Stevenson official sheds light on student newspaper flap

For the first time since a fight over the Stevenson High School student newspaper went public two weeks ago, a school spokesman shed more light on why two articles weren't published in the November issue.

But the editor-in-chief of the Statesman was quick to dispute those comments, calling them incomplete and contradictory.

The ongoing dispute - now in its third week - centers on the latest issue of the Statesman, published Nov. 25, several days late, because of the conflict.

Statesman editors and student-press advocates have accused school administrators of censoring two stories planned for the edition.

The school's initial public comments, although lengthy, didn't get into specific detail about the articles in question. But on Tuesday, Stevenson spokesman Jim Conrey said administrators never had a chance to review one of the stories.

The article, a piece by Statesman Managing Editor Evan Ribot that quoted an anonymous student who admitted to illegal behavior, was submitted to a Statesman adviser and then returned to the writer, Conrey said. Ribot never resubmitted the piece to teachers or administrators for further review, despite such requests, Conrey said.

"We asked for it and it was never supplied," he said.

The second story, an article by Editor-in-chief Pam Selman about teen pregnancies at the school, was rejected for publication by a four-member review panel, Conrey said. The article lacked factual support, he said, and officials had concerns about identifying students who had sex with each other, possibly breaking the law because of their ages.

The review panel consists of Principal Janet Gonzalez, Assistant Principal for Instruction John Carter and Director of Communication Arts Joseph Flanagan. It was established during the 2008-09 school year after a similar controversy.

Selman was asked to revise the story but refused, Conrey said.

Selman and Ribot refuted Conrey's accounts of how the stories came to be withdrawn from the newspaper.

"They're not telling the whole story," Selman said.

The students contended they voluntarily pulled Ribot's story when, during a pre-publication discussion with Gonzalez and Flanagan, they were told administrators would seek to learn the identity of the anonymous student.

"We thought that's the best we can do to protect our sources," Ribot said.

The students then submitted a front page with blank space where the story would have gone, a tactic that was rejected.

As for the story about teen pregnancies, Selman said Conrey's explanation for its rejection was "the first I'm hearing of this." The teen said she was told the story was held because it was not balanced but that it could run if the journalists verified the facts with the students' parents.

The story now is planned for the December issue of the Statesman, Selman said. Ribot's story quoting the anonymous student will not be submitted for publication in the future, she said.

"We can't put our sources in that kind of position," she said. "In order to uphold (our) ethics, we are not going to run the story."

The Statesman is published 10 times a year as part of a journalism class. Because it is not an independent newspaper, its content legally can be regulated by teachers or administrators.

Even so, student-press advocates such as Randy Swikle, the director of the Illinois Journalism Education Association, have criticized the school over the issue.

After learning of Conrey's newest comments, Swikle decried Stevenson officials' handling of the matter. He targeted administrators for only making Conrey available to talk about the controversy rather than addressing it publicly themselves.

"When you're not transparent, you see what happens," Swikle said.

The controversy is the latest dispute between students and administrators over Statesman reporting. A January story about teen sex led to more administration oversight, including creation of the review panel, because of what officials said were reporting problems.

Additionally, teacher Barbara Thill left her post as the newspaper's adviser at the end of the 2008-09 term.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=339605">Stevenson High orders student editors to publish <span class="date">[11/25/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=339135">Controversial Stevenson student newspaper could be scrapped <span class="date">[11/23/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=338715">Stevenson High student paper held from publication <span class="date">[11/21/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>