By Jane Palen

You could say that March is newspaper month. On March 7-11, we celebrate Newspaper in Education Week. And Sunday, March 13, marks the beginning of ìSunshine Week,î part of an effort by the National Newspaper Association to promote discussion and awareness of the need for open government.

The Goal of NIE Week is to reinforce a positive and relevant lifetime reading habit in students by engaging them with the newspaper. This yearís focus is multi-cultural literacy and the challenge of developing literacy skills in a multi-cultural society.

Educators in our school district do an excellent job of bringing the newspaper to students. Mrs. Barb Rollins uses the newspaper in her reading class, and recently delivered a stack of ìthank youî letters from students. Here are some excerpts:

ìI like reading the sports section the most. I like reading the articles that are short.î

ìThe Argus is full of information and I thank you for giving them to our class.î

ìI look for the public record first; reading that stuff is fun. Luckily, I donít know the people very often,î

ìI like reading about the deer and turkey people shot. I like reading the public record to see if any if my family is keeping secrets from the rest of us.î

ìI think itís (The Argus) is almost as good as the La Crosse Tribune except for the comics.î

ìWhy donít you over the junior varsity soccer team? After we beat La Crescent we won every game til the end of the season. You should really think about getting some pictures of the team while we are playing next season.î

ìI donít really like to read the newspaper but Mrs. Rollins makes me do it.î And further on in the same letter, ìI think it is a good thing that you make something that can give people notices about stuff, and give people the news around town. Keep up the good work.î

We are pleased that the students are given the opportunity to read and to comment on the content of the newspaper. Learning to approach the newspaper with a critical eye is an important skill and one that we should all practice no matter what newspaper we are reading.

On March 16, we will publish our sixth ìCaledonia Courierî which features artwork and essays from local students. The support for the Courier, for the special salute in this weekís paper and for many special sections is due to the support of local advertisers, who enthusiastically embrace projects that have to do with the school whether theyíre in the newspaper or in the form of a donation.

Sunshine Week is designed to raise awareness of the need for open government. In the midst of fear and concern over possible security threats, most Americans donít realize that the rights afforded under the 40-year-old Freedom of Information Act are being slowly eroded. FOIA requests are backlogged and reporters are finding new roadblocks to gaining information. The bipartisan Open Government Act would close FOIA loopholes, restores deadlines on FOIA requests and makes it easier for citizens to gain information.

As a reporter, I am no more entitled to information than the average citizen. Perhaps because of my experience I may know who to ask or where to look, but I have no more rights than anyone.

One of the responsibilities we have is to report on the workings of government. If a government meeting is closed, we think the public should no that. In most cases, itís not a judgement on whether it was right or wrong. just that it happened.

Itís frustrating, then, that a study published in USA today found that one in three high school students believe that government should have approval before stories are run. Thirteen percent have no opinion. Just over half think newspapers should be able to publish freely.

Almost a third, 32 percent, believe that the press has too much freedom.

The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech, of the press and of religion. We are grateful to have educators in our district who are willing to shed some light on those freedoms.

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Caledonia Argus
314 West Lincoln St.
P.O. Box 227
Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475

E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com