Free The Landry News by Andrew Clements

you print anythingyou want to in The Landry News?”
    Cara hesitated. “I . . . I’m not sure. I mean, I used to put anything I wanted into the paper because I made the whole thing from beginning to end. But now, I . . . I guess if someone didn’t like what we wrote, they could keep us from using the printer, or the computer.”
    Then Joey said, “But if I used my own computer at home, and I bought my own paper and everything, like, then I could print whatever I felt like, right?”
    Sharon’s dad was a lawyer. She said, “Yeah, but if you printed a lie about me, my dad would sue you—and then your computer would be my computer!”
    Mr. Larson said, “You’ve all raised some good points here. The fact is, when you publish a newspaper, you do have to tell the truth. If you get caught lying, someone is likely to sue you—take you to court—like Sharon said. And if a newspaper company publishes the newspaper, then the owner of the newspaper gets to decide what may or may not be in the paper.”
    It was quiet for a moment. Then Ed asked the question that was forming in everyone’s mind. “So who is the owner of The Landry News? Cara, right?”
    Cara shook her head. “Not really—not anymore. And I feel kind of funny having that still be the name of it. I think maybe we should change it to something different.”
    Joey said, “I don’t. You started it, and you’re still theeditor in chief, so I vote that we keep the name the same.”
    Cara blushed at Joey’s little speech and blushed even more when the whole class clapped and cheered, agreeing with him.
    Mr. Larson brought things back to order. “So that’s settled . . . now back to Ed’s question about who owns the newspaper . . . LeeAnn?”
    LeeAnn said, “Well, the school owns The Landry News, right? I mean, like . . . the school buys the paper and the computer and all, so it’s the school’s, right?”
    Mr. Larson smiled. “You could say the owner is the school, and that the head of the school is the principal. But the principal is hired by the school board, and the school board is elected by your parents and the other people in Carlton, and they are the ones who pay the tax money that pays the principal and the teachers, and buys all the paper and the computers and the printers, right?” After a long pause, Mr. Larson said, “There’s a lot to think about when you’re running a newspaper, isn’t there?” And with that the lesson about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and the freedom of the press was over.
    Using the pointer like a gentleman’s walking cane, Mr. Larson picked his way through the clutter back to his desk.
    It was quiet for another moment or two, and Cara sat there, staring at the Bill of Rights on the bulletinboard. She was wondering how much freedom of the press The Landry News really had.
    A little suspicion formed in the back of her mind that, sooner or later, she’d find out.

CHAPTER 15
REF MAKES TOUGH CALL
    ON THE FIRST Friday in December the ninth edition of The Landry News was distributed—over three hundred and seventy copies.
    Sitting at his desk, Dr. Barnes read his copy carefully. And when he turned to page three, Dr. Barnes finally saw what he had been hoping for, week after week. Smack in the center of the page was the article of his dreams, an article that should not have been printed in a school newspaper. And Dr. Barnes was sure that a majority of the school board would agree with him.
    A slow smile spread over his face, and in his mind, Dr. Barnes began planning Mr. Larson’s retirement party.
    Cara Landry was having the time of her life. The Landry News was growing and changing, and she was keeping up with it. By the fourth edition, Joey had to print on both sides of the sheet; and from the fifth edition on, The Landry