Editorial

In the fall of 2023, The Stentorian became a multimedia news source for the first time.

In the last three months of the 2023-2024 school year, our website and Instagram account have reached over 9k accounts/viewers and 44k impressions. The widespread community engagement and promotion of each published article has drawn renewed interest in the school’s events and in joining The Stentorian’s masthead among the juniors.

The virtual format allows the Stentorian to incorporate more photographs, videos, and charts in our articles (as we had never had color in our newspaper, save for one issue in 2013). For example, in my story about the NCSSM Class of 2024, I performed a statistical analysis on data given to us about college acceptances from the NCSSM Counseling department and converted that data into charts to include on the article on the website. This story had the highest amount of views and engagement (as of July 28, 2024): 410 views on the website, 142 likes on Instagram, and printed and distributed on all 1000 copies of that month’s issue.

The website also allows us to cover more timely topics on the news. Important stories about graduation, or latest budget cuts to different departments in school may not have been timely enough by the time we published our monthly print issue, but could be shared online.

For coverage of more controversial or worldly topics such as politics or the international protests, I take advantage of interactive links to provide evidence for my statements and encourage further engagement with issues.

Launched The Social Media

This year, I explored ways to increase the engagement and readership of our newspaper through a new social media (Instagram) account. Although there had been Instagram accounts for The Stentorian in the past, they were rarely updated and did not have a large follower base.

Seeking greater engagement on Instagram, I made a conscious effort to design posts for every published story in our print newspaper and post timely and relevant content relating to our school. We were successful; our new Instagram account (@ncssm.stentorian) has published 40 posts/reels since February 2024, gaining over 300 followers and setting records of views and likes on posts. Here are six of my most-viewed posts:

In April 2024, I started the new broadcast section for The Stentorian. Starting out covering the state championships for our FRC robotics team in Greenville, NC, I filmed myself speaking in front of the camera and the matches, edited the video between matches, and live-updated the championship on Instagram: our inaugural social media presence.

Editing

As a philosophy, meaningful impact is created from team efforts. From working with my editor-in-chief as a Scholastic Kid Reporter for three years to learning from others as an intern at the local magazine office, seeing what each team member brings to the table has always been one of my favorite parts of journalism.

For the school newspaper at my old high school (freshman and sophomore year), I was a column writer and pitched as many stories as I could. For the Stentorian at NCSSM, I have had experience being the multimedia, social media manager, website creator, newspaper distributor, and attended all the weekly editorial board meetings in junior year—I have made my fair share of gauging the position of the newspaper and formulating ideas on how to grow our paper even more. Whenever I had an idea, I’d contact the newspaper advisor and the editors-in-chief and chat with them in person or over email. I’m excited to be putting those ideas into action as an editor-in-chief in my senior year.

Teambuilding

One of the first things I did while working with the then-current editor-in-chiefs was creating and leading the Stentorian’s booth at the club fair on Welcome Day (an annual orientation day for the incoming junior class) on April 20, 2024. The day before, me and two seniors worked together to create The Stentorian’s poster for the club fair. Along with passing out current issues of the newspaper to families and students, we then presented our poster during the club fair, detailing the new sections, social media and website, and the pipeline on the process for how to join this fall semester. We distributed out our entire supply of that month’s extra issues. We also collected interest from students using a QR code survey.

As someone who witnessed the importance of passing the torch between new and old editorial teams, I have to take into serious account the staff-recruitment and legacy-building aspect of leadership. NCSSM is an admissions-based school that only accepts juniors and seniors, so it is important for rising editorial teams to start scouting for recruitment in the freshmen and sophomores, or in other words, beyond the students already at NCSSM. That is why we place so much emphasis on social media and website, in order to reach large audiences.

Every spring, our newspaper advisor sends a school-wide email to the student body to announce that editorial board applications are open. By the deadline, he told me that we received 15 applications, the most he has seen in his advising career, many of them citing the social media campaign and the accessibility of the website for joining.

Recent progress has dramatically helped the newspaper expand its masthead for the 2024-2025 school year and gained more hands to help with distribution. For example, for the final newspaper issue (the special Commencement issue) of the 2023-2024 school year, the incumbent and upcoming masthead members were able to distribute the issues to all 19 assigned-female-at-birth (AFAB) and assigned-male-at-birth (AMAB) dorm halls within one hour – a record time.

I hope that through these efforts, I am able to lay strong foundations for a new, modern chapter of the Stentorian for future generations.

Operations Management

Before the 2023-2024 school year ended, I created goals for the new editorial board and presented them to the newspaper advisor and the team in our first meeting in May 2024. These ideas, suggestions, and goals are recorded in a lengthy document called the “Editorial Policies and Operations Management Manual (EPOMM),” which to this day has become the doctrine that the masthead follows in our internal, external, and editing and promotional operations.

Though described as “NCSSM’s student-run news source,” the Stentorian’s content has been nearly-all comprised of sporadic and random work, covering topics ranging from things heard in dorms or issues on the other side of the planet.

This year, we began to actively increase outreach toward the larger student body, even from the faculty, and welcome contributed work, in order to better represent the voices of all students. To do so, we also needed to set a formal policy to standardize such submissions. This policy is now in our EPOMM.

Another new feature detailed in the EPOMM is the new Production Ladder template (right) for the purpose of planning every article to be printed in an issue a month before the spread is sent to the press. It also has a revenue-calculating aspect for sponsorships and printing prices.

To write the EPOMM, I consulted NCSSM/Stentorian alumni in the journalism field. Most notably, Sellers Hill ’20, current student at Harvard University and the 151st President of The Harvard Crimson.

When I visited him at The Crimson’s office in February 2024, I updated him on the state of our paper and he gave me suggestions on growth, editing and design rules, and tips on how to get business sponsorships/funding. I also took the chance to interview and write a feature story about him. Now, Sellers is the Stentorian’s secondary newspaper advisor.

In May 2024, I created the Stentorian’s Submission Guidelines. I made sure to include all necessary logistical details (approximate length, image size, credit formatting, etc) without limiting the content of work.

Commitment to Diversity

As an Asian American, I believe diversity is fundamental to life. Journalism, in its purpose to inspire and tell stories to humanity, is not complete without addressing and representing the full range of lived experiences in a community.

Starting journalism in sixth grade was a fortunate opportunity for me to cover stories through my cultural perspective. Six years later, I have seen and witnessed firsthand the importance of not only having a diverse range of topics to write about, but a diverse range of journalists in the newsroom. AAJA JCamp, Chapel Hill Magazine, Chapelboro.com, and my school newspaper taught me that. Even in high school-level journalism, I began to observe hints of systemic patterns—how easy it was for students to take the “easy route” and interview people they were already familiar with, to choose topics that appeal to majority, or to avoid complex issues which they may have the privilege to live without. Since the beginning of journalism career six years ago, I have made it a point to use my voice to uplift others. 

On top of that, diversity isn’t just a requirement in the workplace or for DEI fulfillment. It’s a propelling force that is inextricably linked with a reason to grow and succeed. Beyond just interviewing people who look different from me or have different stories than mine, my commitment to diversity means using my work as a medium to participate in social issues and change ways of living.

Business Relations & Sponsorships

One of the Stentorian’s goals for 2024-2025 is to initiate and maintain beneficiary relationships between the newspaper and local businesses. NCSSM is down the block from Ninth Street and downtown Durham, also known as the historical “Black Wall Street.” To have a colorful business hub nearby that supports the youth voice is an opportunity that The Stentorian will not pass by. Our team values responsibility, professionalism, and transparency, especially when it comes to relationships with external organizations and institutions. Hence, I created a Sponsorships Handout (below) to show to businesses to earn their support.

Although we are not a non-profit organization or licensed business as many other college newspapers are, the Stentorian editorial board and our advisors believe that sponsorships will usher in a two-way, positive collaboration that also benefits the school. In exchange for sponsorships and funding from businesses, the newspaper can run ads in the print issues and on the website to encourage students, teachers, and families to go to that business.

I understand that funding clubs at NCSSM can be a complicated and nuanced process. The school newspaper, however, differs from student-led clubs in the way that it is a direct representation of the school’s identity, made by the students for the community. In order to achieve our goals of improving our website’s appearance and functionality and attaining a color-spread on print, we students must be courageous in taking this first step to supporting ourselves.