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46 pages • 1 hour read
Andrew ClementsThe Landry News
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1999A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Socio-Cultural Context: The Responsibilities of Journalism
Through Cara’s backstory and the events of the novel, The Landry News explores the obligations of a journalist to report information in an accurate, truthful, and objective way. News is meant to inform through an unbiased lens and offer consumers the ability to draw their own conclusions based on facts. The recognized function of journalism is to propagate the free exchange of information thoroughly and fairly, and journalists have a responsibility to report with integrity, even on topics they don’t agree with. The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) gives four main principles for responsible journalism: “seek truth and report it,” “minimize harm,” “act independently,” and “be accountable and transparent,” (“SPJ Code of Ethics.” Society of Professional Journalists. 2014.) Each of these concepts informs key parts of the ethical and emotional journey of The Landry News. Prior to the opening of the novel, Cara only minimally adheres to the first of these principles—seeking and reporting truth. Her stories are arguably factual but they are gossipy and not impartial. Her own emotional turmoil means she has little care for minimizing harm, remaining neutral, or taking responsibility for the effect her words have on others. It’s not until after seeing the effects of the first edition of The Landry News that Cara starts to learn and adopt the latter three principles. The compassion she adds to her truth-telling helps her do less harm. Rather than being a method of lashing out, Cara begins to approach reporting from a place of fact-giving, and as a collaborative and community-building activity.
Critical Context: The Landry News as a Teaching Tool
Set in a relatable and realistic school setting, the novel offers many real-world lessons and considerations to its readers. By tackling issues of freedom of speech, fair news reporting, and how school prepares students for real life, the book becomes a critical piece of literature that fosters deep thought about the world we live in and the many sides to debate issues. By exploring ideas surrounding freedom of speech, The Landry News shows how opposing viewpoints can have merit, and how respecting opposing views is a key tenet of journalism and, the novel suggests, civilized social interaction. Early in the novel, Cara represents the idea that freedom means being able to do anything one wishes, regardless of the impact it has. Her character arc introduces the idea of freedom coming with responsibility and that, while “freedom of speech” protects the rights of someone to say what they want, this does not mean someone necessarily should, or that they will be immune from any consequences (such as seeing the negative effect on others). Dr. Barnes represents an opposing view through his desire to sensor The Landry News and ensure the paper prints only stories he deems appropriate. He sees the newspaper as a tool for his own, tangential purposes. Such control could be beneficial to both the newspaper and its readers, but it could also be very easy for this control to become a vehicle to throttle free speech. The multiple angles explored in The Landry News demonstrate the complexity of the “freedom of speech” concept when applied in practice, and the novel helps young readers work through their own opinions of “freedom” by presenting both sides of the debate. The novel takes an open-minded approach to the various attitudes and characters it portrays, presenting them without overt moralizing or didactic signaling, encouraging young adult readers to grapple with these difficult ideas critically but without judgment.
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By Andrew Clements
