Madelyn Rose Stout
High School Journalist of the Year Portfolio
“The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American people. ”
- Donald J. Trump
Enemy of the People
My name is Madelyn Rose Stout, and I am an enemy of the people. Or at least according to the current president of the United States, Donald J. Trump. He seems to believe that reliable news articles published by credible journalists are “fake news.” In his eyes, qualified and accredited journalists that exhibit enormous amounts of determination, perseverance, stellar writing abilities, and extensive skill for storytelling worsen the public. If he views these writers as enemies of the people, then I will wear this title as a badge of honor.
On November 1, 2018, I was informed that the Springdale School District tagged me as an enemy of the people. They put into place a censorship over Har-Ber High School, which halted the production of our school newspaper, The Herald. The censorship was enacted after The Herald published a news article questioning the district’s transfer policy. My journalism adviser, Karla Sprague, received a letter in her file and was fearful that she would lose her job. The newspaper kids received a lot of publicity from the event, including being mentioned on Buzzfeed and many local new stations. My yearbook staff was put under censorship and prior review due to the single article published by the newspaper. Each spread had to be sent to our principal so that he could check over every photo, caption, story, and secondary coverage. My stomach was tied in knots worrying whether controversial spreads would be rejected, such as a story featuring a lesiaban couple and another about the censorship itself. I decided that I wasn’t going to let my rights be trampled on. I organized a couple of students from both staffs to protest at the next school board meeting. On December 11, I gave a speech voicing my concerns and struggles with censorship. I was challenged with not letting my passion for my rights affect the points I was trying to make. Shortly after I finished, we were rushed off the podium and our protest was shut down. It wasn’t until last summer that the school board removed the censorship and our principal asked us to inform him of any article that might cause controversy before the newspaper and yearbook are published. The school district never apologized or acknowledged in any way that they were in the wrong, and I know the district administration still keeps their eye on me. My name is Madelyn Rose Stout, and I am a proud enemy of the people.
On November 1, 2018, I was informed that the Springdale School District tagged me as an enemy of the people. They put into place a censorship over Har-Ber High School, which halted the production of our school newspaper, The Herald. The censorship was enacted after The Herald published a news article questioning the district’s transfer policy. My journalism adviser, Karla Sprague, received a letter in her file and was fearful that she would lose her job. The newspaper kids received a lot of publicity from the event, including being mentioned on Buzzfeed and many local new stations. My yearbook staff was put under censorship and prior review due to the single article published by the newspaper. Each spread had to be sent to our principal so that he could check over every photo, caption, story, and secondary coverage. My stomach was tied in knots worrying whether controversial spreads would be rejected, such as a story featuring a lesiaban couple and another about the censorship itself. I decided that I wasn’t going to let my rights be trampled on. I organized a couple of students from both staffs to protest at the next school board meeting. On December 11, I gave a speech voicing my concerns and struggles with censorship. I was challenged with not letting my passion for my rights affect the points I was trying to make. Shortly after I finished, we were rushed off the podium and our protest was shut down. It wasn’t until last summer that the school board removed the censorship and our principal asked us to inform him of any article that might cause controversy before the newspaper and yearbook are published. The school district never apologized or acknowledged in any way that they were in the wrong, and I know the district administration still keeps their eye on me. My name is Madelyn Rose Stout, and I am a proud enemy of the people.