Because sometimes, you have to go there...

Taken from Today's Front Pages, Newseum.org

The cover of today's Charleston Post and Courier took my breath away. Three things popped into my mind immediately, not all of equal importance but all useful thoughts for a journalism adviser.

1. From a design standpoint, what a striking use of white space! What a non-traditional use of a front page of a newspaper!

2. Covering the death of someone in your community is a difficult, difficult task, and it will happen. Yes, it will most likely happen to all of us as high school journalism advisers, if it hasn't already.

3. Combining thoughts 1 and 2, sometimes, you've just got to throw out your script and tell certain stories in a way that is simply not in line with your publication's traditions or rules, norms or standards.

In 2011, one of my staff photographers attended Ball State summer journalism camp with the majority of my staff. He came home from camp, went out with friends that night, and the next day, stepped in front of a commuter train and killed himself. We were stunned. And we didn't know how to cover it, because we were so directly affected. One of my page editors who roomed with him sought counseling. He had so much fun, the other boy assured us.

At that point, this was all we could muster:
http://www.centraltimes.org/news/2011/10/19/central-loses-kind-hearted-kid/

I think this simple front page assembled by the Charleston paper is beautiful and says more than its sparse design shows on the surface. Maybe when you're so deeply affected, this is the way to go.

This brings up a few points for discussion, ranging from having a publication policy with regards to obituaries to brainstorming times when your traditional layout ideas are best tossed out the window.

Keith Carlson
Naperville Central High School
Naperville, Ill.