By Leila Greige and Anna Powers
As a newspaper staff, we are well aware that we play a crucial role in documenting the history of Malden High School. These stories, sometimes forgotten in the messy nature of busy news, are what we consider to be journalism that ultimately has a civic impact on our personal lives.
This year, in particular, major news stories impacted the city of Malden, but most importantly, it affected Malden High School students. In stories that speak the truth, students are shaped by the deep and engaging issues and events that surround Malden High. Our breaking news coverage, such as the unexpected departure of our former principal, shines light on our roles as journalists: investigating, collecting, and presenting the information that we should all know.
In the past, our newspapers have been made up of stories throughout local and sports that cover major things that happen in our city. This year, we fulfilled that same mission as years past, but we also have added a new component to the way in which we organize our paper.
Starting in the month of December, the leadership staff decided to start to frame themes for each edition.
The December edition focused on the Haitian culture of Malden High School. We formulated this from many different objectives. We heavily relied on the work produced by our very own Malden High Play production class when they presented their first musical play of the year: Once On This Island. Both Play Production and the Haitian Culture Club worked diligently together to make sure that the show was as authentic as it could be.
In the March edition, we made recommendations for what we would like to see in a new principal and focused on the school’s response to safety due to rising gun violence across our nation. This time-consuming, politically-driven, and attention-grabbing process was one that inspired us.
In the April/May edition, we tackled funding of education and the Malden Public Schools. This controversial topic covered the inner workings of school funding and made us understand the budget of the city.
By establishing these varying themes throughout the paper, we felt that it would leave readers with the idea that the students of Malden High School are represented through the Blue and Gold. We wanted our newspaper to be more than just news: we wanted something that students could rally behind, as we essentially were putting what they are thinking into words.
This year, as a staff, we were tested on our capability to produce informative and immediate coverage for all of the major events that happened this year.
As Editors-in-Chief of Print, we are proud to be a part of the leadership staff in the 2017-2018 Blue and Gold class and represent Malden High as more than just a newspaper.
