For the past few weeks, the staff of the Irvington newspaper, The Voice, seems to have been caught in some sort of dispute. A conflict in the newspaper is not a trivial matter. A newspaper is meant to represent a student body, and a conflict in the class could ripple to the rest of the school. As a rat that has long taken an interest in the happenings of the classroom that I live in, I decided to investigate what is going on.
Over the course of two weeks, my team of investigative rats conducted a careful investigation that included listening to the class discussions from inside the ceiling vents and conducting interviews with students around the campus.
I would also like to apologize for the small amount of yellow liquid that may have dripped through the ceiling vent during one of our listening sessions. It is not anything unsanitary, but the tea that one of our new investigative rats was drinking at the time. With that being said, we now present the theories behind the conflict.
Theory 1: The Release of the “Irvington Files”
While the details of the files were unclear to my investigators, there were several sources that suggested it was the reason for the rift. “I heard that there was a release of the Irvington Files, and some students wanted the information to stay hidden,” said XXXXXX , a student from The Voice. “That started some of the infighting, but I think the real reason is XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. “ While this theory is certainly possible, our team found no concrete evidence that it is the definitive cause.
Theory 2: Changes in School Leadership
Journalism classes often cover changes in school leadership, especially the new principal change that is taking place next year. Abella Huang (11), someone whose friend is taking Journalism, agreed to disclose the information they knew. “My friend is taking Journalism, and he told me that some of the students were disagreeing with how they should cover the principal election, things like whether or not they should talk about it at all were a big reason for the conflict.” However, when our team of rats tried to interview the friend in question, they declined to give any comments.
Other Theories
While they might be less likely to be accurate, they offer a significant understanding to how the school’s students interpret the situation.
1. Lack of Coconut Water Distributed
“I think it could have something to do with coconut water not being distributed in the school. Just a guess, though, because my friend’s friend’s cousin is in journalism and that’s what they told me”, said Kiran Sharma (10).
- Stress of AP testing
“Maybe the stress of AP testing got to them. I think this period of time right before the AP tests roll around in May could be a high-stress period; it’s no wonder fights break out during class”, said Mr. Dohnteggsehst, another English teacher.
To conclude, despite sending multiple rat investigators into classroom vents to overhear conversations, the truth behind the journalism class conflict remains unclear. Investigative journalism often leads to clear answers, but in this case, it became more confusing the more we uncovered it. For now, the mystery continues on.
