Vengeful Jo gets back at a teacher she thinks is mistreating her by exposing his arrest at a drug party through the school newspaper. But will she come to regret her actions?
Front Page provides examples of:
- Asshole Victim: Mr. Gideon, the journalism teacher. While his reputation being destroyed by Jo's paper is harsh, he was still a bad teacher who treated her horribly: yelling at her and dismissing a piece she spent a long time writing. Mr. Gideon forgets that Jo is a teenage student, not a professional reporter, and he chooses to humiliate her instead of offering constructive criticism as a good teacher would.
- Downer Ending: Jo realizes that her article has ruined Mr. Gideon's teaching career, even though he was innocent of using drugs. The worst part is, she discovers at the end that the reason he was so hard on her was because he believed in her. Though she wants to do something to fix the situation, Mr. Gideon tells her she can do nothing and just leaves the school to return to journalism, leaving her feeling extremely guilty.
- Jerkass: Mr.Gideon.
- Karma Houdini: Jo is not punished at all for publishing the article that destroys Mr. Gideon's teaching career. Mrs. Garrett doesn't punish her, (though she does scold her.) The school doesn't punish her, and even Mr. Gideon does nothing. At the same time, she feels utterly horrible for what she did.
- Never My Fault: When Mrs. Garrett tells them about the mistake they made, Natalie tries to pin all blame on Jo. But both Mrs. Garrett and Jo remind her that as editor of the school newspaper she had final decision to publish the article. But Jo does concede that she bullied her into it
- Oh, Crap!: Jo and Natalie both have this reaction when Mrs. Garrett tells them they made a mistake on the article.
- Revenge Before Reason: Jo gets so caught up in getting back at Mr. Gideon for humiliating her, she jumps at the chance to publish the article about his drug arrest, not stopping to consider if perhaps she's making a mistake.
- Tough Love: Mr. Gideon explains to Jo that the reason why he was so hard on her in class was because he could tell that she had real potential in journalism. However, its deconstructed, he treats Jo very poorly compared to other students without telling her what his intentions are, resulting in Jo lashing out.
