Creating a school newspaper is more than simply writing and publishing articles. It’s a collaborative process that requires careful planning and involves multiple steps. Each issue requires not just writing, but also editing, designing, and a lot of organization to ensure everything flows and is done correctly and on time. Behind the articles, there’s a team of dedicated students working together to bring The Mane Street Mirror to life.
The first step each month is deciding what articles each person is going to write. Everyone brainstorms their own ideas for articles, considering national news, timely events, and what the school community will be interested in reading. Once the topics are chosen, the writers begin researching, interviewing, and drafting their articles.
As the articles are written, editors give suggestions and make corrections, providing feedback to make them.
After the articles are finalized, the team of layout editors begins planning the layout of the magazine that will be printed for the school community. This year, The Mane Street Mirror switched from the classic black and white newspaper to a colorful magazine style. The editors come together to discuss which articles they want to include. They pick a few from each topic of writing and assign them to each editor to design what the pages will look like.
Layout Editor Rosina Smith says, “Considering I want to major in the business field, being Layout Editor was beneficial for me to be able to learn different ways of design and advertising and how to appeal to the human eye.”
To create the layout, the editors use Canva, where they can add graphics and text with various features to create unique and interesting-looking layouts for each article. They work together to ensure the layout is cohesive and easy for readers to follow.
While each article may not end up in the magazine, each one goes digital on The Mane Street Mirror website. The online editors post every article, categorize it, and design the format of the website to ensure it’s easy to navigate and find articles. Posting weekly and keeping everything updated and easily accessible is crucial to the look of the journalism program, and the online editors work to ensure that the publication stays current and engaging.
Editor In Chief of The Mane Street Mirror Dabi Lee says, “My favorite part of journalism is the amazing collaboration that happens within the creation of our paper. It takes so much teamwork, whether it’s deciding which articles go into the paper with the layout editors or working with staff writers to edit their articles. I love being able to be a part of making something that excites our school community.”
Throughout the entire process, organization is key. To keep track of everything, the team uses a shared Google Drive containing various folders. The Google Drive is used to store all deadline information, submission dates, drafts, images, and the online calendar. Students put their article titles on the online calendar, made from a Google Sheet with various dates on it. The online editors go into the calendar every day to see what articles need to be posted. They use a color-coded system to organize even further and know which articles have been posted, are ready to be posted, and which still may need some corrections before being posted.
The process of creating the school newspaper is a team effort from start to finish. Writers and editors all contribute to make sure the magazine and website are informative, compelling, and accessible. The behind-the-scenes work shows the teamwork, creativity, and commitment that go into producing a polished publication that reflects the voice of the school community.
