High school journalists in Kansas land a scoop
Four days after students at a high school newspaper in Kansas published an article that questioned the credentials of a recently hired principal, she resigned Tuesday.
The episode, which unfolded at Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg, Kan., about 125 miles south of Kansas City, garnered news coverage and won praise from journalism organizations for investigative reporting by students.
The story began to germinate on March 6, when the Pittsburg Community Schools announced it had hired Amy Robertson as the high school principal.
Maddie Baden, a 17-yearold junior and a staff member of the student-run newspaper The Booster Redux, set out to write a profile. Emily Smith, a teacher and adviser to The Redux, said Wednesday that she had not expected the reporting to lead to questions about Ms. Robertston’s credentials.
But in multiple interviews over several days, Ms. Robertson provided details of her background that did not hold up, Ms. Smith said.
Then Ms. Robertson became increasingly evasive.
Ms. Smith coached the students to press for clearer responses, pushing them to be more assertive with an adult in authority than they were accustomed.
The students questioned the legitimacy of Corllins University, an institution where Ms. Robertson said she got her master’s and doctorate degrees. It lists no physical address on its website and has been the subject of consumer complaints and warnings about its lack of accreditation. Her profile on LinkedIn did not identify where she had earned her master’s degree and Ph.D., listing only “N/A.”
At a time of shrinking resources in newsrooms, students are helping to fill gaps in coverage, said Tom Rosenstiel, executive director of the American Press Institute, adding, “There’s a sense that significant journalistic investigations can come from anywhere now.”
Under Kansas state law, high school journalists are protected from administrative censorship. “The kids are treated as professionals,” Ms. Smith said. But with that freedom came a major responsibility to get the story right, Ms. Smith said. It also meant overcoming a natural hesitancy many students have to question authority.
Advertisers flee O’Reilly
NEW YORK — More advertisers fled Bill O’Reilly’s show on Wednesday, with drugmaker Pfizer and real estate company Coldwell Banker among the latest to distance themselves.
The snowball effect began Monday after a weekend report in The New York Times that Mr. O’Reilly and his employer paid five women $13 million to settle harassment or other allegations of inappropriate conduct.
As of Wednesday, a total of about 20 advertisers — from Mercedes Benz to Allstate — had confirmed pulling out. But while the advertisers’ moves may send a strong signal to consumers, so far, it is unclear whether there will be any long-term negative impact on either Fox News or “The O’Reilly Factor.”
Storms in the Southeast
ATLANTA — A large tornado touched down in southwest Georgia on Wednesday as high winds downed trees and power lines and other parts of the Deep South reported heavy rains and hail as large as baseballs.
There were no immediate reports of injuries, deaths or major damage from the tornado in Georgia’s Stewart County, authorities in the largely rural region said. National Weather Service meteorologist Keith Stellman said the tornado touched down about noon and traveled some distance on the ground.
Pilot ejects before crash
CLINTON, Md. — A fighter jet pilot on a training mission ejected safely before the aircraft crashed Wednesday in a wooded area in a Washington suburb. Witnesses reported the sound of live ammunition.
The crash was close enough to spray debris and set small brush fires in the surrounding neighborhood but remarkably caused no serious injuries or damage, local and military officials said.
Also in the nation ...
The Arkansas Parole Board on Wednesday recommended the governor alter the state’s unprecedented execution schedule and grant mercy to a death row inmate who directed the torture and murder of a teenager more than two decades ago. ... A second teen has been taken into custody in connection with the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl that was recorded on Facebook, police said. ... Authorities have agreed to transfer South Carolina church shooter Dylann Roof to federal custody following an agreement to plead guilty to state murder charges, thus avoiding a second death sentence.