The HS Beat: High schoolers – don’t be afraid to cover politics: a step-by-step guide

This article was originally published on The Nutgraf.

Korea, only a few weeks away from the June 3 presidential election, will choose the successor to impeached Yoon Suk-yeol. Political stories often trip up beginner writers due to their vulnerability to bias. Read more for tips on how to dissect politics as a student journalist. 

In school papers, most political coverage focuses on national or global stories that echo the reporting of big legacy media or local news outlets. While these stories involve little more than paraphrasing sources, more local and unique pieces that resonate with a student audience often receive better engagement. 

While we student journalists aim to bring as much of the professional newsroom buzz to our own publications, student newspapers often cannot match professional outlets on speed and access to politicians. 

Thus, high school writers should differentiate themselves from professional news organizations with original student insights or community relevance. “High engagement often comes from pieces tied to the school community,” said Arthur Hu (“26), the founder of student news organization Policy Insights and Voices of Tomorrow (PIVOT). 

But, student journalists should not be afraid to embody the work of professionals – attend protests, showcase your staff profile and interview original voices. 

If SNO hosts your publication, it looks as impressive as a corporate news website to the public, so make sure to showcase your work.  “When I went to a protest to get interviews, I was reporting with my school uniform on and told others I was a reporter from DIS, and a lot of them were very supportive. They were more willing to cooperate by disclosing their faces and names in interviews as it increased my credibility,” said Bonnie Kim (“27), a Jets Flyover writer. 

In order to differentiate oneself, student journalists must interview authentic stakeholders. It is clearly more difficult than simply interviewing adults and students around you for their thoughts, but those interviews do not reveal anything new for the readers. Why read an article that oly features information that even random bystanders know about?” said Jerome Kwon (“26), the opinions editor of the Jets Flyover. 

During the research process, try to avoid bias as much as possible. “The way that we advise to find sources is to go to All Sides Media. It basically tells you the political alignment of any given news source or any article on any given topic. Just try to pick the most middle-aligned one, and from that, have your own opinion,” Hu said. 

Writers can also utilize portals like Ground News which displays the proportion of left, center, or right media outlets that cover specific topics. One can also go to middle-aligned outlets such as Reuters. 

While political coverage entails heavy opinions, newbie writers often fall into the trap of loaded language.  “A lot of instances where people use polarizing language are in adjectives – they'll use discouraging adjectives like ‘evil’ or ‘sadistic or ridiculous, but you don’t want to make the other side seem like [that] because that just further divides,” Hu said.

With interview-based stories, gather opinions from all sides and let your interviewees give the hot takes. 

To further avoid bias, keep your adjectives in check. “We usually just take the adjective out because I think opinions can speak for themselves and you don’t need to amplify them with an adjective that is seemingly arbitrary,” Hu said. 

Instead of polarizing language, use analogies and humor to make complex topics more digestible. “For example, with tariffs, it's a lot of work trying to explain trade deficits and the equation that Trump used. So you might use an analogy like, ‘You're a medieval farmer and you're selling fruits to a local village. And then they want to increase their domestic production of fruits. So they're going to tax you,” Hu said. 

Political coverage forces students to process complex issues, organize their thoughts, and move beyond surface-level social media clickbait. It instills independent thinking, research literacy, and respectful discourse in the writer and simultaneously allows readers to encounter nuanced perspectives that don’t attack opposing views.

Cover global news stories that happen in your backyard to boost your confidence with authentic experiences and dip your toes into what professional journalists do.