Free Read All About It! by Rachel Wise

Jeff had taken at the PTA meeting.
    â€œHere. Check out Pfeiff,” he said.
    The picture opened up huge on the screen and it was a picture of Mr.
     Pfeiffer sitting quietly on the stage. Unfortunately, his hand was up at a weird angle
     and it looked exactly like he was picking his nose.
    â€œIsn’t that killer?” said Michael.
    Jeff tried to look modest. “‘Pfeiffer Picks a New
     Curriculum’?” he said with a shrug and a smile.
    Mr. Trigg walked in and called out a greeting. “Happy weekend and
     all that!” he said.
    Jeff and Michael looked at each other. “Show him,” said
     Michael.
    â€œShow me what, old chaps?” Mr. Trigg crossedthe room and came to stand behind the monitor. “Oh. That is rather
     unfortunate,” he said.
    â€œThere are a few other good ones,” said Jeff proudly. He
     scrolled through three more of Mr. Pfeiffer, one where he looked like he was going to
     throw up, one where Jeff had caught him with his eyes mid-blink so he looked like he was
     falling asleep in his chair, and one that was just kind of an ugly, unflattering
     shot.
    â€œWell, you certainly managed to catch Mr. Pfeiffer at some awkward
     moments. You have quite the quick shutter speed, Jeff. Let’s see some of the good
     ones, though.”
    Jeff looked up at him, his hand still on the mouse. “These are the
     good ones.”
    Mr. Trigg shook his head. “No, I mean the ones that we’ll be
     choosing from to run with the article.”
    â€œThat’s what these are. I’ve narrowed it down.
     ‘Pfeiffer Asleep at the Switch,’ ‘Pfeiffer Picks a Choice New
     Curriculum,’ and ‘Pfeiffer Sick of the Complaints.’ Those are the
     captions.”
    Mr. Trigg was quiet for an extralong minute and we all got serious
     because we realized he was nothappy. “Jeff, gang, stop for a
     moment. Think about what we are here for.” He looked at the three of us carefully,
     eye to eye. Jeff shifted uncomfortably. After a long pause, Mr. Trigg continued.
     “Are we here to report the news? Or are we here to make people look like
     fools?” He looked around at us again. “I think you know the answer to that.
     We are not a tabloid, going for the quick laugh or the hurtful moment, are
     we?”
    I shook my head no, and finally, so did Jeff and Michael.
    â€œMr. Pfeiffer may be a public figure, of sorts, and so technically
     he is fair game. But to make a mockery of him takes away from the hard reporting about
     the facts that I know Michael and Samantha are doing. We must treat our subjects
     respectfully and be mindful of our own credibility. These photos do tell a story of
     sorts, but they are not the story we are reporting. They are a sideshow. Do you all
     understand the difference?”
    We nodded. I think Jeff felt bad. Not that he felt sorry for Mr.
     Pfeiffer but more that he was embarrassed that Mr. Trigg might think he wasdoing a bad job as photo editor. I looked at Michael. I
     wasn’t sure he felt bad.
    Mr. Trigg looked around again. “Would you like a bad photo of you
     out there for all the world to see? Maybe on Buddybook?”
    I looked at Michael and saw that Mr. Trigg had just driven his point
     home. Michael felt bad now too, I could tell. I wondered if Mr. Trigg had seen
     Jeff’s page when the football pictures were up. I wondered if he’d heard
     about Jeff’s almost-fight with Andy Ryan.
    Jeff clicked on the thumbnails of the bad photos of Mr. Pfeiffer and
     quietly dragged them into the computer’s garbage can.
    â€œWell done,” said Mr. Trigg. Then he continued in an upbeat
     voice. “Now. Any fun weekend plans? I, for one, am off to hear a talk on Winston
     Churchill by a visiting professor from Oxford! Can’t wait!”
    I smiled. Good old Trigger. “Have fun!” I said.
    Mr. Trigg left with a “Cheerio!” and Michael looked at his