Above The Fold
Paper Trail
Tale of Two Crises
By Jim Abbott
It was the best of resolutions … it was the worst of resolutions.
Two very different stories about inappropriate content in newspapers appeared on the NIE e-forum not long ago. Let me describe them without names, as I intend no praise or criticism of any individual program.
In city A, newspapers delivered to an elementary school were routinely placed on the counter in the media center for students to pick up. In city B, the newspaper ran a story about a local sex crime on its front page. Both of these situations resulted in a crisis and the resolutions could not have been more different.
The parent of a 7-year-old student in city A complained that the newspaper was “not appropriate reading material for elementary-age kids.” The principal suggested that the child be denied access to the newspaper, but that it still be readily accessible to other students.
That did not satisfy the parent, who wanted to block access to all students. Eventually, all newspapers were removed from the media center counter and placed in a restricted area where they now are available only to teachers and staff.
The front-page story in city B triggered a team reaction from the newspaper. Concerned that the story might not be appropriate reading for young students, the editor contacted the circulation manager (who also serves as the NIE coordinator). All newspaper bundles headed to schools were marked with a second label notifying teachers of the content.
The two situations resulted in two very different responses.
There were cries of censorship on the e-forum. I think that misses the point, because both responses used a form of censorship.
In one, the censorship was imposed from outside the newspaper by a single parent and an administration not willing to defend some basic First Amendment rights. In the other, the newspaper imposed a type of self-censorship, which allowed classroom teachers to make the decision whether to use the newspaper that day. I will leave it to ethicists to debate the relative merits of the two.
I see two burning NIE issues that directly led to the difference in the responses: training and communication.
The purpose of the NIE program is to provide quality education to students in classrooms. To do that, teachers involved must be trained to use the newspaper effectively. Research conducted by the NAA Foundation shows that students who use newspapers in the classroom score better on standardized and state tests. But trained teachers are responsible for those newspapers.
The training of any teacher needs to include a discussion on how to handle inappropriate content. Yes, there will be content in the newspaper that may not be suitable for every child. It is the supervision of the trained teacher that can keep that from being a problem.
Stacking newspapers in the media center for any child who wants to pick one up does not meet my definition of newspapers being used by a trained teacher. Frankly, this does not meet my definition of an NIE program. Bulk sales, perhaps.
The second and perhaps even more critical component is communication. In city B, the lines of communication were established in advance. The editor was aware that copies of the newspaper were being delivered to classrooms. He or she immediately thought of the consequences of delivering the story to students who were not prepared for it. The NIE professional at every newspaper should work to establish lines of communication with teachers, administrators, sponsors and other departments within the newspaper.
Would application of bundle labels by hand work for a larger newspaper? No. But established lines of communication would. We have heard of newspapers that maintain e-mail contact with every teacher who receives newspapers. That hotline has been employed to alert teachers to stories, good and bad, in the daily newspaper.
Experts will tell you that the key to managing any crisis is to have plans in place long before the crisis arrives. Do you know exactly who is using your newspapers and how they are being used? Do you have a rapid-response system in place to communicate with all of the parties involved in these two crises?
Are all of the teachers who use your newspaper trained? Have you talked directly with teachers, administrators and your newsroom about inappropriate content? If the answer to any of those questions is no, you need to work on your crisis management plan today.
NAA Foundation Vice President Jim Abbott can be reached at (571) 366-1006 or james.abbott@naa.org
