“I am writing this email because I am a frustrated student who wants a good platform for students to get their high school news from. After reading the 2018 fall edition of the York-Hi, I was disappointed to see numerous grammatical errors throughout the article and was also shocked when I heard that statistics were incorrectly stated in the “Students Question New Policy Changes” article.

Some colleagues of mine have also voiced their concern to me about the the quote that states, “68% of Seniors disapprove of the new off campus policies”(Thomas, p.3). I have been told from an inside source that the “68%” of “seniors” weren’t actually seniors, but the same group of 477 students that were a mixed group of every grade level. One can infer that since there wasn’t another survey that is only for seniors that was cited, the statistic is fake. Furthermore, there is a multitude of spelling and grammar mistakes in multiple articles. For example, in this same article of statistics, disapprove is spelled incorrectly every time, spelling it as “dissapprove” and instead of administered, it shows “adminitered”.

I believe as a student of this fine institution, and also in this social time that many news networks are not trusted, that everyone at this high school should have a right to the truth. When 477 students of all grade levels are being cited for a statistic that references seniors, it is misleading and untruthful. Thank you for understanding the love I have for this school.

Thank you for your time.

Cordially,

Marty Frolik

York-Hi Response: 

Dear concerned reader:

As a student news institution that wishes to be accurate and informative, we appreciate any concerns that our readers have, and we take all suggestions with an open ear. We recognize that in the 2018 Homecoming edition of  our York-Hi magazine there were several grammatical errors, which some readers may feel diluted the impact of the stories. In addition, we recognize that our attention to detail and ability to produce high quality stories are essential to the credibility of our work.

These are valid concerns that we need to work to address and change in the future.

Regarding the comment questioning the validity about the statistic about the percentage of seniors who disagreed with the new policies for students is misguided. Although there was no separate survey for seniors to take, the statistic is not inclusive of all 477 respondents. One of the questions in the survey requested the respondent’s grade level. In order to find the percentage of seniors who disagreed with the new policies, our news editor, Ethan Thomas, counted the total number of seniors who responded. He then found the amount who disapproved with the policy and calculated which percentage of senior respondents had chosen “disapprove.” Therefore, this statistic is representative of only the senior respondents.

We thank you for your concern regarding the credibility of our journalism program and encourage your continued engagement and critical review of our work.