OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — About 100 Westside students fill the journalism hall, at Westside high school, working for five student-led publications.
"They are the future and you know and we need to trust that they are going to be great," said Aaron Stepp, a journalism advisor at Westside High School.
From research to writing, editing to production, Westside is teaching fundamental journalistic principles to the next generation.
"I think there is a lot of polarization about journalism right now, especially in this country about how we have freedom of speech and how people use that," said Tanatswa Chivero, a junior at Westside.
Chivero is currently managing editor for Westside Wired, the school's news website.
"Making sure like when you were writing the story, just re-reading it a few times and really seeing that it doesn't sound skewed or it doesn't sound like you were looking for something to say about something," Chivero said.
As she gives her peer's work a final look, sometimes she'll ask them to go interview again.
"Just that we can get more information. Just so you can have a broader perspective on the person or the subject before you go into what the story was supposed to be about," Chivero said.
Whether it's news or sports, these students are focused on the full picture.
"If we are telling a feature story on an athlete, you know it's important to have all the good, important details because leaving out important information is just like having a hole in the puzzle. It just doesn't all fit together," said Ryan Kelly, a freshman at Westside.
Skills like vetting sources, being fair and finding the news value is lessons journalism advisors Hillary Blayney and Aaron Stepp introduce early.
"The world is so full of a wide array of journalism, that we really want to make sure that we are training. The most well-rounded, fair, unbiased student journalists that we can put out into the world," Stepp said.
Across all of Westside's platforms, the teams work together and have achieved a lot, producing around 50 stories a week on their website.
"Oh this is just for a class, and it's no your stuff is getting read by people outside of this building. And their classmates and teachers take them seriously too," Blayney said.
Blayney and Stepp said they are proud and hopeful to see the students possibly enter this industry.
"I see lots of opportunities. Especially in the future because I am still pretty young and don't know what I am going to do yet. But I see a lot of opportunities and a great path that I can possibly take down the road," Kelly said.
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