Former Hollister Free Lance editor Adam Breen has a new
journalism gig, which he expects to find as fulfilling as working
at a daily paper.
Hollister – Former Hollister Free Lance editor Adam Breen has a new journalism gig, which he expects to find as fulfilling as working at a daily paper.
Breen will head San Benito High School’s journalism classes and advise the school’s monthly newspaper, The Baler. He will also teach four technical writing classes focusing on different aspects of writing, journalism and newspaper production. One will design and produce the school’s yearbook.
As the newspaper’s adviser, he will work closely with rookie Baler Editor in Chief Katie Corotto to ensure the newspaper’s coverage is accurate. This will mean extensive fact checking, requiring articles to have multiple sources and keeping the newspaper free of rumors, Breen said.
“We’re just getting back to basics,” he said.
Before focusing students on writing and reporting, Breen spent the first two weeks of school teaching students about the importance of ethics and the First Amendment, which he hopes will promote accuracy and principled conduct.
Some of his students have had little exposure to formal newspaper writing, a topic Breen plans to spend over a month discussing. And although many students are interested in local news, Breen said that few actually read newspapers.
“I know that students get their news from a variety of sources nowadays, including online, and I want to show them how newspapers can break out into the Internet.”
Both Breen and Corotto plan to put The Baler online this year, however no definitive dates for online publication have been set, Breen said.
Corotto says substance will be her goal as editor.
“I want to get more coverage of school events and sports,” Corotto said. “I also want to cover more of what the administration is doing.”
And Breen has another, even more ambitious agenda.
“I want to set up the newspaper as the school’s official publication,” Breen said.
Corotto and others have been brainstorming story ideas over the last few weeks and have come up with several articles that they think are particularly important to students. For example, the recent schedule change has become a hot topic for students and teachers alike, Corotto said.
Breen also has many ideas for the newspaper.
“Everybody has a story to tell,” Breen said.
Breen, who served as editor of both the Hollister Free Lance and the Santa Clara University Alumni Magazine, is enjoying his new job.
“It’s fun,” Breen said. “One of the tough things for a new teacher is filling 100 minutes (of class time). But in these classes it’s fun because we’re talking about real world events and situations.”
Wednesday’s real world discussion focused on journalism ethics for student reporters. Breen presented students with seven hypothetical situations in which they would be forced to make ethical decisions.
One situation asked students what they would do if they overheard discussion about the school’s principal being fired during a closed Board of Trustees meeting.
A majority said that they would not publish the information if it could not be verified. But, as the classroom discussion continued, Breen brought up new questions for the students, forcing them to consider many other factors that they had not thought about originally.
The goal of these discussions, Breen said, was to get students to think about how their decisions as journalists could affect others.
“(Journalism) is a lot different than text messaging,” Breen said. “I’m trying to show them the big picture.”
The first issue of The Baler, to which all Breen’s journalism students will contribute, will appear in October. Breen will look at everything before it is published, but leave most of the work to the students.
“Sometimes I’ll be a filter, but mainly a mentor,” Breen said.
