Have you ever thought of how much work goes into writing a story as a journalist? Or ever thought to contact someone on The Grizzly Gazette with some positive feedback? Have you ever thought about writing as a contributing writer or have been interested in writing? One thing all of these questions have in common is thanking or at least thinking of student journalists.
Since we have an amazing program of two years that puts so much work and effort into making a student newspaper, why not thank a staff writer, editor, or social media team, whether you know them or not? As a collective, we do a lot that many students do not know about. I can’t express how proud I am to not only be an editor, but also to see all the progress we have made just this year… which is exactly why there is a national awareness day for just that!
As most of you will probably not know, February 22, is National Student Press Freedom Day. In easier terms, it is a nationwide recognition of student journalists’ freedom of press and expression through publicly writing about anything, which is what we do here at The Grizzly Gazette.
What is Student Press Freedom Day?
According to the official website of Student Press Freedom, it is an initiative by the Student Press Law Center where students, advisers and press freedom groups work together to
Raise awareness of the work student journalist do
Highlight how censorship threatens that work
Empower student journalists to take action to restore their First Amendment Freedoms
The theme for this year is Powerfully Persistent.
To me, all of this means that student journalists are not only recognized, but also are supported by these organizations, for the powerful persistence they show in a commitment to being storytellers and change-makers in their own school communities. It feels good to know that student journalists are some of the most protected when it comes to freedom of expression/the press.
As student journalists in California, we are also some of the most protected student journalists in the country, thanks to CA Ed Code 48907.
Why Celebrate Student Journalists Especially Those on The Grizzly Gazette?
Also from Student Press Freedom, student journalists should be celebrated because of how much work we put in, the art of journalistic writing, and because of the demand for news and voices to be expressed. Another thing they added was “They should be recognized and fully supported for the crucially important service they provide.” A round of applause just for that!
While we at The Grizzly Gazette know that our newspaper will not be read by everyone, be supported by everyone, or respected as much as we would like to be, we know that what we are doing is crucial for not only our school but also our community, future generations, and all student journalists– period.
We do what we do because we all have a story to tell, a story to cover, a passion in a specific topic, and a drive to dive deeper. The reason why Mr. Frias, our principal at GV, brought this back just last year: to keep our campus open-minded and let our diversity grow and be highlighted as much as humanly possible. We thank Mr. Frias, and our GV Admin team, for their commitment and advocacy for a free student press on our campus.
My Experience as a Second-Year Student Journalist
Being one of the few students from the founding year, I never thought this class would make me feel more outgoing and even write better in my regular English class. If I’m being honest, I didn’t know if I would like journalism because I thought I didn’t have a story to tell.
When I tell you I was wrong, there are so many reasons as to why I have had this experience be one of the best things that has happened to me. I found a community of writers that love finding new things to talk about, we have such an amazing teacher just as new to it as us, and it is exciting to know that my past work is public to any who want to see this.
I went from a Community News Staff Writer, to Community News Section Editor, to now the Co Editor-in-Chief of the whole paper. Last year I won our first ever “Editor of the Year ” as a literal rookie and new person to journalism and learning how to find that story. It will continue to blow my mind that I, as well as many of us at TGG, have made an impact and a name for ourselves no matter who sees it.
I just hope that students at our school, in our community, and any other student news publications will be able to see how much work we do to push out the best of the best articles. My hope is that all student journalists are able to be celebrated for the tremendous work that we do and that everyone knows you have a beautiful, powerful, and important voice to tell a story– so do something with it!
