At 41 Action News, we strive to gain your trust and provide accurate information from both sides of an argument. And despite journalists nationwide being targeted for perceived bias and misinformation, one local high school student dreams of stepping into that role.
Lauren West, a rising senior at Shawnee Mission East High School, is on the staff of the school’s publication, The Harbinger. The school year didn’t end how students wanted in the spring due to the coronavirus pandemic, but despite COVID-19, West and her classmates still strive to learn.
“This year is such a huge year for journalism in high school,” West said.
And earlier this week, West and her fellow student journalists covered a local protest about school reopening plans of their own volition.
“We kind of took it upon ourselves to figure out what was going on and that we wanted to get in front of this and cover it,” West said. “These last couple months I think have been big in learning about the ethics of journalism specifically.”
Journalism currently isn’t well-received in the country – a March Gallup poll showed that 55% of respondents disapproved of coronavirus coverage – but West said, “honestly, I think that’s what makes me want to be a journalist even more.”
The responsibility to cover the news for her classmates and the public is a responsibility she chose to undertake.
“I think it’s time that we really need an unbiased source for journalism and media,” she said, “a way that people can get information without having that bias in it. And yeah, that’s what inspires me to do stuff like this.”
While acknowledging that 2020 has been a difficult year for many, she saw the landscape as an opportunity to learn.
From the upcoming election to COVID-19, school reopening plans and more, West and her classmates are covering it all for their readers. But no matter what, her goal as an aspiring journalist is simple.
“To report, give people a true unbiased story of both sides and just make sure everyone can learn what’s going on because this is an important current event to cover,” she said.
