Many newspapers have opened their opinion pages and websites to community voices – guest columnists and bloggers, activists of all stripes, older folks and adolescents.
For example, a Naperville, Ill., newspaper offered a regular column to a 17-year-old, naively expecting him to stick to teen topics. Oops. Instead, he wrote an impassioned (and reportedly reckless) critique of the Iraq war and American patriotism.
Here’s the crummy part: Did the editors modify the commentary? No. Did they kill it? No. They printed it.
But after the column drew negative reactions, those same editors dumped young Mohammad Sagha as a columnist.
Unfortunately, the Naperville Sun already has broken the link to Sagha’s original column. All we can read is the Chicago Tribune’s critique.
And on the subject of listening to teens…
Liz Cox Barrett of Columbia Journalism Review was startled to hear a talking head on cable TV actually using a civil tone (i.e. non-bombastic) of voice during an interview. The topic? How to get teens politically involved.
It was a discussion of the Generation Engage project.
Here at The Herald, sharp tones of disapproval continue to echo after our decision to publish an article about one particular activist teen — the Lake Stevens student who faked pregnancy in order to draw attention to issues relating to teen sexuality.
Among many of the teens we know, sex definitely makes the list of top concerns.
But several callers and letter writers seemed to agree with the sentiment: “This story isn’t newsworthy … Why should a teenager be rewarded for telling a lie by being given space on the front page?”
In the minority, one writer prasied the student, saying she had “brought to the public’s attention the discrimination that thousands of teenage girls face every year.”
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