Teen Correspondents Do TheJob p.11

By: M.L. STEIN

IT WAS NEARING deadline and the Amarillo (Texas) Daily News needed a story from Wellington, a town two hours away by car.
There was no time to send someone from the office, so regional editor David Stevens asked staffer Jami Henry if one of her teenage correspondents could help out.
Henry, who edits Generation Y, the Daily News' weekly teen section, knew exactly who to call: Holly Thomas, a sophomore at Wellington High School, and, in words of Henry, a "very assertive girl."
Still, getting the story was not going to be easy. The Collingsworth County Hospital district's board had suspended the hospital administrator after he and his wife were arrested on a marijuana possession charge, and the newspaper wanted the minutes of the board meeting.
Henry told E&P that hospital officials balked at giving up the record, telling Holly it would be released later.
The teenager called Henry from a pay phone across the street and explained the situation.
Henry recalled: "I told her that under the Texas Open Records Act, they had to surrender the minutes now. She went right back in and persisted until they handed them over."
Holly then read them on the phone to the reporter writing the story.
For her efforts, the youngster was not only paid, but shared a byline with the writer in the main news section.
"That meant a lot to her," Henry said.
Generation Y, a 12-page tabloid, has about 100 student correspondents from high schools in the area. Normally, they write movie and music reviews, columns, sports features and articles on such issues as date rape and drugs in schools. Reviewers are paid. But on occasion the students are asked to do leg work on news stories.
"There could be some future journalists here," said managing editor Dennis Spies. "They're very eager."
Daily News executive editor Cathy Martindale was unavailable for comment, but earlier she had told the Freedom of Information Foundation
of Texas (FOIFT) of which she is president: "Our Generation Y teens are not just learning about journalism. They're learning about their rights as citizens. Even if they don't stay in the journalism field, they will grow up to be adults who are more aware of their rights and assertive about open government."