When I tell
people I’m in newspaper club, most react with a confused expression, often
followed by “We have a newspaper club?” Since our last issue’s release, I’ve
watched that reaction shift to one that shows more interest and awareness.
“Oh, it’s that Echo Lite thing, right? Nice.” Yes!
Thank you for calling it by the right name instead of ShangHigh Echo!
SAS’s student
newspaper ShangHigh Echo lived in
print for eleven years before Journalism was cut from the high school
curriculum. After this past Chinese New Year break, the Echo was reborn online
as Echo Lite through the recently
established newspaper club. The new introduction has received positive
responses overall. When the first issue was released on February 18, we
received 512 page views in a single (half) day. Our “echo” of student voices
(yes, this is why it’s called Echo)
heard returning echoes from our viewers, both students and staff.
Only one period after Echo Lite’s launch, the Puxi secondary library was fast to react and posted our link onto their blog, dubbing us as the “good ol’ school newspaper.” Thanks, library!
Students who
read some of the articles also pitched in their thoughts on the new online
school paper. In regards to the general quality of the online newspaper, senior
Andrew Kao commented that the site is “very comprehensive and user-friendly.”
Junior Yeop Lee joined our
club after the first issue’s release. He explained,
“I joined Echo Lite after seeing the
webpage because I thought it was really nice how different people were able to
get together in order to bring information to greater audience. I think that
it’s really cool that a lot of information pertaining to school events can be
found on a single webpage.”
Different
students read articles that appealed to their interests. “I think it’s great that fencing is getting publicity at
SAS,” remarked sophomore Kevin Tu. To be fair, he is actually featured in our
article, “Fencing Takes Home Gold.” Freshman Haley Young read a column and reflected,
“I just think it’s interesting on how you guys rate the restaurant. Your
opinion gives me ideas where to go with my friends.”
In addition to the positive student feedback we received, many staff
members also expressed interest in the online newspaper. Too bad they can’t
join our club—sorry.
As a counselor, Ms. Hillary Hewins is always interested in hearing what
students have to say, even if it’s just stressed-out rants. She told me, “I am thrilled about the launch of Echo
Lite. I think it’s so important for students to have a place to be
able to share their voices and perspectives, and also a space in which budding
journalists can practice their collaboration, community engagement, and analytical
thinking and writing skills. I look forward to watching it grow.”
Mr. Michael Branch was also pretty excited about the school newspaper’s
return, which is flattering coming from an English teacher. “I think it is very exciting to have the Echo back as part of the SAS community.
I thought there was a wide array of topics covered that should garner
interest in the student community. I look forward to how Echo Lite continues to grow, continues
to gather a large readership, and see how it improves,” he commented.
A shared hope is
that we will build a larger readership in the future. It’s quite an exciting
feeling to know that numerous brains are processing work you have produced.
Maybe people even like it. Nevertheless, it has not been easy to reach these
brains or even start to. When The ShangHigh
Echo was printed and handed to every student in homeroom, the Echo’s readership included a large
portion of the school. Now that the school newspaper is emailed to everyone via
an online link, students must take more initiative to click open the newspaper.
Our online newspaper’s readership this year is noticeably smaller than that of
the print newspaper last year. It is a new beginning after all.
In a larger
sense, the problem our school newspaper is currently facing is shared with the
overall journalism industry’s struggle. Increasingly more news establishments
are making the transition from old media to new media, some successfully and
others not so much. Publishing formats and writing styles must change to suit
the new online media platform. Beyond the change in medium, our school newspaper
has also undergone significant change as we shift from operating as a yearlong
course to a student-led club.
The transitional
process’s challenges are certainly great to our teenage souls, but they also
push us to take on more responsibility and learn from our (many) mistakes. Hearing
feedback from you guys is motivating us even more. Granted Echo Lite has only released one issue so far, but many untold
stories still lie ahead.
We’ll keep you
posted.
Emma Li
