Sorry, but even student journalists need bosses, too

Let me start by saying I have enormous respect for the accomplishments of the Central Times, the student-run newspaper at Naperville Central High School.

More than once I've lauded the paper's accomplishments, which include numerous National Pacemaker Awards given to the best student newspapers in the country.

I'm all about First Amendment rights and the people's right to know. And I'm certainly all in favor of students learning to do good journalism.

But I have a hard time with the line-in-the-sand mentality that seems to appear every time a principal asks high school journalists to show some restraint or abide by the administration's guidelines.

That seems to be the case in today's Page 1 story by Melissa Jenco that pits the student writers against Central Principal Jim Caudill. He objects to a three-story package in the Times on drug use by high school students, mostly a first-person piece by a user that he says seems to glorify the writer's drug use. Some profanities appear in the articles.

I'd be more specific about all this, but I'm not allowed to. Daily Herald guidelines call for us not to use even the mildest of profanities. Any exceptions have to be approved by the managing editor or editor, who, yes, reads my column.

And, if he sees something he thinks contradicts our principles or our standards or might get us into trouble, he tells me to change it. Once, I tried to use one of those mild epithets. Take it out, please, Jim, he wrote. I did, but I was (unhappy).

But I never once thought about waiving my First Amendment rights or calling a lawyer. I realize, as I think everyone in this business understands, we have bosses and our work is subject to editing. We are not the owners of the paper, and it's the owners who have ultimate say over what appears in the paper, as it's the owners who ultimately have to answer to what we do.

I'm not a lawyer -- and litigation has been threatened here -- but it seems the courts have backed up school administrators' rights to act as owners or publishers. And, sure, if professional journalist feels his voice is being unfairly stifled by an editor, by his newspaper's editorial stance or alleged biases, he can quit. But to somehow suggest that the Constitution gives a writer carte blanche is absurd.

The Times and Caudill butted heads a few years ago over the paper's attempts to interview a 15-year-old female student who allegedly had been asked by a band volunteer to take nude photos of herself. Caudill wanted to see the story. That's when the arguments of prior restraint and censorship came to the fore.

But I offer this real world instance: If a reporter in this office is working on a particularly sensitive story, my bosses may ask me to run it by them. Maybe my ego's a little wounded, and maybe I won't agree with the changes they ask me to make, but I make 'em.

In Melissa's story, the Central Times faculty adviser, Linda Kane, has some harsh words for Caudill and other administrators. "The stuff they should be concerned about is the marijuana problem and dealers on campus," she said. "That's just going by the wayside. If they want to hear real profanity, come up to the third floor in the morning and listen to freshmen talking and screaming the f-word."

Hey, no doubt, kids are exposed to and use profanity. Some use drugs and everyone knows about it. But to suggest the school principal should have no say on how these volatile topics are handled in the school's official publication seems a little out of whack.

And as a final suggestion that we all need editors, consider this example: I almost canceled this column. The reason: Jim Caudill is a friend of mine, and I worried if anyone knew that, they might think it colored my judgment.

So I asked my boss, editor John Lampinen. His advice: "If you think your relationship with the principal might be an issue, it would be best to disclose it."

And so I have. Wasn't painful at all.

And so I suggest the student journalists try working something out with their boss.

That might not be so painful, either.