From the rapid rise of ISIS in Syria and Iraq to down- right cruel political attack ads filling commercial breaks, media outlets have become pretty glum. Ebola headlines are just some of the multiple viruses on the news prompting me to double-pump the hand-sanitizer. Fanatical reports regarding American politics, bathed in bias, are crop- ping up all over the internet. I can’t get on Twitter, turn on the TV, scroll through Facebook or sit through my first hour with- out being dragged into the assumption that the world might actually be ending this time.
So where’s the good news? You’re looking at it. Before you scroll, click, double-tap your way through that brightly-lit screen, take a second to enjoy a throwback. Newsprint, inky fingers, and stories that speak from your perspective: a stu- dent. That’s who we are. We aren’t flashy. We report, we dis- cuss, we educate.
While channels like MSNBC and Fox believe in spewing bias dipped in negativity, we here at the Harbinger believe in objectivity and truthful journalism. The beauty of high school publications across the nation is that they not only give a voice to the youth, they emphasize the importance of good writing. It’s hard to count the times we’ve discussed whether or not a certain phrasing might hint at a bias, or accidentally give the wrong connotation.
In this increasingly polarized world of media, it’s good to be surrounded by students who understand what it means to be objective, what it means to see both sides. We’re not paid, we don’t do it for our GPAs or resumes. We’re here because we love this. We love late nights fueled by pizza and coffee. We love debating comma placement and a certain tint of yellow. We like to decipher coded edits, laugh as one more person ac- cidentally leans too far back in a J-room chair, and most of all, we like East. We’re here for ourselves, but we’re also here for you, the reader.
From bowling team members to Lancer Dancers, we represent a wide stretch of East. That diversity is the crux of our staff. In simple terms, we’re people who care about other peo- ple. We see the good of East, and we also see the bad. And, above all else, we strive to give our student body something to look forward to every other Monday.
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