FLOYDS KNOBS, Ind. (WHAS11) – A frequent winner of the Hoosier Star Award, it's a program that's earned plenty of praise across the state. School newspapers come in all sizes and styles, and Floyd Central High School’s The Bagpiper is no exception.
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s so much fun,” Editor-in-Chief Allie Lincoln said. “I just love the fact that our newspaper is this place where people can come and have a voice and have those reasons to say what we want to say. It’s our job to do that because we are the voice of these students.”
For the student-run newspaper, there's no topic too tough to tackle and none too fun to feature.
“Last year, news did a story on self-harm, and we got a lot of feedback from that. There were students walking up to me and saying hey, you actually helped me, and that was a really amazing thing,” News Section Editor Hannah Clere said.
Every edition is an eclectic example of the eager and enthusiastic young journalists behind it. The latest edition focused on gun control and school safety, with every section included from sports to arts and entertainment.
“I feel like it was our duty to let the school know what safety measures were in place and what things the school could do differently to make them safer,” Lincoln said. “I think it’s just our job to tell these stories and make sure that our school is connected to them.”
This staff covers it all, but not every school paper gets that chance.
“They are there to support our program and support our journalists. There is no prior review by administrators. There is no administrative censorship. That allows the kids to take full ownership of their publication and really take it to new heights because they know they’re not being second-guessed by in many cases, the very people they’re supposed to be covering. My phrase always is administrative censorship is a 100% guarantee of weaker publications,” The Bagpipier Advisor Jim Lang said. “That’s what kids should be doing in high school. They should be covering the news. They should be digging into the hows and the whys. Kids understand that if they’re being told no in a school, they can step right outside the school and publish that work anyway. That’s what scholastic journalism does in high schools. It empowers kids to understand the rights, but empowers them to write well, to photograph well, to communicate with each other, to consider other people- they are always thinking about the readers. I don’t think there is any better way to teach real-world skills in high school than through scholastic journalism.
“I just feel really lucky that we aren’t censored, and we can do things that matter and make a difference,” Clere said.
“They really show us this enthusiasm toward journalism, and they let us say what we want to say. They don’t read through our paper. They don’t censor what we write. They don’t change headlines, and that happens in a lot of schools in Indiana, actually,” Lincoln said.
That freedom lets the students appreciate the first amendment more than most and has proved to be an invaluable foundation.
“I love these kids. They do fantastic work, and we’ve done it for years. We’ve got kids who are working professionally and have earned scholarships. Some of them are journalists. Some of them are teachers. Some of them are doctors. All of these kids come back constantly and say regardless of what job field or career they’ve gone into, journalism has helped them in their career field,” Lang said.
“You learn a lot in this program. You kind of learn how to rely on each other, and it’s really awesome because it teaches you just how to work in the world. This has taught me leadership. So, no matter what, I will take journalism with me because everyone should be able to get this kind of experience,” Sports Editor Madison Brown said.
“I will always have journalism as a part of me because it’s taught me so much about people skills and leadership and all that,” Clere said.
Two years ago, State Representative Ed Clere, whose daughter Hannah is on the newspaper staff, approached the Indiana High School Press Association and Jim Lang to sponsor legislation that would guarantee that all student journalists in Indiana had the same rights of free expression in their high schools. It got through the House overwhelmingly and then stalled in the Senate. This year, it got snagged in the House. It hasn't passed yet, but they're hopeful it will soon.