Editorial: 'Indian' headline draws complaints

Monday, May 28, 2007  

"A number of Rapid City Journal readers perceived a headline in last Sunday’s Journal as insensitive and offensive. We regret publishing it and realize it should have been phrased differently.

The headline said: “Indian picked to lead Central,” and it was printed in bold type across the top of Page A1.

The accompanying story by Journal reporter Andrea Cook (reporters suggest but don’t write headlines for their stories) said the Rapid City School District had selected Mike Talley, 34, of Bismarck, N.D., to replace Pat Jones as Central High School principal.

The lead paragraph of the story reported that Talley would be the first American Indian principal of the state’s largest high school. Although some of our readers may disagree, Talley’s race was an important element in the story, both because it was a “first” and because Central has a sizable Indian population - 16.7 percent of the student body.

That Talley is the first Native American principal at Central was a primary reason the story was stripped across the top of A1. Had the new principal not been a Native American, editors may have placed the story elsewhere."

Get the Story:
Headline about principal should have been phrased differently (The Rapid City Journal 5/27)

National Indian Education Study:
Overview | Executive Summary | Full Report

Relevant Links:
National Center for Education Statistics - http://nces.ed.gov
Nation's Report Card - http://www.nationsreportcard.gov

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