MEDIA AND PRESIDENTIAL ENDORSEMENTS / UCLA ARRESTS PRO-GAZA PROTESTERS / FACT CHECKING TRUMP AND HARRIS

In this special episode of Studio 640, the panel and host record live from the campus of Los Angeles Valley College in Valley Glen, CA (Just North of Los Angeles). The first topic deals with the revelation that some major newspapers will not publish an endorsement for President. The panel weighs in on whether endorsements really matter anymore. Next up, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) cleared out and arrested protesters from a pro-Gaza group; is it time to offer ‘free speech zones’ on all campuses or should school leadership crack down on the disruptions? Finally, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have gotten more personal in their attacks on each other. Should the media fact check everything they say? The panel includes Madison Thacker and Olamide Olumide, student journalists from The Mirror Newspaper at Van Nuys High School, and Angel Silva and Daimler Koch, student journalists with the Valley Star Newspaper at Los Angeles Valley College. If you're interested in being a panelist click here.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, it's Steve Gregory. Thank you for joining us for
this episode of Studio six forty on demand. This week's
panel on Studio six forty.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Hi, my name is Madison Thacker and I'm a senior
at Vanni's High School.

Speaker 3 (00:12):
Hi.

Speaker 4 (00:12):
My name is Angel Silva and i am a returning
students at Vada College.

Speaker 3 (00:16):
Hello. I'm Olamireo Lumedi and i am a junior at
Vannics High School.

Speaker 5 (00:20):
And I'm Donald Cooke. I'm a new student at Los
Angeles Valley College.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
The only program in southern California that breaks down the
stories of today through the voices of tomorrow's journalists. The
students come from campuses large and small, public and private.
This is Studio six forty. I'm Steve Gregory. Thanks for

(00:48):
joining us. Our top story at.

Speaker 6 (00:50):
The LA Times, three top editors have resigned in protest.
The owner, Patrick Sushong, said he wants to be less
divisive in this polar atmosphere that would have been flying
if they'd said that six months ago or three months
from now. His daughter says she was involved in the process,
and this is really about the US financing genocide in Gaza,

(01:13):
So they're unhappy with colin positions there. So what's your
takeaway from both of these cases.

Speaker 7 (01:20):
Yeah, in the instance of the daughter particularly fascinating because
then you have a paper questioning you know how broadly
the entire family is having an influence not just on
the editorial page, but potentially on what's covered in the
newspaper itself. The Times owner, doctor Patrick Shring, as you mentioned,
he had put out a statement he said, I have
no regrets whatsoever. In fact, I think it was exactly
the right decision. The process was to decide how do

(01:42):
we actually best inform our readers, And there could be
nobody better than us who try to sift through the
facts from the fiction.

Speaker 1 (01:48):
Okay, Angel Silva, managing editor of the Valley Star newspaper
here in the Valley Star newsroom on the campus of
Los Angeles Valley Community College, Welcome to the show. Angel,
First question to you endorsed and do they matter anymore?

Speaker 4 (02:03):
I think as a paper of report, I believe that
it's interesting because you also have the big the big
responsibility of newspapers certain form books, right, but it's also
about the commentary about what's happening, but the commentary of
like what what things are going to come up in
terms of large scale events, and I think what happened

(02:26):
at the Times, and also what happened also at the Post,
the Washington Post, because there was also an endorsement there
that was pulled back by the owner, Jeff Bezos. I
think when you do that, you prevent the newspaper from
actually being able to provide commentary on what's going on.
And in terms of an endorsement, that is commentary, that's
not It's not so much like this is the fact

(02:49):
it's an editorial group comings to guy that to say,
this is why we are choosing to endorse this person,
this is what our opinion is, and this is why
we believe this is the best choice. And so when
you prevent a newspaper from doing that, it's almost like
you're depriving them of the ability to provide analysis that
can determine whether or not someone is going to decide

(03:12):
who to vote for. On the other hand, it's also
interesting because at this point, given how things are, it's
it tends to be a little bit later in the campaign.
I think in the newspaper, mean you had comments on
the person saying, oh, it makes sense that this it
would have made sense that this was happening six months ago,
but with just under a week before the election itself.

(03:32):
It's kind of a let's the question as to like,
what was this actually done for fairness in accuracy or were
there other motives involved?

Speaker 1 (03:40):
Okay Van Nights High School twelfth grader Madison Thacker, so
I asked a question if endorsements really matter, and to
Angel's point, he says, well, it's really editorial, so they're
entitled to their opinion. But do you think anybody is
swayed by what journalists think about a candidate?

Speaker 5 (03:59):
So?

Speaker 2 (03:59):
I think people, we are all influenced by the people
around us. I think if you take away opinions from people,
if you take away opinion from the media, you're going
to be left with just strict facts. And I think
opinion really changes a person's view. I think if you
were to take away editorials from newspapers and you were
to take away that opinion, you'd be left with people
who didn't know what they were talking about. And then
if you have journalists who are trained, people who are

(04:21):
trained on how to give their opinions, these people are
going to be able to provide the facts and their
opinion at the same time, I don't know if anybody
is really swayed by every single opinion they ever read.
But as the mass media, journalists are able to influence
the people as a whole as publications, because people are
going to align their views with what they read.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
Daimler Coke also with the Los Angeles Valley Community College
the Valley Star newsroom. What I'm getting at here is
do you think people really care what journalists think? Oh?
Absolutely yeah? And why yeah? I think so.

Speaker 5 (04:53):
I think people absolutely do care about what newspapers think
because they still so much trust in these large outlets
like the LA Times and the Washington Post. And I
think they still do look forward towards these media outlets
as to make a decision, making an informed decision.

Speaker 1 (05:14):
About who to.

Speaker 5 (05:17):
Who to vote for in the upcoming election, and these
presidential endorsements can help, can help, can certainly help sway
their vote or inform their vote, I should say. And
I still think that endorsements still provide a way for
voters to make an informed decision about November election, and

(05:41):
we have that responsibility as journalists, opinion journalists, mind you
to to provide that for our readers.

Speaker 1 (05:51):
I think so We're going to go over now to
Ola Media Illumidae High School junior with Van Nuys High School. Uh,
talk about how you view endorsements. I mean, do you
think that your circle of friends when you give an
opinion about something, and you being a younger student journalist,
do you really think they hang on your every word

(06:12):
and they can't wait to find out what you have
to say.

Speaker 3 (06:15):
I would say no, because at the end of the day,
you can't force somebody to do something that they didn't
want to do in the first place. The only way
you can sway somebody is if they're unsure of their
position and they're being influenced by yours. But if you're
sure who you're going to vote for, there's no way
an article in the La Times is going to completely
change that decision to at three sixty. So I'd say

(06:36):
that based on the opinions of the readers, and like
you said, a friend group, I wouldn't say that your
my opinion would be the deciding factor of what they're
gonna do.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
Would you want that power?

Speaker 3 (06:49):
It'd be nice, like when planning group hangouts or anything.

Speaker 1 (06:53):
That'd be nice. Listen, when we come back, we'll continue
the conversation. We are at the Los Angeles Valley Community
College inside the Valley Star newsroom, and when we come back,
we'll talk more about today's topic. To learn how to
become a student panelist, go to KFIAM six forty dot
com slash studio. That's k FIAM six forty dot com

(07:13):
slash studio. Welcome back. This is Studio six forty. I'm
Steve Gregory. Thank you for joining us. We are inside
of the Los Angeles Valley Community College's Valley Star newsroom.
This is where we've assembled a panel of four on
this edition of Studio six forty. Joining us now is
a Madison Olamide and Angel and diam Ler. Before the break,

(07:36):
I was talking about endorsements with the La Times. Now
the La Times their editor quit. Some people have been
in uproar over this, so this is an open question
to the panel. Do you think at this point that
the owner of the La Times, Pastrick Shoushong, do you
think he has a responsibility to honor the editor's wishes
or does he, as the owner, have the ability to

(07:58):
do whatever he wants to do? Open question.

Speaker 3 (08:02):
I think when you take over a news outlet or
a news company, you were you have the responsibility to
let them do what they've been doing given before you
took over them. So it's freedom of press. They have
that as a newsroom. So you can't just because you
own the company or you own the paper, you can't

(08:23):
censor them just because you don't agree with something they're posting.
If you had that issue, you shouldn't be owning a newsroom. Also,
as far as I'm aware, he's not a journalist, is
he He's a doctor, right, Yeah, he's not a journalist.
He has no opinion in journalism. He just owns the company.
He just has enough money to own the company. That
does not mean he has the opinion to censor the

(08:44):
journalists who went to school, who have the training, who
have the experience. He just knows medicine. If he wants
to do something with medicine, that's his field, that's where
he shines.

Speaker 2 (08:52):
He just owns the company. He doesn't have the right
to censor the writers.

Speaker 4 (08:54):
It's kind of worrisome because you're seeing that, Like as
I mentioned before, you see this trend of the paper
owners intervening in the responsibilities of a newsroom. And when
that happens, it's not so much for journalistic reasons. It's
it's for underlying reasons. And it's interesting compared to comparison
to see what the Alt Times has done in relation

(09:15):
to the Washington Posts and on the other side, the
New York Times, which has been undabashed open about endorsing
Kamala Harris. So I believe that a newsroom is meant
to inform. A newsroom is meant to provide commentary and
information to the public. And if it's concerning when the
owner intervenes in this way, because that means as a president,

(09:39):
it says, it says the mindset of like, hey, I
can do this for this opinion piece. What about if
the paper is covering a story that may harm the
businesses that the owners have. It's kind of saying it's
okay for me to censor this because I was able
to get away with once. So I believe this is
harmful for journalism.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
Daimler. Journalism is at the bottom of the list when
it comes to trust. It ranks lower than the Congress
and Senate. The top three vocations are teachers and law
enforcement first responders. Don't you think that it's time that
journalism has to take a look at itself and figure

(10:22):
out how it gains the trust of the public back.

Speaker 5 (10:24):
Well, I don't think holding back in presidential endorsements with
stores that sort of trust at all. I think that,
you know, when I look at it as a student journalist,
when I see practical student Shong holding back the endorsement
for the La Times, when I see Jeff Bezos holding
back the endorsement for the Washington Post, I don't think

(10:46):
that they're doing this for altruistic reasons. Both of them
are saying that, you know, you know, these sort of
endorsements divide the country unnecessarily, but you know they're speaking
from the viewpoint of you know, rich billionaire owners, and I,
as a journalist, I don't trust that. I just don't

(11:09):
trust that sort of self censorship at all. And you know, again,
allow your journalists to speak freely, and I think the
trust will buility will build itself.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
Well a meite, do you think that the outrage would
still be the same level if it had been the
Trump endorsement that was being held back? I think yeah,
you think so.

Speaker 3 (11:31):
Yeah. And then on Diamer's comment about the owners of
these companies saying that putting out an endorsement would just
further divide the country. I would say the country is
already divided without the endorsements. So I don't think that's
a good enough reason to hold back somebody's journalistic rights.

(11:55):
I think it also begs the question, what else have
they answered that we don't know? We only know this
because it's the election is going to be in November.
It's such a big topic. So it's like, is this
new or have they been censoring their journalists before this?

Speaker 1 (12:07):
Well, you keep using the word sensor. You know, newspapers
historically have done this in the past. There if you
look at the history of The Times and you look
at Washington Posts many decades ago, they didn't do presidential endorsements,
so that president had been set, and then they started
to do it, you know, from the editorial board standpoint.

(12:28):
And then the thing is is the timing seems a
little weird. But I think it was the Minneapolis Star
that said they chose not to do endorsements too. But
they chose two months ago not to do endorsements.

Speaker 4 (12:39):
And that kind of goes back to a little bit
about the critiques about this sudden decision to censor it's
so close to the election. I think if it was
something that was going to be a lot more divisive,
then it should have happened months ago. And I think
what happened we were talking about the trust worth in
this in terms of the public seeing and journalism as

(12:59):
a whole as something that is not very popular. When
things like this happen, when you haven't inventioned by newspaper owners,
you lose whatever little trust the public had. Even further,
for example, there was Andrew Hoffman who was a candidate
for reelection to the LA Community College Board of Trustees.
She herself has renounced the endorsement of the La Times.

(13:21):
She actually went on record saying that asking the La
Times to be refrained from publishing that endorsement for the
rest of the campaign that she had. So it's like
when you have people that are running for office saying
my trust in the La Times has been eroded because
of these inactions, that just leads to further erosion of trust.

(13:41):
And if we want to work towards creating more trust
in our journalistic in our journalists in our newsrooms, actions
like this do not work towards something.

Speaker 1 (13:51):
Well, you're talking about trust in journalism, but remember this
is editorial These aren't reporters that are giving their endorsements.
So are you talking about trust in the editorial side
or try us in journalism, because it's two different it's
two different beasts.

Speaker 4 (14:03):
It is two different beasts. But I think it's also
like under the larger umbrella of the publication. And I
think when you tell Johns you cannot voice your opinions,
it's kind of telling folks like, hey, this is not
worthy you of like your time. And it doesn't matter
if it's like editorial, it doesn't matter if it's like
news reporting, this is not worthy of your time. So
I think that's something that's uh, even though it isn't

(14:24):
that isable thing. The erosion happens, the originon of trust
happens on both ms.

Speaker 1 (14:28):
Okay, we'll continue the conversation. We're going to take a break.
Welcome back to the studio six forty am. Steve Gregory,
Thank you for joining us. We are at the campus
of the Los Angeles Valley Community College. We are taping
today inside of the Valley Star newsroom, where we're joined
by two journalists from Van Nuys High School and two

(14:50):
journalists from the college here, and we have been talking
about the I guess the very controversial decision by the
owner of the La Times to not publish an endorsement
for Kamala Harris. The same thing happened in Washington Post.
Other newspapers around the country are also facing some of
the similar issues. We've been having a discussion a little
bit about what the role of the newspaper should be,

(15:13):
whether it's on the editorial side or the reporter journalist side.
What I want to pose again, open to the panel,
is when you talk about eroding the public's trust because
they did not publish this endorsement, what about the erosion
of the public's trust because there's been so much bias
in coverage of these candidates.

Speaker 3 (15:34):
I think as journalists we have the responsibility, I guess,
to share both sides of the story. So yes, in
an editorial, it's the publication's opinion and the publication's decision
to endorse a certain candidate or not, But that you
don't have to end at that. I feel like you

(15:55):
can also you can put up other articles just factual
information about both candidates that doesn't sway the audience because editorial,
the point of that an editorial is not to sway
that you whatever your audience is about that topic. It's
just to share that your opinion as a publication.

Speaker 1 (16:12):
So wait a minute. You don't think that an editorial's
position is meant to sway a decision or meant to
sway opinion.

Speaker 3 (16:20):
I think it's just to share that the publication's opinion
on an issue, and if that sways the public, it's
sways the public. But I don't think that's the intention.

Speaker 1 (16:28):
Okay, do you all agree with that? Because my next
question is, don't you think an outlet's and whether it's newspaper, television, radio,
or online, don't you think an outlet's coverage biased coverage
of a candidate? Don't you think that's also a de
facto endorsement.

Speaker 3 (16:44):
Well, coverage shouldn't be biased.

Speaker 1 (16:46):
Well, of course, it shouldn't be. And I would love
to be able to say that this is a one
hundred percent objective industry, but it is not.

Speaker 4 (16:53):
And I think the big part of that is also
I think because it's it's it's hard to be a
notice in a post information society we have. I mean,
you've had politicians and folks to talk about this idea
of like, oh, alternative facts, and sometimes the facts contradict
with what we personally believe. And I know that there
is coverage of both candidates that is very critical of

(17:16):
the decisions. Both Trump and Harris have had very controversial
pasts all the way back from the time in previous
roles up until now as pessidential candidates, and I think
that's also something to take into consideration. Sometimes when folks
encounter information that is contrary to what they personally believe,
they decry it as biased, they decry it as a

(17:37):
news exactly.

Speaker 1 (17:38):
That's very common.

Speaker 4 (17:39):
That's a very common thing they were hearing nowadays, And
so I think it's also as a newspaper, it's important
to make sure that whatever you're covering is factual, accurate,
and as unbiased as possible talking about the facts. And
it doesn't matter who it is. It doesn't matter if
you're covering Kamala Harris, it doesn't matter if you're covering
Donald Trump. You have to be critical about both folks,

(18:00):
about both parties, because without that then you're just going
to have more of that mindset. And there's only so
much that we as publications can do to control how
people receive the facts. But all we can do is
to report those.

Speaker 1 (18:13):
Facts very good. Now before we move on, Well, it's
looks like you're about ready to say some but I
do want to give everyone opportunity to learn who you are,
So let's get started with hu. Madison, tell us who
you are and what you do at your high school.

Speaker 2 (18:23):
So, Hi, my name is Madison Thacker. Like I said,
I'm a senior at Vannaised High School. I'm currently the
co editor in chief of the VNHS Mirror at Van
Eyed High School. I'm also a theater kid. I do
all the theater stuff there, and this past summer I
was actually a high school intern with the La Times.
So I've been doing journalism for two years. Last year
I was the entertainment editor. Like I said, now I'm
the editor in chief. I hope to continue journalism in college.

(18:43):
I'm not exactly sure where I want to go yet,
but journalism is the future for me, hopefully, because I
do see a.

Speaker 3 (18:47):
Future in it.

Speaker 1 (18:48):
Excellent, Ola meidae Hi, like I.

Speaker 3 (18:51):
Said, I'm Ola Medae Olumida. I am a student, a
junior at Von Eics High School and I'm co editor
in chiefs with Madison for the NHS ME at school.
I am kind of a sports geek. I play for sports.
There are all different different seasons, so I can balance
it out. I also intend to pursue a career in

(19:12):
journalism and eventually law. I want to go to law school.

Speaker 1 (19:17):
So yeah, Angel.

Speaker 4 (19:21):
So, as I mentioned before, my name's Angel Silva. I
am the managing editor here at the Vallet Star. I
assist with everything newsroom related and work with the editor
to make sure that we are able to keep the
ship running. I am a returning student to Valley College.
I actually already got my degree and a bachelor's and
journalism from cal State Northridge, and I am here just

(19:42):
reassessing where to go. I had been working for a
while and I'm just back in college to figure out
what comes next.

Speaker 1 (19:48):
What is the golden stay journalism.

Speaker 4 (19:51):
Goal is to pursue it and see how far I
can take me.

Speaker 1 (19:55):
Good Luckamer, I'm Diamond Coke.

Speaker 5 (19:58):
I'm the online owner for the Los Angeles Valley College
Valley Star. I'm currently designing our new website, which will
hopefully go up over the winter break. I started out
with the Van Nuys High School Mirror in their journalism program,
and then I came here to Daubers Value Star after

(20:18):
college I hope to become an English professor really by
the way of journalism. By way of journalism exactly. I
love writing. Yeah, so that's the engine there.

Speaker 1 (20:29):
And let me ask you, uh, since all of you
are in journalism now, are experiencing journalism in some fashion,
do you foresee well paying career in journalism.

Speaker 3 (20:40):
No, that's one of my concerns. That's why I don't
say I want to be a journalist, but I want
to study journalism. I love to learn, so I would
love to study. I want a double major in English
and journalism in for undergrad and then, like I said,
law school. But I don't I don't see journalism being
a very well paid career. But it's a skill that

(21:00):
can help you in many careers.

Speaker 1 (21:02):
And so Madison, you've already been at the time, so
you've gotten a little taste of a newsroom on that
in that scale. Yes, does that make you want to
have a career in this?

Speaker 8 (21:10):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (21:11):
You know what, it was really wonderful being to work there.
I worked there first nine weeks over the summer. It
was very interesting. We worked down in the Elsagundo office
and it was very dead there. You know, they're still
under these like COVID protocols. We all had to wear
masks in the office. There were people in there, I believe,
one day a week for about four hours at a time,
so it wasn't your typical newsroom experience. I expected to
be there and there'd be people running around and near

(21:31):
the coffee machine, to be going like all this like
typical like movie stuff, and it really was like everybody
was still.

Speaker 3 (21:36):
Working from home.

Speaker 2 (21:36):
Yeah, and it was like, really this like time capsule
in a way. We called it of twenty twenty because
everything was just the exact same. So I did love
working there. I want to go into a real newsroom
today to see if I really want to go into journalism,
because it was just so different than what I was expecting.
But I did have a very good time and it
still furthered my interest in journalism good.

Speaker 1 (21:54):
When we come back, we'll head onto our new topic.
To learn how to become a student panelist, go to
KFIAM six forty dot com slash studio. That's KFIAM six
forty dot com slash studio. Got something to say? Contact

(22:18):
Studio six forty by pressing the red microphone talkback button
on the iHeartRadio app and record your message. Welcome back
to Studio six forty. I'm Steve Gregory. I appreciate you
joining us. We are taping at the Los Angeles Valley
Community College. We're inside the Valley Star newsroom where Professor
Bill Dabber has invited us to tape today's episode. And

(22:41):
we have been joined by two high school journalist from
Van Nis High School and two journalists right here at
the Valley College. So let's move on to our next topic.

Speaker 9 (22:50):
The war in the Middle East, though continues to spark
debate and protest on the campus at UCLA. One person
was arrested overnight when police cleared a demonstration on campus there.
NBC four is Karma Dickerson following these new developments.

Speaker 10 (23:04):
Police say almost all of the protesters left the area,
writing on x that with an unauthorized demonstration involving about
forty people at Dixon Court North.

Speaker 11 (23:13):
One of the protesters who stayed after the dispersal order
was issued was arrested.

Speaker 10 (23:19):
Sam Mulick is one of the student journalists at The
Daily Bruin who covered the demonstrations that were underway. By
nine Monday morning, Graduate Students for Justice and Palestine at
UCLA as well as Jewish Voices for Peace at UCLA
took to social media yesterday invited those who, in their words,
believe in justice and liberation for Palestine to gather in
Dixon Court. They called for an interfaith observation of Sukhote,

(23:42):
a seven day Jewish harvest holiday where asuka or temporary
hut is used.

Speaker 11 (23:47):
They set this up as a continuation of their protests
calling on the uc to divest from companies associated with
the Israelian military.

Speaker 10 (23:55):
At about three pm, UCLA police shared this photo, saying
those participate, we're violating university policy.

Speaker 1 (24:02):
Diamel, I want to start with you. Do you think
we're at the point now where campuses should continue to
tolerate these encampments in these protests or do you think
we're at the point now where students need to move on?

Speaker 5 (24:14):
I think, personally, I don't think we're at that point
where we need to quote unquote move on. I think
I think campuses should still tolerate these protests because you know,
it's it's still a form of free speech, and I
think it's really important that, as you know, a democracy,

(24:36):
we keep on fueling our desire for you know, you know,
to uh to speak our mind to protest what we
believe in. And as a journalist, I think you know
I can wholeheartedly get behind that.

Speaker 1 (24:54):
And yeah, Madison, do you think you know you have
you had any kind of these types of protests on
your high school campus.

Speaker 2 (25:03):
No, we have not, not on our campus. I haven't
heard of any kinds of protests specifically about this issue.
There are other protests about other issues on campus, but
nothing like this.

Speaker 1 (25:12):
Well, now that you mentioned, because it's unusual that you
have only in Los Angeles do you have protests on
high school campuses like that? But how has your campus
handled that in the past, or how has the district
handled that in the past.

Speaker 2 (25:24):
So, like I said, I believe in old media. Correct
me if I'm wrong. We haven't had any protests like
that on our campus. The most recent issue I can
quote is at Daniel Pearl High School just down the
road from US. They recently had two teachers that were displaced,
a Spanish teacher and a music teacher I believe, who
were displaced and transferred to other schools due to low enrollment. Now,
the students were unhappy with this. They had a walkout,
they had a protest, they had all kinds of things,

(25:45):
and they were able to get at least one. I'm
not sure if they had both, but at least one
of those teachers back. That's the biggest issue I've heard
about protest wise recently in LAUSD. The teachers let them protest,
the district let them protest, and they were able to
make an impact. It took a few weeks, It took
a lot of like posts and stories, a lot of
like math change that they had to have, but they
were able to get the change done because they let
them have the change, they let them work for it.

Speaker 1 (26:06):
Angel on college campuses, though, do you think I believe
here at La Valley Community College you have safe spaces,
don't you? You have safe spaces in which to protest.

Speaker 4 (26:17):
I think they're called for Amendment spaces, spaces where folks
can actually go ahead and demonstrate.

Speaker 1 (26:23):
And has it worked out?

Speaker 4 (26:27):
It's funny you mentioned that. Actually I actually wrote a
story about like a one year look into college campuses
after the start of the confident in Gaza, and we
haven't really had that many protests here at the campus
in regards to that. But I think it's also kind
of going back to what Diamond had said, about the
First Amendment rights to freedom of speech. I think as

(26:51):
long as this is an issue that students are passionate about,
as long as this is an issue that folks on
any of these sides are passionate about, I think they
should be allowed to make their voices heard, as long
as it's in the peaceful and safe manner. Of course,
what is defined as peacefu one safe is always going
to be up for debate between either side. I mean,

(27:13):
you had the this is not the first time that
this has happened at UCLA. You had the encampments where
that were in place earlier this year in May, and
the documented attacks from pro Israeli protesters on the encampments.
Following that, you had LAPD come in and dismantle the encampments.
So it's it's a matter of making sure that folks

(27:35):
are able to voice their opinion and are not persecuted
for doing so, and in doing that in a way
that does not stifle the voices of the students.

Speaker 1 (27:43):
But Daimler, that you heard angels say peaceful and safe manner.
But the word that's missing from that is legal. First
Amendment does not guarantee you that you can be destructive
It doesn't. It doesn't mean that you get to be violent.
And I think college campuses are having a balance that
with making sure students have the right to their First Amendment.

(28:06):
So where's the balance there and how far should a
college go?

Speaker 5 (28:09):
Well, I think that's I think I think you point
it out, that's the that's the tipping point. I think
that for me, that's the you know, when things turn
physically violent again, especially against a person or people, you know,
that's where I draw the line. I think that's where
your First Amendment rights end and where the college step in.

Speaker 1 (28:27):
And then I know the two of you that are
in high school right now, and you've said that you
don't really you're not experiencing at the level that they
are in college campuses. But I'm going to ask you anyway,
what do you think about the leaders, Like if your
high school principal started participating in these do you think
that school leadership should be participating in these protests in

(28:47):
these camps And then the same question is going to
go to you folks too, But I want to ask
the two high schoolers, what.

Speaker 3 (28:53):
Do you mean participating?

Speaker 1 (28:54):
Well, let's say if let's say let's say you had
a protest out on on the lawn of your Vaniis
High School. Do you think it's appropriate for the principal
to come out and participate in that school leadership? Do
you think it's appropriate for them to be an active
participant or should they have a role of making sure
that everyone stays safe. I'm just asking if you think
school leadership should be able to play a part in

(29:15):
a role in a protest.

Speaker 3 (29:18):
I think that they kind of have both responsibility responsibility
if they want to protest with the students. Honestly, I
would say that they should just focus on their job
as a school leader.

Speaker 1 (29:31):
We're gonna pond there. When we come back, We're going
to pick up that thought. This is Studio six forty.
I'm Steve Gregory. Thank you for joining us. We are
on the campus of the Los Angeles Valley Community College.
We are actually in the Valley Star newsroom where we've

(29:53):
been talking to two students from Van Nuys High School
and two students from the Valley College right here on campus.
Shouldn't Before the break, Olamide was asking you about the
role of school leadership and what they should or should
not be doing in times of protest and civil unrest.
And you were saying that you felt like that school

(30:13):
leadership should actually just focus more on run in the school.
Is that correct?

Speaker 11 (30:17):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (30:17):
Do you have any more thoughts on that To.

Speaker 3 (30:20):
Elaborate on it, I'd say that as a school leader you,
I'm sure there's more pressing issues to worry about, and
students protesting on your campus of course is one other
pressing issues. But siding with the students protesting in a
way is kind of maybe showing your school community that
you don't you don't stand for people with opposing opinions.

(30:46):
But as a school leader, I feel like you should
protect on keeping the school and the students safe and
your other jobs. It's not your spensibility to show your
school audience or your students what your opinion is. It's
your job to be the principal.

Speaker 1 (31:00):
About it. On the college side, do you think college
leaders should have the role of just overseeing or do
you think they should be active participants?

Speaker 4 (31:08):
Well, I think although me brings up a very interesting
point that obviously as humans we tend to be biased,
we tend to have our own opinions in certain things.
But as public servants, at least for public schools like
Valley College, you do have the responsibility to create an
environment where students feel feeability and freedom to share their opinions,

(31:32):
and you do run the risk of if one were
to if one as leadership were to voice their opinion
on a particular issue, people taking taking taking issue with
that because it's showing support from one sign more than
the other. So there is that to take into consideration.

Speaker 1 (31:50):
Well, leaders of major colleges back East lost their jobs
because they either didn't take any action or they voiced
an opinion that was perceived or construed as being supportive
or not supportive. So college leadership getting in the fray
of this, do you think that, I mean, I.

Speaker 4 (32:09):
Mean it's always at risk, right, It's always a risk
when folks do that. And that's the beauty of being
in the United States that we do have that freedom
to vocalize what we what our opinions are. That doesn't
mean that folks are free from the repercussions of the
set opinions. And I think that's what a lot of
folks encountered, Folks that were pro Israel or pro Palestine,

(32:30):
when they voiced their opinions, they found themselves dealing with
the repercussions of that, and I think that's what we
saw a lot of funny.

Speaker 1 (32:38):
Well, do you think that college leadership should be punished
when they give their opinions or canceled like some have been.

Speaker 4 (32:45):
I think that folks should have the freedom to vocalize
what they are, what they feel passionate about, but also
be cognizant of the fact that doing so may they
do repercussions.

Speaker 1 (32:56):
Well, how was it, How would a chancellor of a
school do that? How would they do that and keep balance?

Speaker 4 (33:04):
I think the emphasis would be focusing on making sure
that that say that there's a statement that it's about
the students, that there's a you know, that they're making
sure that they create environments for students feel that they
can talk about what they are passionate about. But of
course one runs the risk of beings like shown. It's like, oh,
you're not pro this side, you're not pro that side.

(33:25):
So I think it's a very tricky balancing act in
terms of like what leadership would have to do to
vocalize their support.

Speaker 3 (33:33):
I think either way, whatever side you're on, there's always
going to be backlash. So I'm not really sure if
there is a balance, because if you say nothing like
you said, they got fired. If you say you're on
one side, you might get fired. If you're on the
other side, you might get fired. So honestly, I think
it's up to whoever's like on it. I don't think
there's a way you can find the balance because you

(33:57):
can't make everybody satisfied no matter.

Speaker 1 (33:58):
What you do. Well. I mean, one of the ways
approaches to finding balance is not giving into the giving
into the demands.

Speaker 6 (34:08):
You know.

Speaker 1 (34:08):
One of that is just that you got to stick
to your guns. Unfortunately, not everyone sees it that way, right,
So if you're protesting on campus and you've got leadership,
that is telling you one thing. Because one of the
reasons that a lot of these leaders were called before
Congress is because Jewish students felt like they were being
discriminated against, bullied, and you know, virtually ignored on campus.

(34:31):
And that was one of the primary reasons that those
hearings took place. So, you know, I'm wondering how you
feel about not only the safety on your campus if
you're a student on campus, but do you have the
confidence in your school leadership that they've got your back.

Speaker 3 (34:50):
That's what I mean when I said school leaders should
focus on leading their school. That's an issue they should
be focusing on, rather than endorsing either side.

Speaker 1 (34:59):
Or trying to buy actions and in actions.

Speaker 3 (35:02):
Yeah, you should focus on keeping your students safe, making
sure they feel safe at school and not discriminated against,
not sharing your opinions or giving into what is being
demanded of you of people asking you what your stance
is on an issue.

Speaker 2 (35:17):
Yeah, I think really, generally you should just know that
your school admin or your school leadership or whatever you whatever,
generally should be on your side to have your back.
They should not be the ones turning against you. Now,
does that mean they're going to go out and protest
and be one hundred and ten percent with you all
the way? No, but you should know that they're not
going to be the ones reporting you or getting you
in mass trouble for this. That's the thing you should know.
They're not against you.

Speaker 1 (35:38):
Are schools the place to protest or are schools the
place to learn?

Speaker 4 (35:42):
I say it's a little bit of both. I mean you,
I mean school protesting has been part of the American fact.

Speaker 1 (35:47):
Maybe in the college campus, on the high school campus.
Do you think it's do you think it is right?
Do you think a high school should have a well,
what did you call it? A First Amendment right to
the first So it's the space because I was calling
it a safe space. You called it a First Amendment
space for.

Speaker 4 (36:04):
Some moments space we call it.

Speaker 1 (36:05):
Do you think high school should have First Amendment space?

Speaker 2 (36:07):
One hundred percent? I think you learn a lot from protests.
I mean, I think high schoolers are talked down to
a lot. I think you're seeing because just because you
know there's a three month gap between when you graduate
high school and when you start college, you don't suddenly
mature or become like ready to protest in those three months.
I can protest in high school. My issues and my
opinions are not going to change in three months. So
why should I not have the right as a high

(36:28):
schooler that a college student has who's three months older
than me. I should have the right to protest just
the same because I'm going to learn the same and
I'm going to feel the same. I shouldn't be forced
to sit in a classroom and watch the world change
around me and not have the not have the option
to voice my own opinions on it.

Speaker 3 (36:42):
Teachers always say that high school prepares you for the
real word, real world. And if we can't experience part
of the real world, which is protesting in high school,
which we're learning about in her or her history classes,
US history, World history, why can't that's not at all
preparing us for the real life situations that we might
be in.

Speaker 1 (37:00):
With mess Welcome back to is Studio six forty a M.
Steve Gregor. You thank you for joining us. We are
on the campus of Los Angeles Valley Community College and
we have been invited into the Valley Star newsroom to
tape this episode. Joining us are too student journalists from
Van Nuys High School and two student journalists from Valley
Star Newsroom. And the conversation has been going on about

(37:23):
the rights of students on campus, and the question I
posed to the two high school journalists is whether or
not there should be a free speech zone on high
school campuses in Madison. You very did a really good
job articulating the fact that you're talked down to. You
feel like high schoolers are talk down to and about

(37:43):
experiencing the new world or the real world, rather is
getting out there and actively protesting. But do you see
any time down in the future that your school district
might implore us our employee one of those free zones,
free speech zone.

Speaker 2 (38:00):
I don't think they're going to employ a free speech
zone like so point blank, like this is the zone
because LASD just isn't like that. LAUSD doesn't like to
do things like that. Do I think that they're going
to become more open to protests in general? I think
they already are very open to protests. I think you're
going to see a lot of protests on campus and
a lot of walkouts. I remember having walkouts in middle
school for like school safety, like gun violence kinds of things.

(38:21):
I think these issues have been going on for a
long time, and I think in a way, students are
realizing they have the voice and they have power.

Speaker 1 (38:27):
Let me ask you, though, in all of those protests
that you participated in, did any one of them change
the opinion or the position of the people you were protesting.

Speaker 2 (38:37):
No, because I think when we protested, I'm going to
point out the one I did in middle school, because
that was the one I participated in for school you know,
gun violence in schools, and you know gun like control laws.
We were all on the same side, so we weren't
aiming to change our opinion, and we were aiming to
bring awareness to it and say to the district to
just make a statement. We weren't aiming to change the
school's opinion or change the district's opinion. We were aiming

(38:57):
to make a statement, and I really think we did that.

Speaker 1 (39:01):
College campuses, on the other hand, are very accustomed to
having protests. Not every college campus, some college campuses completely
we're free of these Palestine protests and these Goaza protests.
Do you think that in the LA area, at least
in the southern California area, do you think we've seen
the last of these because that this last one at
u C l A. I think there's been a less

(39:22):
of a tolerance for that because of the mess that
happened before Angel had talked about before the eviction of
the encampment. Do you think that colleges are getting a
little more firm about this or do you think that
they're just as sensitive about it.

Speaker 5 (39:35):
Yeah, I do think they are getting a little bit
more firm about this. I'm reduced doing here on l ABC.
I don't know anything about college protests here regarding the
Isuel Ganza war.

Speaker 1 (39:47):
Angel, what you have there on you from.

Speaker 4 (39:50):
What I had spoken to a couple of students about
the story for this, and they haven't really been many
here at Valley College. But I think your question, I
don't think these are going to go away anytime soon.
I mean, historically speaking, that's kind of been like that.
Whenever it has been a very polemical issue on in

(40:11):
the news, it's it's been constant protest.

Speaker 1 (40:13):
I'm thinking, well, do you think when the war comes
to an end, because eventually you'll have the end, do
you think when it comes to an end, the protest
will end or do you think it's just going to
ramp things up.

Speaker 4 (40:21):
I mean, it's very interesting because this has been an
issue that's been around way before this this contract flared up,
and from my time in college, I do remember that
there were worse, like smaller protests from a very small
subset of folks that are like were very like informed
about this. But I think, like right now you're seeing

(40:42):
it as a flashpoint because it's so prominent in the news,
it's so prominent and everything that we're seeing on social
media on throughout the news and whatnot. And so I
think because it is so such a prominent issue, until
the issue like dies down, a little bit. I don't
see this stopping.

Speaker 1 (40:58):
Are the free speech zones? Are they something that the
our First Amendment zones? Are they something that school police
protect I mean? Or they just put in like a
cordon off area kind of walk me through.

Speaker 4 (41:11):
It so we hear about a college. The one that
I'm aware of is it rights at the heart of
the campus that's at the in front of I believe
monarch call. It's in like the quad area, and it's
usually used for different different things that that there will
be events that happened there. They'll be like faris and whatnot.
But I do believe that having these spaces in such

(41:32):
a prominent area really is a testament to the facts
of how how much the campus believes in the importance
of students voicing their opinions, the importance of students speaking
their mind about these issues. And I think that's that's
a positive thing for for us to have here atbout
a college.

Speaker 1 (41:50):
Now, high school journalists, have you covered any protests.

Speaker 2 (41:55):
Well, we actually had a protest of our own that
I totally forgot about oli media. If you want to
talk about.

Speaker 3 (41:59):
It, I would it was more. I don't know if
it's like a protest, protest, but I put up an
article about a stabbing that happened at our school, and
the principal ordered it taken down. We did, I don't
I'm not sure why, but we took it down. And
so the next the very next day, she still was refusing,
refusing to return our calls or emails or our messages.

(42:21):
The whole class, including me, went to the principal's office
and demanded to speak to her about the article. She
she was in a meeting air quotes, she was in
a meeting, in a meeting for six seven eight hours
every day. Yeah, and I think it was. There was
a build up to it, like every day would I
would go, or my editor in chief had that at

(42:42):
the time, would go, and she just wouldn't. She would
refuse to talk to us. So the whole class marched
down one day to go speak to her, demand her
to speak to us, and I got the dean called
on me. I had my parents called. A couple of
students too had their parents called. Of course, a lot
of the students were scared to get in trouble, so
a lot of them went back to class. But I
think me and two other girls we stood our ground

(43:03):
and basically I don't know if.

Speaker 1 (43:05):
It's on my record or not, but yeah, what was
the resolution.

Speaker 2 (43:10):
We eventually we spoke to miss Ranya, who is our
performing arts coordinator on campus. She's a big student advocate, she's.

Speaker 3 (43:18):
A fan of our paper. Yes, we also speak spoke
to some lawyers. Yes, student press attorneys at the present
Attorney Press Law. They helped us get it back up.
She was she only had a problem with the photo
of the article, that's why she didn't want the article up.

Speaker 1 (43:36):
Well, I covered that story. I was, I was on campus.
I got was the one that happened during nutrition period.

Speaker 2 (43:41):
Yes, it was the day after Halloween, so.

Speaker 1 (43:44):
Eleven eleven students involved.

Speaker 2 (43:46):
Yeah, yeah, it was breaking news. We were able to
get the story up almost an hour after it happened.
And you know, when you're a student on campus in
that kind of time, when you're on lockdown and you
don't really know what's happening, you're going to turn to
news sources like ours. And we're the vanised high school news.
So if you look up and I high school news, that's.

Speaker 3 (44:01):
We're going to pop up. So we want to go okay,
and I think that that's more how students protest or
share their voices at our school is by through the newspaper,
rather than leading groups with signs to protest in the school.
I think more of this The journalists come to the students,
and students come to the journalists saying, hey, I have
this issue, I feel really strongly about it, or like

(44:22):
I had this issue with this administrator, have this issue
with this rule at the school, and they come to
us and we write, we hear their opinion, and we
write a story about it. I think that's more how
they share their voices at our.

Speaker 1 (44:31):
School, in your in your principle, trying to censor you guys. Yes, yes,
did you win? You won ultimately, right, Yes, we were.

Speaker 2 (44:39):
Able to get It is still up if you want
to look it up. It's up there.

Speaker 3 (44:41):
The photo is blurred that it was a photo.

Speaker 2 (44:46):
I think it was taken. I don't know if it
was taken by a student, but it was basic.

Speaker 3 (44:50):
So what was the photo? It's good, he's here.

Speaker 1 (44:54):
Yeah, I was there, like there there.

Speaker 5 (44:56):
I ran towards the fight to get the photo and
we had to end up like blurring out all the faces,
like even the back of the Yeah, okay, that makes sense.

Speaker 2 (45:03):
Yeah, yes, we are definitely a dedicated paper. I remember
our editor in chief, we were all on lockdown. Our
editor in chief told us, you guys need to leave
your classrooms, go get that picture, go get that article done.

Speaker 1 (45:11):
That's great.

Speaker 2 (45:12):
So she was dedicated. We definitely wanted to get that story.

Speaker 1 (45:14):
Yeah, that's good. Welcome back to Studio six forty. I'm
Steve Gregory. Thank you for joining us. We're on the
campus of the Los Angeles Valley Community College. We've been
invited to tape here inside the Valley Star newsroom. Professor
Bill Dauber invited us in and we are joined by
our panel today to high school journalists from Van Nuys

(45:35):
High School and two from The Valley Star. And great
discussion beforehand, and I just want to say I really
applaud you guys for standing up for yourselves on the photo.
And you were talking about the news story with the
stabbing at the school and whatnot, which if memory serves,
ended up being some sort of an off campus gang
rivalry that's spilled onto campus or something. Right, Yes, yeah, so,

(45:57):
and you say the picture is still up and tell
people where they can go to see the story.

Speaker 2 (46:01):
They can go to VNHS mirror dot com. So V
like Victor, and like Nancy, h like Harry, and s
like Sally Mirror dot com.

Speaker 1 (46:09):
Okay, and the story is still there. It's good for
you guys. Okay, Let's move on to our next topic.
And this is when we're talking about the responsibility journalists
have to verify candidate's statements. Lately, the two presidential candidates,
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, have now been slinging a
lot of arrows at each other. In fact, they've downright
gotten very personal. In fact, here is Kamala Harris on

(46:30):
a regent speech about Trump.

Speaker 12 (46:31):
His unwillingness to debate again, his unwillingness to do an
interview with sixteen minutes, which again is part of the
norm of what anyone running for president and United States does.
And I think that it's obvious that his team at
least does not want the American people to see everything about.

Speaker 8 (46:52):
Who he is.

Speaker 12 (46:53):
I will not give you a medical analysis of his fitness,
but on every other layup level when it comes to
what we should exc back in a president of the
United States around having the ability to actually exercise good judgment,
both as commander in chief and as the leader of
this great country. He is unfit for office. He talks

(47:15):
at his rallies about fictional characters. He constantly is in
a state of grievance about himself. He has no plans
for the American people, and then he just makes things
up on a full time basis.

Speaker 1 (47:28):
Okay, and now here is former President Donald Trump speaking
about Harris.

Speaker 8 (47:33):
This is the one. This woman is the worst.

Speaker 6 (47:35):
The lying.

Speaker 8 (47:36):
It's just unbelievable. Like the IVF, the fertilization. I came
out totally in favorite right from the beginning. She said,
I'm against it, Carlos. She goes, He's totally against it,
every single item that having to do with energy, having
to do with everything. And then she's got that. The

(47:57):
worst governor in the country, probably the worst. I think
she made a horrible mistake. We'll see what happens on
November fifth, you know, let's see what happens. But there's
something wrong with them. Honestly, there's something wrong. And there's
something wrong with her too. She's slow, low IQ something.
I don't know what the hell it is, but they lie.
We don't need another low IQ person. We had one

(48:19):
for four years.

Speaker 3 (48:20):
We don't need another one.

Speaker 1 (48:21):
So Daimler. You know, when Harris, when she first announced
that she was running for president, there seemed to be
all this happiness and joy surrounding her campaign. And now
she's I've noticed that she's changed completely her approach and
how she's handling this campaign, and now she's getting a
little more gritty journalists covering this. Now, at some point

(48:45):
do we take the bait and start covering these things
on every little word that they start saying. And what
is the threshold that a student journalist should have when
it comes to covering the presidential candidates in fact checking?

Speaker 5 (48:58):
So as student journalists, you know, we obviously we don't have,
you know, the breadth and the manpower that you know,
larger companies like New York Times or LA Times or
whatever can or have to fact check everything, every little
thing that these major candidates say. I think we should
do with everything within our power to fact check them,

(49:21):
both sides, both Harris and Trump and the you know,
their running mates for example. I think a great example
of that was, I know, there wasn't a lot of
quote unquote fact checking. There was agreement, there was an
agreement to not fact check at the vice presidential debate,
but it was one of the moderators on that from
CBS did bring up to Walt during that debate that

(49:44):
he did that that he did lie about his time
about seeing Tian Square during June fourth through the sixth,
when he didn't come to China until a few months
later in August. And and I think that's a great
example of uh, these larger media outlets, these larger news outlets,

(50:08):
trying to keep these people accountable so that we the
voters can keep informed about these candidates, all their faults,
all their all their sorry, all their all their faults,
all their all what all their promises, and make an

(50:29):
informed decision as to what we're going to do on
November fifth.

Speaker 1 (50:32):
Angel When you talk about this fact checking and these debates,
and it's a fairly new thing to be doing it
in real time, I think they tried that with the
CNN debate and it got criticized in Land based it
as well. But I appreciated the fact that they tried
it and made an effort. But I mean, in reality,
if you were to start fact checking everything that was
going on in debate, the debate would be ten hours
long because you're fact checking everybody in every little detail.

(50:55):
So how far and how deep should we be fact checking?
And should we be fact check everything that comes out
of their mouth?

Speaker 4 (51:02):
I think as a generaloist, it's our responsibility to be
able to inform folks like, hey, this is an outright lie,
and if something is fictional or fabricated, we should let
folks know that that's the case and put it out
into the world so that people that are interested in
learning more can read about it. I remember reading something
about I forgot what I forgot where it was. I

(51:24):
think it was either political or a different job publication
that had done a poll about people's opinions after the debate,
and they basically stayed the same. The people that were
supporting Kamali stayed supporting Kamala. The people that stayed that
were supporting Trump stay supporting Trump. And I believe that
in this current political climate, fact checking is not really

(51:45):
going to do too much. But that doesn't mean that
we shouldn't be doing it.

Speaker 3 (51:49):
I don't.

Speaker 4 (51:50):
I do think that it's important for folks to, you know,
make sure that the information is out there so that
voters and anyone else was interested can go ahead and
seek it out. Otherwise you end up with with ridiculous
things coming out that are not factricked, and then they
become this like big thing. There was a on the

(52:10):
more humorous side of things, there was a a rumor
that Jade Vance had been romantically involved with couches, and
that came up and romantically that the vice president on
the publican side of things, there was a rumor that
he had that there was a quote somewhere in his
Healthily Elegy that he had been romantically involved with the

(52:33):
couch and that couch that was that came from a
tweet that came from a tweet that someone had made up.
And it's it's it's humorous, right, but it's also a
fact of what happens when there is something that that's
put out into the world and it's not fact checked
because that there was no such quote in the book,
but because it was humorous, it got traction. And even

(52:54):
though it was fact checked later on that that that
wasn't the case, it's still.

Speaker 1 (52:57):
Yeah, Okay, I would think that that would be a
misinformation or disinformation right there, but you never know. These
are strange times. Welcome back to Studio six forty m
Steve Gregory, Thank you for joining us. We are taping
at the Los Angeles Valley Community College inside the Valley
Star newsroom, and we're actually sitting in the nerve center
of the Valley Star newspaper operation and surrounded by computers

(53:20):
and tables, and it's got this kind of real college
newsroom vibe in here. So joining us now are two
high school journalists from Van Nis High School and then
of course two from the Valley College. Right here, we've
been talking about sort of the sniping that's been going
on between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump as a get
into the home stretch of the election, and Angel before

(53:43):
the break was telling us about, for comparison's sake, about
something with Jada Vance and a couch. But we'll move
on from that topic. But I think it brings up
a bigger issue, is that when you talk about fact
checking and when you talk about a journalist's responsibility to
to fact check, it's one thing when you're fact checking

(54:04):
your stories and you know before you do it. And
I think it was Ole Media was talking about that before,
about the role that we play in making sure that
we have our facts straight. But and I guess what
I really want to get at is which things should
you be checking are you talking about policy? Should we

(54:24):
be fact checking policy claims? Or should we be fact
checking whether someone was in the National Guard or whether
someone had an affair with a couch should what should
we be fact checking?

Speaker 3 (54:34):
I think we should be fact checking whatever is relevant
to what we're covering.

Speaker 1 (54:38):
So specify or clarify that one relevant to what you're covering.
So if I assign you Kamala Harris's let's say, if
I assign you her favorite foods and to do a
lifestyle piece on favorite foods.

Speaker 3 (54:52):
Then I would research all her favorite food what she
said her favorite food was, talk to her mom? What
does she be eating her whole life? If you're covering
the election, you should focus on and the reputation, the
political reputation of each candidate, like did they go to
law school or did they were they a governor in
the past year. If you're covering like you're doing a
life overview of Kamala Harris or life over there Donald Trump,

(55:13):
then you can go into or she had an affair
with her boss's husband, you know, then you can go
into the nitty gritty details. But if you're covering an election,
that's people are going to be reading to make an
informed decision of who you're going to vote.

Speaker 1 (55:25):
But should you only do that when it's been challenged
by somebody else? If an opponent makes a claim, then
you fact check or do you fact check preemptively?

Speaker 8 (55:36):
I think.

Speaker 3 (55:38):
My answer is the same. You shouldn't be if somebody
if the opponent of a candidate claims their opponent had
an affair with somebody else, you should only take that
claim as a challenge if you are doing a piece
on the person's personal life, not on their life as
a candidate for a position.

Speaker 1 (56:01):
Got it so now, Daimler. Recently, at a Trump rally
in New York, a comedian spatted off a bunch of
racist and very offensive comments. Is that Trump's fault? Should
we be fact checking? What anything having to do with
the relationship between the comedian and Trump? And I mean,

(56:22):
does fact checking fit in something like that?

Speaker 3 (56:30):
I think.

Speaker 5 (56:33):
I think some, if not most, of the responsibility does
lie with Trump in bringing this person to the campaign.
I forget his name exactly, but I know that there
are a lot more offensive comments made that night, and
not just from that comedian. And so bringing all these
people together to speak, to speak to the speak to this,

(57:00):
shall we say a very narrow demographic. I mean, I
do think we have a responsibility as journalists to you know,
fact check those as well, so that you know, uh,
so that we hold we hold these politicians accountable for

(57:21):
what they say, and we hold them accountable for the
consequences of their words.

Speaker 2 (57:26):
I'm going to jump back to the fact checking for
student journalists and how much should we fact check? You know,
what's the line? I think we should fact check based
on what the reader needs to know? Should we focus
in on every single little itty bitty detail at every
single person's ever said, No, we don't have time for that.
We just in our world, we don't have the time,
we don't have the resources.

Speaker 3 (57:44):
It's just not possible.

Speaker 2 (57:45):
We should focus on what the reader needs to know
about the candidate, and that starts with the big picture.
And if we find that the reader is like at
our school, for example, we focus a lot on what
do the students want to hear? What do the students
want to read? And if a students really really interested
and all the students are really really interested in like
what you said, I can't.

Speaker 1 (58:00):
Have to pause you there because we need to clarify
how do you know what the students want to read?

Speaker 2 (58:04):
We talk about it on campus. That's the biggest thing
is you hear afterwards? You really pay attention, at least
as an editor and now as an editor in chief.
What are people talking about on the site? What do
they read on the newspaper? You watch people as they
flip through. What gets their attention? What are they talking about,
What's what's trending? Yes, exactly. So going off of that,
like what I'm saying, if you find that a reader
is really really interested in Kamala Harris's like elementary school life,

(58:28):
for let's just say for an example, you're going to
focus on that and what she has to say about that,
because that's what's going to capture the reader's attention. Now,
this is specifically at a student level because it's as
high school students. You know, we can't vote, so our
opinion is morphed based on the stories that we provide.
But I think a big way to get students involved
in politics is to show them what they're going to

(58:48):
be interested in. So, you know, talking about her elementary
school life might not be the most interesting thing for
the La Times to cover for voters, but as high schoolers.
We're never going to be interested in voting if we
don't start out with a topic we're interested in to
begin with. You've got to get people in to get
them to continue voting for the rest of their life.
And I think that's really important for high school journalists
to consider, is how can you impact students' futures now?

Speaker 3 (59:09):
But also to say is that at our age, nobody
is going to be reading a newspaper, So that's why
we have to focus on the needs of our student
our public But for like the La Times or Washington Post,
their job is to we provide factual information and just
and inform our students too, but we do it with
also the intent to make them interested in our publication,

(59:31):
to make them want to read our publication. But it's
different for professional like professional publications, because people read the
news or articles because they want to be informed. Students,
we can't we market or we tailor our articles or

(59:52):
our stories based on what they want because that's what we.

Speaker 1 (59:56):
Need for them.

Speaker 2 (59:57):
Our best example of that in our upcoming printage, we
have an article titled Kamala Harris a Feminino Nomenon, and
we talk about how Kamala Harris has used TikTok in
the media to market herself and how she has turned
herself into a meme in a way, it's how we
call it. So you know, would the La Times post
an article like that, No, it'd be seen as silly.
That's saying that she's turned herself into a meme. The
headline femininomenon wouldn't be like. People just wouldn't be interested

(01:00:20):
in that. At a high school level. However, they're gonna
think it's the most interesting thing ever because they're going
to see words and terminology they're familiar with and they like,
and that's going to get the relatable exactly. So that's
going to get them interested in politics. It's going to
get them interested in the paper. It's going to get
them reading and learning when they don't even realize they're learning.
They think they're reading about trends. So we play the
role of being journalists and also marketing our papers.

Speaker 1 (01:00:42):
Sure, we're out of time, folks, So I can't thank
you enough for spending some time with us today. It's
been wonderful, great conversation. I wish you all the best
of success, and you guys are really amazing and I'm
very Impressed.

Speaker 3 (01:00:55):
So Okay.

Speaker 1 (01:01:00):
Studio six forties a production of the KFI News Department
for iHeartMedia, Los Angeles. The show's executive producers are Steve
Gregory and Jacob Gonzalez. The line producer is Richie Kinteto.
Our video producer is Mark Many. The opinions expressed on
this program are those of the guests and do not
necessarily reflect the views of KFI, iHeartMedia, or its affiliates.