This article discusses the relationship between teachers, classroom controversy and the media. It also features the story of Ayesha, who coincidentally is one of the authors of this article. Ayesha's story is a social studies teacher's bad dream featuring one of her worst fears: (1) public criticism; and (2) controversy over something that has been taught in class. An experience like Ayesha's causes a powerful ripple effect: other teachers become concerned for their own professional safety and quickly examine their curriculum for anything that might make them vulnerable to a similar onslaught. Such self-imposed censorship is a direct threat to academic freedom through prior constraint. Educators are generally not practiced in responding to negative newspaper or television reports much less the fairly new phenomenon of talk radio. The relationship between the educational community and the media is complex and while it is not possible to address all of its many dimensions here, the authors touch on the dilemma of whether to avoid or prepare for possible controversy and on the effects adverse media attention can have on teachers. Increasingly, the debates about education are taking place on the radio, on TV, in newspapers, and on the web. The media has the potential to be either a formidable foe, carelessly or deliberately creating controversy through misrepresentation and exaggeration, or a powerful ally, providing an avenue for teachers to explain their objectives and actions, describe their achievements, and answer their critics. Because of its multidimensional qualities, the outcome of any media engagement is impossible to predict. Consequently, most teachers and administrators are slow to respond to media criticism due to the fear that any reaction may simply fan the fire. Undoubtedly, engaging in a talk radio shouting match is bound to be viewed as especially onerous. The understandable tendency in a case like Ayesha's is to develop an official statement and hope the furor will just go away. Becoming a player on the media stage is fraught with pitfalls and, in spite of the best planning, what gets reported can be incomplete, mistaken, or completely distorted. It would be naive to suggest that what we propose is easily accomplished or doesn't require a generous amount of determination and fortitude. Good planning combined with a knowledge of how the system works will go far in enabling educators to play an effective role on the media stage. (Contains 11 notes.)