University of Chicago Laboratory School

“The U-High Midway” at the University of Chicago Laboratory School faces a different climate from that seen at Evanston Township, since U-High is a private school, its paper lacks First Amendment protections, but nevertheless it enjoys a culture free of prior-review and prior-restraint.

“We don’t have prior-review as a paper, and our administration is pretty accepting of whatever we want to print,” Talia Goerge-Karron, one of U-High’s two Editors-in-Chief said. Karron shares her position with fellow senior Dheven Unni.

Goerge-Karron further stated that the paper has never experienced an instance wherein third-parties prevented articles from going to press, asserting that “across the board,” “The Midway” is free to “print and publish at our discretion.”

Still, “The Midway” often faces challenges in scheduling interviews and securing credible sources. “Getting in contact with the administration is sometimes very difficult depending on what we’re talking about and what kind of issues stories are about,” Goerge-Karron said.

Goerge-Karron additionally classified “certain administrators” as evasive, categorizing their actions as a “subtle form of censorship.” “It’s very difficult sometimes to write stories to the extent where we’ve been told to schedule our interviews three weeks in advance,” she said. “I’ve brought quotes to be verified and had them edited right in front of me which, you know, isn’t journalism.”

Ultimately, Goerge-Karron believes that “The Midway” requires determination and strength to succeed. “I think persistence is key,” she said. “That’s the most important thing.”