Athletes glorified; others ignored
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Editor,
Every time I open a paper, it seems that nearly a third of it is dedicated to the glorification of those that are involved in athletics. At the same time, students in our school system work just as hard in other activities, such as music, art, speech and drama, or Business Professionals of America and are hardly acknowledged, if they receive recognition at all.
It isn’t just a problem in our area, but an inherent problem in all local newspapers. In every community, the public puts the high school athletes on a pedestal, making them local heroes. This is not to say that high school athletes should not be recognized, but that students involved in other activities should receive equal acknowledgement.
Recently, Polson High School hosted the State Class A Speech and Drama meet. Schools from all over the state came and competed for two days, and numerous students from Polson placed in the top eight. The State meet was given minimal coverage, and the students that placed, including three champions, were mentioned even less. In the same issue, nine pages were dedicated to basketball, some of which were non-conference games.
The predicament we wish to address is the disproportional news coverage that is given to athletes above and beyond students that are successful in other areas. Newspapers do not give every student the opportunity to shine. A majority of students are involved in some form of activity, and many of them work hard to be successful. These students, though, do not get recognized by the paper, and in turn, the public is unaware of their accomplishments.
Many students are heavily involved in school activities, and we contend that these students should receive the same news coverage as athletes.
Kelsey Koberg and Megan Pope
Polson
