In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, on March 12th, all Malden Public School families were sent a message to stay home. Schools around the country handled the shelter in place orders differently, some immediately transitioning to online classes with virtual meetings while others, such as Malden High School, conducted selective and non-mandatory course work, depending on the class, which has recently changed to become mandatory.
For the past 105 years, the Blue and Gold has remained a student-run newspaper with articles, photography, and art spearheaded by motivated individuals dedicated to delivering information that they believe to be valuable to the communities of Malden and Malden High School. Typically, our work is most efficiently accomplished face-to-face. For this reason, The Blue and Gold has adapted a way to continue delivering newsworthy information, and we will begin publishing again this week (April 13th) because of our commitment as a team to write, draw, create for the purpose of honest journalism.
The Blue and Gold typically creates content in sections labeled “Local,” “Sports,” and sometimes “Op-Ed.” During the April, May, and June months, Local stories typically involve Senior Awards Night, the NHS Induction Ceremony, Mr. MHS, Prom, and Graduation and Lacrosse, Boys Volleyball, Crew, and Outdoor Track, in the Sports section. Coverage of these stories will continue as they become available.
Lastly, the newspaper is just that: a newspaper. Our editions that are printed off and distributed around the city of Malden will be altered going forward. Typically, we have a March edition, April edition, then a combined May/June edition, otherwise known as the Graduation edition. Distribution for the March edition will occur when Malden High is back in session, however, the future of the April and May/June editions are unclear and dependent on the reporters and content available to us. As it currently stands, there likely will not be an April print edition.
In the meantime, an aspect most valuable to the Blue and Gold is the student perspective. As we are currently living through a major historical event, the student perspective becomes more important in remembering history. For this reason, the coming weeks may involve many more Op-Eds and editorialized articles. In order to receive a wide variety of perspectives on the topic of COVID-19 we will be instituting a submissions box for anyone who would like their perspective published on the website. The details about the submissions box will be made clearer as we learn more about how it works and what we want to represent.
We are dedicated to keeping our local community engaged and informed in the coming weeks and hope to reward insightful reporting, even if the coverage was done before the shelter-in-place. Thank you for your patience and for any questions email theblueandgold@gmail.com.
Signed,
Ana Pirosca, Editor-in-Chief
