{"id":2036,"date":"2020-08-20T12:00:32","date_gmt":"2020-08-20T12:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2020\/08\/20\/how-a-high-school-newspaper-editor-geared-up-to-cover-riots-in-portland-oregon\/"},"modified":"2024-03-07T17:15:55","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T17:15:55","slug":"how-a-high-school-newspaper-editor-geared-up-to-cover-riots-in-portland-oregon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2020\/08\/20\/how-a-high-school-newspaper-editor-geared-up-to-cover-riots-in-portland-oregon\/","title":{"rendered":"How a high school journalist geared up to cover protests in Portland, Oregon"},"content":{"rendered":" \n
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\n A<\/span>s federal law enforcement officers descended on Portland, Oregon, last month and clashed with protesters demanding an end to police brutality, Eddy Binford-Ross \u2014 who lives in Salem, about 45 minutes south of Portland \u2014 rushed to the scene. For almost three weeks straight, the editor of The Clypian<\/a> newspaper live-tweeted what she saw on the ground, shot photos and video, took detailed notes, then went home to grab a few hours of sleep before posting to her publication\u2019s website. The next night, she\u2019d head back into the fray and stay until after 3 in the morning, long past the time the national TV and newspaper reporters had packed up their equipment and left.

\"Eddy<\/a>
Eddy Binford-Ross<\/figcaption><\/figure>

It would have been exhausting for a seasoned war reporter, but Eddy isn\u2019t a war reporter or even a full-time journalist. The Clypian (Anglo-Saxon for \u201ccall\u201d) is the newspaper of South Salem High School, where Eddy, 17, is entering her senior year and juggling two part-time jobs \u2014 one as a communications assistant for Salem-Keizer Public Schools and another as a legislative aide to a member of the Oregon House. Her reporting pluck has drawn the attention of The Washington Post,<\/a> MSNBC, the BBC, Fox, Reuters and other news outlets.

The Clypian is published in print during the school year, but keeps up an online presence year-round. In addition to school issues, the staff has written about the Oregon legislature and done candidate endorsements; Eddy is working on a series about diversity in the school district, especially among staff, based on recently released stats. The newspaper has had the same advisor for 16 years, but is completely student-run; school officials don’t monitor or approve stories before they are published.

I\u2019ve known Eddy since she was 9. Her mom, Warren Binford, is a law professor at Willamette University, and we became friends when I worked as the law school\u2019s communications director from 2010-13. Her dad is a teacher. So, as things in Portland appeared to calm down in the last couple of weeks, Eddy agreed to talk about her observations on the front lines of the protests.

And in case you\u2019re wondering, as I was: her mom or dad always accompanied her to the protests, although they kept a respectful distance as their daughter did her job. When I asked her mom how she felt about her daughter placing herself in a dangerous situation, she said this:
\u201cI had never gone to a Portland protest because they are so high-conflict \u2014 and that was before the feds showed up. So I was not thrilled and Chris (my husband) agreed to take her to keep her safe. Then I went with her on the third night and realized that the feds were completely out of control. From then on, it was all about getting her up there every night and keeping her as safe as possible so that she could keep documenting this in the detailed, blow-by-blow, matter-of-fact way she has come to be known for.

\u201cCutbacks to the press means there aren\u2019t as many professional journalists on the street to report what\u2019s going on. We don\u2019t have adequate support for the press, and we have these historic events leading to the loss of democracy and the rule of law. So we wanted to support her in informing the public.

\u201cBoth friends and family on the right and the left told us that she became their most trusted source of the events, and I believe that her coverage helped to create an accurate, unbiased historical account of the feds’ occupation of Portland.

\u201cBut I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that I was shaking with fear some nights, but trying not to let her see my fear.”<\/blockquote>
My conversation with Eddy, below, has been edited for length and clarity.