On the Censorship of the Gretna East Student Press

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this piece are my own and should not be interpreted as those of the rest of Gretna East Media. As a reporter for GEM, I have a direct stake in the events described below, but this piece was written independently and not at the direction or request of GEM or its staff.

In January, Gretna East Media (GEM) reporter Aidan McClaren posted an editorial cartoon criticizing recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Minneapolis. Later that month, Gretna administrators forced GEM to take down McClaren's work.

This decision raises serious questions about student press freedom and the role of administrative oversight in shaping student journalism. While school administrators may argue that certain content could be disruptive or inappropriate, the removal of McClaren's cartoon sets a troubling precedent for censorship at Gretna East.

The cartoon addressed a matter of significant public interest—immigration enforcement actions that have sparked national debate. By removing this work, administrators sent a message that certain viewpoints are unwelcome in student media, regardless of their merit or relevance. If students in a journalism class aren’t supposed to practice covering current and newsworthy topics, what are they supposed to cover?

After McClaren’s cartoon was censored, he began writing an article on student censorship and asked the Gretna administration for advice. Instead of advising the student or the organization in good faith, they decided to shoot down the article entirely, once more restricting GEM’s ability to report.

So the administration is not only attempting to control which viewpoints students can share and what speech is truly "free," but also to hide its own criticism by censoring a student news publication. Our student journalists deserve better. Our school community deserves better. And the principles of press freedom that we claim to value demand better.

Any editorial decisions should be made by student journalists and their faculty advisers, not by administrators seeking to control the narrative. Administrators don’t do the work, research, writing, or thinking that goes into creating student media, yet they get to decide whether their work is publishable.

The censorship of Gretna East Media is a test of our commitment to free expression and student voice. How we respond will determine whether GEM can truly serve its purpose as an independent student news organization or become merely another vehicle for administrative messaging.