Embedded Files
Of the 452 student journalists registered to attend Spring Media Day on February 25, 2026, the On Site Contests recognized recognized 92 outstanding individual entries and 24 publications from 22 different schools around the Pacific Northwest.
Individual students competed in three on-site on-demand contests: Writing, Photography and Social Media. Prompts were based on the Scholastic Journalism Week's theme "Press Under Pressure."
Industry professionals from local publications and journalism educators from around the state served as judges, awarding top entries with Honorable Mention, Excellent, or Superior.
In the first Regional Quiz Bowl, 24 teams of 3-5 competed in a “Trivia-Night” style Quiz Bowl. Questions range from Journalism Terms, Design, Photography, Press Law, US History, Current Events, General Trivia over four rounds.
ON-SITE CONTEST WINNERS
ON-SITE CONTEST WINNERS
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
WRITING
WRITING
BEST IN CATEGORY
Taylour Veith, West Albany High School
Under Pressure, Still Publishing
How the First Amendment empowers student journalists to pursue truth, even when it's uncomfortable.
by Taylour Veith, West Albany High School
As a student journalist, I’ve learned that pressure doesn’t just come from tests or college applications. It comes from telling the truth.
There’s pressure to get good grades, join the right clubs, build the “perfect” resume, and somehow already know what the future looks like. But when you’re part of a student publication, there’s another layer; deadlines, accuracy, responsibility, and sometimes controversy.
I’ve felt that pressure. The moment before publishing a story. The hesitation before asking a difficult question. The thought in the back of my mind: “How will people react to this?”
That’s where the First Amendment to the United States Constitution comes in.
The First Amendment protects freedom of speech and freedom of the press. For me, that isn’t just something in a textbook. It’s the reason student journalists can write about real issues, even when those issues make others uncomfortable. It’s the reason we’re allowed to question policies, highlight student concerns, and represent voices that might otherwise go underheard.
But having that protection doesn’t erase the pressure.
There’s pressure to stay neutral but still be bold. To be honest but not “too honest.” To cover real problems without being labeled dramatic or disrespectful. Sometimes it feels like walking on a tightrope, balancing truth and approval at the same time.
So where does that pressure come from? It comes from culture around achievement and image. It comes from unspoken rules about what is "appropriate" to say and what should stay quiet. It shows up in the worry that one article might define you, that one misunderstood quote might damage that, or that speaking up could affect future opportunities.
Sometimes it’s the pressure of social media, knowing that once something is published, screenshots travel faster than content. And sometimes it’s internal: the voice in your head asking if you’re experienced enough, qualified enough, or brave enough to tell the story the way it needs to be told.
I’ve realized something, though; journalism isn’t supposed to be comfortable. The First Amendment exists precisely because speech can be uncomfortable. If it only protected popular opinions, it wouldn’t need to exist at all.
Being a student journalist has taught me that pressure can either silence you or shape you. I don’t want it to silence me. I want it to sharpen me, to make me more careful, more thoughtful, more courageous.
High school journalism isn’t just practice for the future. It’s practice for democracy. And when students are trusted to use their voices and responsibility, we grow, not just as writers, but as citizens.
Pressure is real. I feel it.
But so is my right to speak. And that right is worth standing on.
1st RUNNER UP
Clara Wood, West Linn High School
Take the pressure of the press
Good journalism is being censored and villainized, and it needs to stop.
by Clara Wood, West Linn High School
It’s illegal for journalists to cast false light, we know this by our code of ethics and by the law. But no one’s talking about the false light being cast on the press.
Press is under pressure.
And it needs to stop.
Many people fail to realize the integrality of press in a functioning society. The reason why we have the right to press freedom under the First Amendment is because the press is what keeps the government honest.
Historically, in the United States, the press has been a threat to government misdeeds. The Watergate Scandal exemplifies this principle, that journalists will seek the truth to expose corruption, keeping officials on their toes.
But nowadays, the press has become the villain, rather than the protector of the people.
We focus on when the news doesn’t fall our way, when the opinions or the facts show the opposite. As we’ve seen with the social media rage bait phenomenon, content that makes us angry gets views. While the news isn’t meant to bait rage, someone will always think the opposite, and that anger will be what they remember.
In a polarized society like we live in today, with two dominant political opinions, this happens a lot. And with so much information available online, it’s easy to find content that backs up your own opinion and dismisses the op-ed or the facts.
Oftentimes, we fail to remember that a different opinion is not fake news, and what we see in the news is not always a conspiracy or a lie.
Good journalism is more important than ever. Again, with all of the content bouncing around online and on social media, finding a reliable, human-written source is so important. There’s an increased focus on media literacy in schools, helping kids to gain skills to find good, reliable sources, but these sources are under attack by censorship that restrains them from reporting on the entirety of an event.
Student journalism, especially, is taking hits across the nation. Indiana University shut down their journalism program. High school programs are being defunded. Schools are reviewing and restraining the work of their student publications.
Our press doesn’t deserve to be out under this pressure. While corruption exists everywhere, and even news sources can be wrong or break the code of ethics, that’s why it’s all the more important that journalism exists to fill those ever-important roles of mediator and truth-teller, keeping us all honest.
When our world is polarized, we need truths to bring us together. Let the press tell the truth, and don’t censor the press because of it. An opposite opinion is not the villain.
Free the press from the pressure. Let it do what it was made to do: Tell the truth.
2nd RUNNER UP
Megan Hutchinson, Sandy High School
Press Under Pressure
Journalists struggle as freedoms of the press decline
by Megan Hutchinson, Sandy High School
“When is your story going to be finished?” your boss urges. Your deadline passed last week, but you have yet to gather any quotes or insider information. You are forced to explain to your boss that you have yet to set up an appointment in the “Upper Press” area of the White House, a previously accessible area. This is the reality for journalists across America facing a lack of constitutional rights as the government attempts to strip away the freedom of the press.
America has a long standing history of restricting the first amendment right of freedom of the press: John Adams once signed the Alien and Sedition act of 1798 which jailed or deported newspaper editors who criticized the government, during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln authorized the destruction of papers that opposed northern efforts and the Espionage Act of 1917 paired with the Sedition act of 1918 jailed nearly 2000 Americans for anti-war speech and writings. While every high school student learns about these violations of constitutional rights in American history class, many don’t learn about the pressure placed on journalists today.
In 2025, President Donald Trump restricted the press’s access to the White House, specifically the “Upper Press” area including the press secretary. Journalists can no-longer enter without a pre-scheduled appointment. Additionally, the Associated Press faced months of restriction from events in the Oval Office due to the association’s unwillingness to adopt the name “Gulf of America” opposed to “Gulf of Mexico”. The Wall Street Journal faced similar bans from Air Force One. The Pentagon has also placed limitations on journalist access in recent years. Overall, there is a clear decline in freedom of the press and freedom of speech over the last several years. Law scholars RonNell Andersen Jones and Sonja West believe the significant change in the supreme court’s defense of press freedom occurred over the past two decades.
These restrictions show a fundamental change in American thought as America moves away from protecting constitutionally-granted freedoms. The term press pressure refers to the decline in journalists’ rights and the constant pressure one faces trying to adhere to journalistic standards in this time. As the struggle for journalists increases, the struggle for freedom only becomes more prevalent. If press freedom goes away, what’s to stop other constitutional freedoms from disappearing too? Luckily, despite this press pressure, journalists everywhere fight to keep constitutional rights in America. When the government pushes, journalists push back harder, keeping America “The Land of the Free.”
SUPERIOR
Brooke Sanborn, West Linn High School
Wilbur Luckman, West Albany High School
Liliana Nishan, West Linn High School
EXCELLENT
Lucas Jacobson, Tualatin high school
Briana Huggins, Pacific High School
Ashton Wood, Pacific High School
Jasper Bangs, Tualatin High School
Ethan Chenevert, West Linn High School
Macquarie Workman, West Linn High School
Frances Binford-Ross, South Salem High School
Sasha Williams, South Salem High School
Akshay Shah, West Linn High School
Grady Wilkinson, La Salle Catholic College Preparatory
HONORABLE MENTION
Hazel Hooton, Roosevelt High School
Garrett Arendt, West Linn High School
Mary Jane Lewis, Pacific High School
Max Harden, Tualatin Highschool
Sadee Lulubele Snyder, Sandy High School
Hope Smead, Sandy High School
Ariana Goettl, West Albany High School
Leah Mathews, West Linn High School
Corinne Elliott, West Linn High School
Izzy Ludemann, West Linn High School
Brennea Atchley, South Salem High School
Cece Lipman, South Salem High School
Jasper Trehearne, La Salle Catholic College Preparatory
Echo, Pacific High School
PHOTOGRAPHY
PHOTOGRAPHY
BEST IN CATEGORY
Kellan Donahue, West Linn High School
PUSHING PAST PRESSURE
PUSHING PAST PRESSURE
During a time of political unrest, Audrey Krake, senior, discusses the importance of press freedom to interviewer Meghan Lemay, junior, at the 2026 Spring Media Day hosted at the University of Oregons Portland Campus. Session two draws students in for social media contests themed at “Press under Pressure,” Lemay takes the Q&A approach asking how the Green & Gold yearbook handles the first amendment. In their yearbook they “were able to cover the protests that are happening around the school,” Krake said, keeping “equitable coverage from both sides.” Photo by Kellan Donahue
1st RUNNER UP
Garrett Arendt, West Linn High School
WRITING IT DOWN
WRITING IT DOWN
After being reintroduced in 2025, the Oregon Journalism Education Association brought back Spring Media Day, where schools associated with the organization come to compete, go to sessions, and learn new experiences to take back to the classroom. This year, the event is being held during scholastic journalism week, where the theme is “Press Under Pressure.” Clover Martin, senior at La Salle Preparatory High School, joined one of the sessions to take notes. Martin has been on their staff for two and a half years, and thinks of the press as an integral part of journalism. “I do think of journalism as the fourth estate, and like being that kind of check on power,” Martin said. “It can be hard to find a shared, common perspective in the world, and especially in a high school environment. I think the press is such a great solution to that fact. The whole goal is to build the most neutral narrative of what's happening around us. And I think social media, politicians and really most authority figures, will be trying to push us into more polarizing opinions and stuff. I feel like we need that neutral narrative more than ever.” Photo by Garrett Arendt
2nd RUNNER UP
Finley Springer, West Linn High School
NOT A CRIME
NOT A CRIME
Amid an epidemic of criminalization and censorship of the press, Tom Henderson, journalist, stresses the importance of continuing in a career despite the challenges journalists face. Henderson’s shirt reads, “Journalism is not a crime”. While presenting to a group of young journalists at the Spring Media day convention in Portland, Oregon, Henderson touched on topics of safety and justice. “[Press freedom] means that despite all the attempts to vilify us as a profession, that what we do is vital to people being able to make intelligent decisions in a free society, and it's not a crime to ask questions”, Henderson said. During his presentation, he stated “don’t put anything around your neck that could be used as a weapon”, when discussing the best ways to stay safe while covering protests. As a father and grandfather, Henderson states that, “there is no story, there's no photo, there's no mission in journalism that's worth your safety”. Photo by Finley Springer
EXCELLENT
Katie Anderson and Teah Caffarella, West Albany High School
Cate Hockett, Pacific High School
Nicholas Hull, West Linn High School
Clara Wood, West Linn High School
Connie Fashu-Kanu, West Linn
HONORABLE MENTION
Tirian Glass, Pacific High School
Briana Huggins, Pacific High School
Solomon Feliciano, Pacific High School
Jayla Rifebery, Roseburg High School
Kenzie Stringer, Culver High School
Aaron Medina Rodriguez, Sandy High School
Zackery Wells, Gervais High School
Thomas, Springfield High School
Elaine Schoenborn, Grant High School
Nora Haberman, Roosevelt High School
Chloe Meacham, West Linn High School
SOCIAL MEDIA
SOCIAL MEDIA
BEST IN CATEGORY
Natalie Eisenman, Samantha Simmons, D’Angelo Strong and Aaniya Edwards, Roosevelt High School
1st RUNNER UP
Jakiah Lewis, Roseburg High School
2nd RUNNER UP
Jayden Garcia Inciong and Brennah Rinard, Sam Barlow High School
EXCELLENT
Audrey Krake and Iris Hochstettler, West Linn High School
Chloe Meacham, Meghan Lemay, Morgan Arbuckle, West Linn High School
Roeshelle Noy, Alanis Miller, Culver High School
Robby Martin and Zack Wells, Gervais High School
QUIZ BOWL
QUIZ BOWL
QUIZ BOWL CHAMPIONS -
Loedis V. McDaniel High School - "The Auracle" - Harvey Spindo, Jack McManus, Eban Slate, Aria Peters, Ricardo Tuz Aviles.
1st RUNNER UP
West Linn High School "No Episode This Week" - Wesley Gilbert, Nicholas Hull, Clara Wood, Ethan Chenevert, Garrett Arendt
2nd RUNNER UP
Roosevelt High School "Rough Writers" - Hazel Patterson, Lina Alonso, Silas O'Malley, Eva Haefner
Rounding out the Top 10:
West Linn High School "Freedom All the Time, Press Occasionally"
Tualatin High School "Wolves"
Barlow High School "Banner Baddies"
Pacific High "Pirates"
Roosevelt High School "Imposters"
West Albany High School "Scribble Scrabble"
Roosevelt High School "Rainbow"
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