OPINION STORIES

When writing journalistically, we are taught to remain neutral, not inserting our ideas or thoughts into the story. However, the one time we can express what we think and show the readers a little bit about ourselves is through opinion stories. Not only are we given creative freedom in this section of journalism, but the chance to make change within our community by expressing how we feel about specific topics. The importance of journalism is to tell stories, lift voices, and at the same time spark change when needed. In this section, you'll uncover stories that reveal both personal opinion and truth, some adding on to issues and others communicating lighthearted information.

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*Graphic created & provided by Ashley Repine

Opinion: Artificial Intelligence Will Be the Death of Journalism

After going to my first JEA/NSPA National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts, I went to a session that was encouraging student journalists to use AI to help them write their stories. As someone who believes in creating authentic work by humans for humans, I was beyond shocked that this adviser wanted students to stoop down and have something else do their work for them. So, I left the session early and told my adviser about what I heard.

Since then, I have been advocating for student journalists to produce their own work AI free. While this piece isn't my strongest work, it's one of the first that shows my passion for staying true to our ethics and helping others do the same.

Review: Highlighting Two Common Summer Migration Birds

In my free time, I enjoy doing bird photography, which gave me the idea to write an article about some of the seasonal birds in our area. Originally, I planned to write about four different birds. However, I realized photos would be an issue, since some hadn't migrated over yet and I wouldn't have enough space to write everything I wanted. So, I settled on two birds, the violet-green swallow and osprey.

For this article, I wanted to inform readers on where these birds can be found, but primarily, I wanted to show the features that make them so unique. Even if they appear the same at first glance, each bird species is different from one another and hold a niche that ultimately contributes to the ecosystem they are within. While not a traditional opinion story, I hope the information I shared gets people outside to learn something new about their environment.

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Opinion: We Need Better Placement of Our 30-Minute Work Time

During my sophomore year, I started getting annoyed that the bulk of my schoolwork was assigned to me after Advisory, our 30-minute study period. Seeing that I wasn't the only person who felt this way, I decided to write about why the current system in place was faulty and what could be done for it to better support students.

This was my first opinion piece directed towards an issue in our school. Looking back, there are things I would change about this story, primarily adding more details and a survey for students to share how they feel.

While our school admin has not changed our study period to the end of the day, I still firmly believe in my opinion two years later.

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