Last year, Newsmagazine journalist, senior Reba Khadka wrote a story on the complicated relationship between popular rapper Kanye West’s controversial online presence and his existence as a well-loved musician amongst teenagers. 

In writing such, Khadka was forced to pay special attention into who she interviewed, how she interviewed them, how she wrote them into the story so they weren’t subject to criticism, and elements of the design that could and couldn’t be there according to the higher-ups. 

Under the jurisdiction of the authority figures around her and the general public who’ll read the article: Khadka’s experience between showcasing a full story to showcasing an ‘appropriate one’ proved difficult, and evidently gave rise to questions asking: “What can censorship truly be defined as? Guidelines for creative success or restrictions limiting such?”

However, you’ll find the answer often depends on who you ask. 

“I do think it’s different whenever you’re the person creating that content- when you’re the person that has to go and find those people, get those interviews, write that story,” says Khadka. “It’s different because those ‘guidelines’ to me, if anything, are not a redirection to something creative. It’s more like now I have to think two steps ahead.”

Media censorship is a concern that even professional journalists have to deal with in the working world. Although professional journalists typically have more freedom, there are still limitations on what they can and can’t publish. Journalism teacher and Newsmagazine advisor, Aaron Kasinitiz has dealt with both sides of media censorship. 

“As a professional journalist, I didn’t really need to worry about any larger entity because the free press is as protected as you can really be,” Kasinitiz said. “I never felt like I couldn’t report what I wanted to report, but beyond censorship, there’s also pressure. There’s always people who don’t want you to get it out, but I never felt censored.” 

However, Mr. Kasinitz’s view doesn’t match everybody’s. In some countries around the world, the press freedom index is 21.72 on a 100-point scale. The U.S. itself, despite being a developed country, is only in 45th place out of 180 total. As for why journalists are seemingly so often censored, Khadka can think of a few reasons. 

“Many journalists are much smaller compared to [several] big, big corporations or powers they might want to speak out against,” Khadka said. “They’ve been finding them, they’ve been killing them, they’re getting told, ‘Hey, you should just be quiet about everything that’s going on.’ And I really admire their bravery because it’s so much to [risk] your life to show the real situation, especially when there’s no protection.”

However, Principal Zurek, as the main authority figure at Heritage, argues that even those who have to ‘censor’ are bound by rules and regulations around them to do so.

“Schools are a little more complicated than just the mainstream media,” Principal Zurek said. “You know they can talk about whatever they want, [but] we have a lot of people to answer to as a public school, with a community and a school board, and there’s a lot of politics involved with that.”

Some would argue that censorship also works as a factor that restores balance, similar to the way that laws do in a society. A world without some sort of laws could easily be negative, connecting to how censorship can also benefit articles. Assistant principal Rebecca Hill describes how media censorship has helped create a safer environment in school for Heritage students. 

“I think the biggest thing that we find in censorship would maybe be like filtering content to students while using the internet at school,” Hill said. “That’s the thing that’s constantly evolving and we are making sure that we are keeping kids safe, so that they can’t look at unsafe things on the internet while also providing them the opportunities to learn from a variety of sources. Because otherwise, I think we’ve done a good job here and we’ll continue to do a good job here of just fostering that openness and willingness to explore even difficult concepts.”

The issue of media censorship is more complicated than there being a right or wrong answer. Journalists have to be mindful of being neutral in what they write, especially if they don’t fully believe the information is completely factual; however, there are also many out there who will get mad regardless of the information’s validity. We wonder, “Is censorship a means to protect? Or is it a means to leave the public ignorant?” without taking into consideration the fact that every person in the story is just trying to fulfill their responsibilities. All these questions can leave it easy to wonder how one could possibly define ethical journalism at the end of the day; however, Mr. Kasinitz offers an answer. 

“Journalism is not just what you know is true, but what you can prove to be true,” Kasinitz said. “If you feel confident that something is worth reporting, report it.”