The Highlander
Carlmont High School's Newspaper 2010-2019
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Editorials
September 2018
The First Amendment not only gives journalists the freedom of press, it gives the people right to information, more specifically, truths about their government. It gives us journalists the power to write and publish what we see fit, and readers the right to access this information.
Being a journalist comes with a great amount of responsibility. After all, journalists are responsible for bringing the truth to the people. But journalists are still human. And humans make mistakes.
A mistake is misplacing a comma, spelling a name incorrectly, or even misquoting someone’s answer to a question asked during an interview.
There is a fine line between making a mistake and publishing fake news.
Journalists are trained to cover all angles of a story, all perspectives, and all voices. The context in which this information is presented can affect the viewpoints of readers after reading it. Regardless of readers’ conclusions, the facts remain the same.
Our founding fathers believed that only a well-informed people can determine justice. Thanks to social media, today’s people are more informed than ever.
Social media is a blessing and a curse, however. Twitter, for example, allows users to get their news conveniently and quickly. The 280 character limit allows for a one sentence summary of the latest news stories for users who are being exposed to more news than ever to catch up.
But headlines are not always what they seem. While journalists have a responsibility to inform the public of the truth, readers have a responsibility to find that truth and use common sense to realize everything they read may not be true.
Twitter allows first-hand sources to reach the people more directly. Following someone on Twitter almost feels as though they are talking to you. By tweeting out their thoughts or experiences, these first-hand sources allow the people to hear the facts right from the horse’s mouth. Because of this, journalists have been put under a microscope. Who is more reliable: a journalist reporting someone else’s story or that same someone telling their own story?
While the latter may appear to be the obvious answer, the close contact between first-hand sources and the people through social media has become extremely dangerous. There are rules and ethics in place for journalists when it comes to reporting and covering all sides of a story. However, there are no rules in place that prevent politicians from making exaggerated claims on social media platforms.
To reiterate, this is dangerous.
Journalists are trained to cover the news, follow stories, and to deliver them to the people. Contrary to popular belief, popularity on Twitter is not an equivalent to years of school, experience, and training in the journalism industry.
The use of social media as a news platform has blurred the line between journalists and those who think they are journalists.
Mob mentality is becoming the norm for those who fail to inform themselves of real news. Many believe that having thousands of followers, likes, and retweets proves one’s credibility. In reality, those thousands of people have just one thing in common: that they agree with one statement or belief; the quantity of people that agree with a statement does not determine the legitimacy of that statement.
Modern technology has allowed for our society to become exposed to anything and everything within a few seconds. This means that when readers don’t like what they’re hearing they can find another ‘source’ that tells them what they wish to hear, whether it be truthful or not.
Hence, the declining respect for journalists.
Journalism is a craft and it deserves to be taken seriously. Journalists have been bringing the facts to the people for hundreds of years. Yes, the birth of technology and social media has forced journalism to adapt in order to keep up with today’s society, but reporting the truth has never changed.
May 2019
Paper just isn’t for news anymore.
Before The Highlander, Carlmont’s newspaper was known as The Scots Express, but it was shutdown after a column was published describing the “sexy” nature of one Express staff member. Carlmont’s principal at the time then deemed “non sufficient supervision” was in place for the journalism club.
The following year it was time for a change within the program. In the fall of 2009, journalism evolved from a club into a class under the leadership of the new adviser, Justin Raisner.
The Highlander, as the Carlmont community knows the newspaper today, was piloted by this new adviser and became the flagship publication of the new program.
The twelve-page, black and white newspaper covered news and opinions, sports, and featured a center spread campus section called ‘Scots Scoop’ that debriefed events around campus in color.
In addition to the printed publication, the journalism staff began posting online blogs about more time-sensitive topics and created a Facebook page to introduce its presence online.
As The Highlander continued to establish itself, the program recognized the need for multiple platforms to distribute its news. The Scots Scoop section of the newspaper developed into Carlmont’s official online news medium: Scot Scoop News.
Due to the timely nature of the stories being published online, The Highlander’s content grew to 16 pages of more in-depth feature stories covering political, social, and local topics.
Meanwhile, as Scot Scoop was establishing itself, the next addition to the journalism program burst onto the scene: Scot Center News.
Scot Center became the the journalism YouTube channel allowing stories to be told across a third platform; this platform enables viewers to access news in a more three-dimensional way through broadcast journalism.
As the new online platforms gained traction, The Highlander entered the national scene of high school journalism by becoming a Pacemaker Award finalist in 2012.
Since 2012, The Highlander has seen many staffs, editors, and Editors-in-Chief throughout its pages, but the high-level content has remained.
That said, in today’s technology-driven society, there are faster, more efficient ways to get information and keep up with current events.
Two hundred eighty-character news stories can be accessed in seconds to ensure that readers don’t a miss a beat. Consumers today have a variety of choices at which to access news at their fingertips throughout all hours of the day. It’s no mystery as to why print publications are becoming a thing of the past.
In March of 2019 the last edition of The Highlander newspaper was distributed across campus.
But paper has not lost its place in journalism.
Journalism is a form of storytelling. Some stories require an instant news break, and others provide readers with a fuller understanding of the world around them.
Following this final issue, the all-new Highlander Newsmagazine will become the sole print publication of the program.
The 32-page, all-color publication will continue to cover in-depth topics, but wrapped in a rich visual package for readers.
As the final Editor-in-Chief of The Highlander, I am sad to admit that the world of printed news is changing, and even more sad to see The Highlander go.
But change is our only constant and as journalists, we must adapt.
This change is the next step in the journey of this journalism program and I couldn’t be more excited to turn the page onto the next story.