In February 2020, WBEZ reporter Adriana Cardona-Maguidad produced a story about the decline of Chicago public high school newspaper programs, titled “Keeping First Draft of History Alive in Chicago Public High Schools.” She visited Payton’s newspaper class to record a student pitch meeting, and in her story she said Payton was one of the few Chicago public high schools with a “thriving newspaper.” That fall, Payton’s newspaper and broadcast classes disappeared.