The Shield's Transition to an Online Journalism Platform

By Jacob Kersh

     Glenelg High School’s journalism program is proud to announce that we have developed an all-new online-based platform that will significantly benefit the school system for years to come! We have revamped our Twitter and Facebook profiles with new and improved graphics and journalism-related content, and also created an all-new, fully functional website! To learn more about these revolutionary changes that will become permanent very soon, read on below.

     Almost every student in high school is involved with a social media network of some sort, especially Twitter. The technology allows information, ideas, and expression to be shared across communities and networks around the world, so it can be very beneficial to become a part of one. That’s why we decided to focus our efforts on reinvigorating our Twitter and Facebook profiles with a clean 2D design scheme and a permanent removal of the clutter that has built up around them during many years of lackluster. If readers search The Shield on either platform, they will also notice a slew of Tweets and posts that will link you to either new, relevant articles that the journalism class has created, or events/initiatives happening in and around the school.

     From the beginning of our quest to revitalize the journalism program this year, we knew that we were going to need a fully-functional website. Having one would allow us to stay connected with our readers and also update the student body regarding all-things Glenelg in a more straightforward manner. An added bonus is that it has given us the ability to provide the school with a center of information for anyone wondering about the embodiment of our class: that if we work hard, we can accomplish anything. When you first reach the website, you are greeted with a sleek, elegant design that is very intuitive and easy to use. Our live Twitter feed is embedded into the bottom right corner, which provides the viewer with a sense of connection and coherency between platforms. Also, we have grouped the articles created by the journalism class into five distinct categories: Features, Sports, Arts & Entertainment, News, and Opinions. These sections help to direct the viewer towards their interests, and also allows more freedom regarding what we can write about as a class. The website also has a Contact Us section, where you can reach us directly and give us feedback about what we’ve done right and what we can improve upon. We hope that the Glenelg community gets the chance to take a look at it!

     The last positive aspect that our push to become more online based has provided us with is something that we have struggled to include in our printed newspaper edition during countless times in the past: the ability to write with relevancy. Previously, we’ve published one edition of the paper for every quarter of the school year (which will still continue to do), so it has been a bit difficult for our class to decide on an article topic at the beginning of each quarter that would still be important to Glenelg when the newspaper was published more towards the end. But now, with the addition of a new website and revamped social media, we will be able to write and publish about anything relevant that occurs. That means more articles, more interesting article topics, and an all around a ton of new ways that we can connect with students. We are extremely excited about this change, and we hope that the students of Glenelg are as well!

     If there are any suggestions or questions you might have regarding this new era of Glenelg Journalism, please do not hesitate to contact us via our website. Stay tuned for more important updates!