Hill works on the rough draft of the front page story about vandalism rates in the school. For this story Hill interviewed a teacher, two students and the principal. During the writing process, Hill uses her notes from the interview, the recording of the interview and outside research to make sure the story is accurate.
Just like being sucked into a favorite childhood book, I hope my readers are drawn into the story and feel as if they could stay forever. Every time I sit down to write, I make sure to have all the relevant information with me, and an open mind. I frequently remind reporters that they can’t go into an interview or the writing process expecting to write one story. As journalists, we have to be sponges, absorbing the story so we can properly illustrate and share the story.
This year I am most proud of the first sample presented below — “Voices matter.” During our trip to Washington D.C. for the National High School Journalism Convention, another staff member, Talia Lissauer, and I had the honor of meeting and talking with Mary Beth Tinker — a longtime dream of ours. Inspired by that interaction, as well as the numerous conversations about censorship and student press, we wrote “Voices matter.”
This year I am most proud of the first sample presented below — “Voices matter.” During our trip to Washington D.C. for the National High School Journalism Convention, another staff member, Talia Lissauer, and I had the honor of meeting and talking with Mary Beth Tinker — a longtime dream of ours. Inspired by that interaction, as well as the numerous conversations about censorship and student press, we wrote “Voices matter.”
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Voices matterThe fact that we live in a country that values freedom of expression, but there are student journalists that are censored on a daily basis, appalls me. I am very passionate about student press rights, and that combined with my experience at the National High School Journalism Convention this fall inspired me to write this story.
This story received a Best of SNO |
Trump rally and protestWhen President Donald Trump came to Minneapolis in October 2019, we knew we had to cover it. As an editor, I did not feel safe sending younger staff into what I knew would be a divisive and potentially hostile environment. So, along with my co-Editor-in-Chief and two of our managing editors, I went. We were unable to obtain press passes due to a technical snafu, but because of the violence at the end of the rally, it turned out for the best that we had to go home early. That night was the only time I have really felt attacked for being a journalist, and it cemented my passion for sharing the truth.
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Vaping ban in processIn fall 2019, when the negative effects of vaping started to come to light, our city moved in the direction of banning the sale of all vaping devices. I covered the listening session and first reading of the ordinance, which gave me not only the opportunity to hear many community opinions on the matter, but also to learn about how the city government functions.
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Vaping ban approvedA few weeks later, the final vote was upon us. City Council was set to vote around 7:30 p.m. — less than two hours before we were supposed to send to press, and it was our front page. While the outcome was expected, I continued to do my due diligence. We had a reporter at the meeting, had the live stream playing in the publications room and I was confirming with several sources on the City Council. This story was not only a prime example of continuing coverage, but we were one of the first news organizations to break the story. It is incredible to me that a high school paper can be an early source of credible information about city proceedings.
This story received a Best of SNO |
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Teen prideAs Late Night was steadily approaching, we realized we didn’t have a story for the third page of the paper. Since we were distributing in June, my mind immediately went to LGBTQ+ Pride month. As a staunch ally of the community, many of my friends had attended Pride in the past and were planning to attend again. To me, this story was an indication of the inclusivity of our community. I loved seeing teenagers come together in this way, and was immensely proud of one of the sources for sharing his story.
This story received third place for Features Story at the Minnesota High School Press Association 2020 convention |
'SIX' the musical“Divorced. Beheaded. Died. Divorced. Beheaded. Survived.” Those six words are how the musical “SIX” opens. It is an incredibly powerful show because it works to separate the women's worth from their husbands, which is who they are usually remembered. When I had the opportunity to go see the up-and-coming musical, just weeks before it would open on Broadway, I knew I had to review it. This piece was one of my first adventures into review writing, and I really enjoyed the process.
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Sen. Amy Klobuchar rallyWhen we found out that Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar was holding a presidential rally at our high school, I knew we had to cover it. Within 24 hours of her announcing the rally I had contacted the campaign and our mayor, and had set up press passes for us. Going in, we knew it would be a great journalistic experience, but it was more interesting than I ever imagined. Protestors took the stage very early on, and the campaign ended up cancelling the rally as a result. We had to quickly adapt our coverage, get the official press statement and get a story up. It was really inspiring to be working next to the professional press, and gave me a taste of what being a professional journalist is like.
This story received a Best of SNO |
Assassins prompts safety discussionEvery year some upperclassmen at our school participate in a game called “assassins,” and every year community members raise concerns. But in a society that is increasingly ripe with violent police altercations and tensions around gun use, my junior year was different. Though the school is not technically involved in the game, it affects a large number of students, and the possible repercussions are massive.
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Trifecta of administration storiesIt is a long standing tradition that the Editors-in-Chief are on the administration team. With the 2019-2020 school year, that meant covering a variety of new practices, some well accepted and some controversial. Since the coverage of these changes I have been told on numerous occasions that these stories are what the students want to see from us. I have heard that the bathroom pass practice story is the most important story we have published all year, because students were feeling silenced until the publication of that piece.
"Administration introduces new approach to discipline" received a Best of SNO |
Privacy under attackFollowing the release of Shane Dawson's video on privacy invasions in the form of tiny cameras in Aribnbs and hotels, students were suddenly very concerned about privacy. Immediately everyone was talking about what you could hide cameras in, and how astonishingly easy it is to buy tiny cameras. This inspired us to do an in-depth story about these kinds of invasions of privacy. We looked into the legal side of the issue, a student's experience with it and the effects of surveillance on people.
This story received a Best of SNO |
COVID-19As the coronavirus spread across the world, we knew it was inevitable that it would reach our community — but we didn't know when. Very quickly COVID-19 went from an issue in other places, to an issue for us. I am incredibly proud of our quick and accurate coverage while the situation develops, in two days we posted 11 stories ranging in content from question and answer about COVID-19, to the governor declaring a peacetime State of Emergency, to the eventual cancellation of our school. I have been involved in every element of this coverage, but I could not have done it without an amazing team of staffers. Many of these stories do not have the usual number of emotion driven quotes as my stories do, but that is because of the circumstances. We are working with a situation that is changing by the hour, and are doing our best.
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