On Saturday, January 20, representatives of six student newspapers from around Chicago filled the back of the Harris Center to learn from some of the most accomplished journalists in the city. Upper School English teacher Matt Laufer, along with members of “The Parker Weekly” led a symposium on journalism called “Journalism and Society Today: News in a Post-Truth Nation.” Attending schools were the Latin School of Chicago, University High School, Phoenix Military Academy, Lincoln Park High School, and Back of the Yards.

Laufer explained that this title was a collaborative creation among him, Principal Dan Frank, and the student coordinators. “We really do want to think about these things in the way that Parker thinks about its mission, about the biggest connections between what we’re learning here and society out there,” Laufer said. “The today part is meant to zero in a little bit on the particular moment.”  

This is the first time Parker held a journalism symposium, but the idea was nothing new for Laufer. “It’s always been kind of a long-standing interest, and then Trump happened,” Laufer said, “And everything became more acute.”

Laufer and the coordinators, juniors Sophia Saker and Emma Butler-Vanderlinden,  and sophomores Molly Taylor and Lindsay Carlin, have been planning this symposium since March. Each coordinator was assigned multiple schools and professional journalists to contact and to serve as a liaison to.

There were four sessions at the conference, each with three or four choices of speakers, with topics ranging from different aspects of journalism to personal stories about the journalism industry. The journalists were not told what to present on, just the theme of the conference as a whole. Each one brought their own interests and perspectives on current issues. Both students and professional journalists were invited to speak to the attendees in the breakout sessions.

Pros included Gillian White, a writer for “The Atlantic” flown in from Washington DC, Gary Marx, a former Parker parent and investigative reporter for “The Chicago Tribune,” Jamie Kalven, the reporter that broke the Laquan McDonald story, Tracy Baim, one of the founders of “The Windy City Times,” Peter Kotecki, the Editor-in-Chief of “The Daily Northwestern,” Mei-Ling Hopgood, a professor at the Medill School of Journalism, Kate Grossman, a senior editor at WBEZ, and Miles Kampf-Lassin, the community editor at “In These Times.” “The Weekly” Editors-in-Chief and Laufer’s Literature Post-Truth class both presented.

As for how the coordinators found all these notable figures and convinced them to come, it really depended on who at Parker was willing to help. “We had really specific interests,” Laufer said. “We were trying to spread out as widely as possible.” The organizers also wanted to spread out the diversity of schools that came. “We didn’t want to do the same schools we hear over and over again,” Saker said. “We wanted schools from other parts of the city.”

Tracy Baim, the co-founder of “Windy City Times,” the oldest LGBTQ newspaper in Chicago, made a significant impression. “I had Tracy Baim’s seminar, and she told her whole story and made the time to answer our questions,” Amanda Cassel, a freshman at the Lab School of Chicago said. “I felt like that also showed all the care that each of the presenters added to everything.” As for the content of Baim’s presentation, she mostly explained how to effectively write an opinion piece. “She said if you’re ever writing and opinion piece, write it as if it’s a news piece,” senior Molly Weinberg said, “and then go back and put your opinion in to make sure you have the facts.”

The Parker community has been studying the recently blurred lines between opinion and fact, and it sounds as if the discussion will continue. “Just talking about how we as a society stand in this time when the truth is so subjective,” Saker said. “Just starting a discussion.”