The Messenger was planning on publishing an article on locker room culture at Garfield. As reporting continued, we became increasingly doubtful that we could cover this story in a responsible way within the time frame of this issue. While we have an obligation to inform our community, we also have an obligation to minimize harm. Due to this concern and the inability to fact-check several accounts, we believe that publishing this story right now would be irresponsible.

If and when we can publish this story in a way that carries less risk of harm, we will. The intention of this article was to shed light on a situation in order to better our community rather than to sensation- alize or provoke malicious rumors.

Corinna Singer with the Messenger