Commitment to Diversity
Commitment to Diversity
Embedded Files
To be a journalist means to embrace diversity in all spectrums. As EIC, diversity in reporting has always been an emphasized focus and priority. The idea of diverse reporting often reminds why I am a journalist today, and why I will continue in the future.
To be a journalist means to embrace diversity in all spectrums. As EIC, diversity in reporting has always been an emphasized focus and priority. The idea of diverse reporting often reminds why I am a journalist today, and why I will continue in the future.
Here, I am proud to present my newspaper's editorial policy. We establish that we are a public forum that helps protect the independence of student journalists, lets community members participate, and prohibits discrimination. All of these truly illuminate the importance of having a large number of stories told and represented as storytellers.
The Purple Tide is the official student-produced medium of news and information published and produced by journalism students. It has been established as a public forum for student journalists to inform and educate their readers as well as for the discussion of issues of concern to their audience.
The mission of The Purple Tide is to provide an outlet for student expression, present unbiased news coverage and inform and entertain students, faculty, staff and other members of the community. Student journalists are required to promote responsible journalism and cannot violate the prohibitions on written expressions contained in Regulation 2612 of the Fairfax County Public Schools guidelines.
The Purple Tide is not reviewed or restrained by school officials prior to publication or distribution. Because school officials do not engage in prior review, and the content of The Purple Tide is determined by and reflects only the views of the student staff, its student editorial board and responsible student staff members assume complete legal and financial liability for the content of the publication.
Unsigned editorials reflect the majority opinion of the journalism staff. Otherwise, opinions expressed are not necessarily the views of the staff, Editorial Board or adviser.
We welcome letters to the editor, but only signed letters will be considered for publication. Due to space limitations, not all letters will be published, and we reserve the right to edit them for length as long as the meaning remains intact. Letters to the editor should be emailed to CHSpurpletide@gmail.com or sent to Room 228 at Chantilly High School. The publication may also be contacted at (703) 222-6318.
We reserve the right to refuse ads. All ads will be reviewed by the Editorial Board in accordance with established criteria. The Purple Tide does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, handicap or nationality or on matters regarding sexuality, religion or political affiliation.
The Blacklist
The Blacklist
In The Purple Tide, there's a "Blacklist." This helped us keep track of who we've interviewed over the school year to make sure we maintain diversity of viewpoints in our reporting.
The Purple Tide has a rule that we just avoid interviewing the same person twice. If needed to, so be it (like an administrator), but more than that... is a no.
The chart here is from when I was Editor-in-Chief in my junior year (this one was made by my co-EIC). We always made sure to remind the class to fill out the names to uphold our standards.
Diversity in sports
Diversity in sports
I always design the season's sports roundup pages, a concept I created recently in my second year as EIC. Many times, the articles in the Sports section could not cover all the actual sports of the season. For example, we would not be able to cover the swimming team. This method ensured every team was heard; as an athlete myself, I know how much recognition in the newspaper is needed. This also ensures loyal readers (as told to me by strangers)!
However, when I was putting them all together, my adviser noticed that all the sports on the left page were girls' sports; there were no boys. Although we had looming deadlines, the sports blurb page had to be redone. So, I quickly thought of the other sports in the winter season where boys played and noted them. Knowing track was one of them, I grabbed my press pass and camera and rushed to the track field. There, I crouched down and took a couple of pictures, one of which was used on the right page. Additionally, I contacted an editor who was on the swim team to take pictures of the boys' swim team practices. Now the balance was 2:3 instead of 0:5, ensuring a diversity in the genders represented.
Additionally, there are many instances where we do not report on all the sports in the current season. In those cases, we use this sports round-up to include them all. After all, athletes and teams want to be seen for the hard work they do representing our school!
Diversity in Opinions
Diversity in Opinions
The Opinion section is where I argue that diversity of thought truly comes to life. Arguments are presented, and cases are made. But I think the best way to read on a topic is to read up on both sides of the argument through one method of reporting: Pro/Cons. During my time as Editor-in-Chief, the topics could be things from coffee drinking to state-wide laws affecting hundreds of thousands of students.
Here's a Pro/Con on the new phone policy that was happening in Virginia. Since it was a topic of great attention and contention, The Purple Tide made sure it was a Pro/Con to allow readers to get both sides of the story.
Here's another of our Pro/Cons that did not make it to print (therefore, there's no design to go with it).
Diversity in News
Diversity in News
Campaigns work toward winning special election
Campaigns work toward winning special election
Huda Noorzai, Copy Editor/Graphic Editor
Republican candidate Stewart Whitson delivers a speech at the Virginia Republican Ticket rally on July 1.
Whenever we include anything related to political candidates, I ensure that both sides are covered equally. This philosophy is the core of unbiased reporting here at The Purple Tide.
When I was editing Huda's article here about a local election between the Democratic nominee James Walkinshaw and the Republican nominee Stewart Whitson, I had to make sure that we represented both candidates in the fairest way possible. Even seemingly small details, like both the pictures being about Walkinshaw, not Whitson, could convey that we favor one candidate over the other. Therefore, I reminded her that we needed both.
Read the full article here.
Things I noted/ensured
Two quotes each from each nominee
One picture per nominee
Description of each's focus on their campaign
Diversity in groups we cover
Diversity in groups we cover
Diversity doesn't have to be the literal demographics; it can be who we are, which extends to people who are not as widely reported on. After all, a school isn't just comprised of who is in our classes. Note: these are some examples, not all, of how I keep our publication diverse in stories.
Custodians
Custodians
Custodians. The backbone of how our school keeps running. Without them, our school would be a mess and a hazard to learn in. Research even points to an increase in academic performance when schools have clean facilities. Even when our school is facing a custodial staff shortage, they do their work for the community. This article I wrote is ready to be published, but unreleased (since articles that go in print have to wait to be published). Here's a spoiler of it if you're looking at my profile before Feb. 27. I truly wanted to highlight the head custodian and the work he and his team do (he is such a ball of sunshine!!).
fianf.pdfStudents with disabilities
Students with disabilities
Students with disabilities do not make up a majority of our student body at Chantilly High School, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't cover them any less. So when there was news about shortcomings our district had with this group of students, I jumped at the opportunity to report on them. This article can be read here.
FCPS addresses pandemic learning losses for students with disabilities
FCPS addresses pandemic learning losses for students with disabilities
Completed Countdown: CHS’ special education office celebrates a completed goal of 311 meetings for the COVID-19 compensatory education plan.
**Side note: Chantilly High School's demographics
At CHS, the biggest demographic are Asians, at 39.8%. Then it's 33.5% White, 15.8% Hispanic, 5.6% Black, 5.0% two or more races, 0.3% American Indian/Alaska Native, and 0.1% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander. At The Purple Tide, we aim to include all the best we can.
Information according to U.S. News.
Religious practices/holidays p.1
The majority of students at CHS do not practice Ramadan, but The Purple Tide aims to cover it, especially when there are issues with the resources given to the students who practice it. Read this article here.
Muslim students navigate support offered during Ramadan
Emaan Yousaf, staff writer
The prayer section resides in the corner of the library alongside the prayer mats. This area can be visited during school hours for students to pray.
Religious practices/holidays pt. 2
Three Kings Day is a Hispanic holiday. While the Hispanic demographic at CHS is only 15.8%, we strive to cover it. It means a lot to many people in the Chantilly community, as seen in this article.
Celebrating Three Kings Day with tradition, significance
Camila Rodriguez-Marrero, staff writer
Traditional Hispanic food used to celebrate during Three Kings Day.
Here are other examples I am proud my staff covered:
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