B-CC administrators recalled the student newspaper, The Tattler, March 16, after parent and local reporter Andrea McCarren objected to having her photo above an article on the media’s portrayal of teen drinking.
Principal Karen Lockard authorized the paper’s redistribution March 20 and apologized to its editors, but the incident drew significant attention from the community. Bethesda Magazine wrote an online article about the incident March 23, followed by a March 27 Washington Post story. Tattler adviser David Lopilato responded to the Post story in a letter to the editor March 30.
The March 16 issue features a sidebar on page seven accompanied by a photo of McCarren, a WUSA 9 reporter who did a series of teen alcohol reports earlier this year. McCarren was concerned the photo would reignite bullying of her two children, who are B-CC students, according to the Washington Post. In February, she briefly removed herself from the drinking story because of the bullying, but she later returned to continue reporting the series.
Tattler editors defended their decision, saying that McCarren is a “public figure” since she had resumed her reports. Co-editor-in-chief Jackson Fritz said he was confused by the recall because editors hadn’t anticipated a problem with the photo. However, he understands the administration’s concern for student safety, he said. The newspaper’s online edition, Tattler Extra, agreed to remove the photo.
“Whatever the consequences of the picture, the only reason we printed it was because it represented an event that shaped the public image of our school,” Fritz said. “We didn’t think it would be an issue because McCarren put herself back on the story, and we presented her simply as a reporter. We were just re-reporting the news. Many of our staff are friends with her kids, and we had no intention of stirring anything up.”
Lockard’s email intended to simply halt distribution of the remaining papers, but Tattler staff misinterpreted it, and school staff began collecting all newspapers, even out of students’ hands, Fritz said.
When the papers were being recalled, B-CC students weren’t informed of why the paper was being pulled, and there were many false rumors, B-CC junior Tali Cohen said.
“When I first asked, somebody told me that it was because of racy content, which obviously was not the case,” she said. “I saw it on Facebook. One of the editors of Tattler [posted], ‘Sorry that it got recalled, here’s why.’ I don’t remember ever hearing why at school.”
The B-CC administration doesn’t exercise prior review, which is optional for MCPS schools, but Tattler editors show any potentially harmful articles to Lockard before the paper is printed, Fritz said.
“I think there should be some over-watch, because students may print things that have overreaching consequences,” Fritz said. “We have an excellent advisor. The problem was how the papers were taken. If Lockard believes that students may be harmed, I respect that, and I’m glad we were able to work things out.”
Montgomery County principals are allowed to review student newspapers before publication, but few, if any, administrators regularly exercise that ability, principal Alan Goodwin said. If a potential problem emerges, they can more effectively prevent a disruption or unsafe situation by reading the paper beforehand, rather than trying to recall it, he said.
“I don’t censor our paper, [but] sometimes a principal has to take someone’s safety into account,” he said. “Usually that’s done before publication. Once a paper is out, it’s hard to pull it back. Holding back the paper may have caused more problems than anticipated.”
Goodwin said he understands Lockard’s concern for her students’ safety but said he doesn’t plan to review or censor Whitman’s student publications.
“It’s philosophy,” he said. “I’m a student of the ’70s and ’80s, when there was a huge interest in openness and keeping things transparent. I don’t know what may happen sometime in the future, but after 13 years of being here and never having to have [censored], I’d like to think that we won’t have to do it.”
