Fair and Balanced, that's All We Ask
The students of Really Great High School are tired of all the negative press our school keeps getting. It seems that the only time news
cameras
are around is
when something horrible happens. No one comes to report on the everyday greatness that takes place behind our
doors.
Our senior class is sponsoring a community service event called the Backpacks for Change. We are collecting donations of toiletries,
food, toys, and animal products to donate to shelters throughout the city. The class also tutors students at the local elementary school.
We volunteer with the retirement home on Old Buckroe Road. Where are our news stories?
The valedictorian of our class has been accepted to five of the top ten colleges in the nation. In addition to maintaining a perfect
average, she is also a captain of the cheerleading squad and plays the cello in the school orchestra. Her community service ideas have
earned the senior class more than 2,000 hours of service. Yet she has never been featured in the local newspaper or on the nightly news.
We do not ask that you not report the bad things that happen at our school, or any school for that matter. What the students of Really
Great High School want is for you to devote equal attention to the good things we are doing. It is not fair to us for you to solely paint our
school as a negative or dangerous place. One major aspect of journalism in this country is supposed to be "fair and balanced reporting."
Where is our fairness, our balance?
10
Choose which sentence from the passage best conveys the author's message.

A. "Her community service ideas have earned the senior class more than 2,000 hours of service."

B. "It is not fair to us for you to solely paint our school as a negative or dangerous place."

C. "It seems that the only time news cameras are around is when something horrible happens."

D. "We volunteer with the retirement home on Old Buckroe Road."