and administration spilled into the December edition as well. A December issue story about the potential side effects of prescription drugs was pulled by administrators. Statesman staff ran a blank page with an editor’s note in the space where the story would have appeared. One of the November stories, which originally quoted unnamed students in the National Honor Society drinking and smoking, was revised without the anonymous sources and printed in the December edition.

The Statesman, which has won national student journalism awards, also ran into problems with administrators during the last school year. About a year ago the Statesman published a story about casual sex among students known as “hooking up” which used students’ first names and graduation year. Administrators felt the stories were reckless and unbalanced. The controversy led to the voluntary resignation of faculty adviser and English teacher, Barbara Thill.