About

Launched in 2019, The McHenry Messenger is the student-run and student-edited school newspaper at McHenry High School in McHenry, Illinois.

Student journalists have the right to exercise freedom of speech and the press in high school media. The McHenry Messenger is a byproduct of these rights. We hope to use this platform to inform and engage the students and staff of McHenry High School as well as its broader community. 

As a student-driven publication, it is important to us that we represent every group within both campuses and provide a platform for them to speak their truth. We intend to provide access to objective, relevant information that they need to know during these unprecedented times.

The McHenry Messenger hopes to maintain editorial independence while continuing to nurture our connections to the community.

As we strive to fulfill our journalistic mission, we recognize that learning and growing through our experiences as reporters, writers and editors is a core aspect of what makes this a student publication. When we make mistakes, our organization is prepared to take responsibility for the stories we publish and hold ourselves accountable

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Issuu. You can also meet this year’s staff and check out how outside organizations have recognized our work.

Have questions about The McHenry Messenger and Newspaper as a co-curricular activity at MCHS? Pease email newspaper advisor Dane Erbach.

Comment Policy

The McHenry Messenger intends for this area to be used to foster healthy, thought-provoking discussions. Comments both on our website and social media must leave a door open for discussion and cannot include any attacks on the writer or the subject of the writing, but may include constructive criticism. Along with this, no profanity will be tolerated. All McHenry Messenger comments will be reviewed by a moderator prior to being publicly posted. The McHenry Messenger does not allow anonymous comments and requires a valid email address. The email address will not be displayed but will be used to confirm your comments.

Take Down Policy

Following our First Amendment rights, the McHenry Messenger will not take down articles or media from our website unless they cause harm or violate an individual’s personal privacy or rights. As an organization, we will carefully consider the request’s reasoning before taking down an article, however articles that follow the Messenger’s guidelines may not be removed. As for factual information, if the Messenger publishes any incorrect information, the article will not be taken down; rather it will be corrected with a correction statement and reposted.

Media Sharing Policy

The McHenry Messenger allows for members of the community to save and share any media we post publicly on our website or social media pages (by right clicking on the image and clicking “Save Image As”). Raw media or any media that is not posted publicly will be kept private by the Messenger, and we can not guarantee that any requested pictures or videos may be sent to the parties requesting them. If The McHenry Messenger is requested to photograph an event, for example, we reserve rights to any pictures taken at said event and can use them as we see fit. The McHenry Messenger is not a free resource for photography / videography and is not required to share any media that we take as the copyright holders.