Technology has changed our entire world. Every moment of our lives is touched by an innovation created somewhere in the Silicon Valley or in a university tech lab, and with this influx of newness, many stable American industries have been forced to evolve. One such industry is journalism. Since the printing press was popularized in the 1700’s, newspapers have been produced on the iconic folded square of soft white paper. With the popularization of internet publications, paper sales have fallen, leaving newspaper companies with few options—close their doors or change their ways. One successful adaptation has been to expand their online presence.
On a much smaller scale, the Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls newspaper, The Source, has just undergone a similar change. Since Ma’ayanot’s inception in 1996, The Source has been produced on paper and distributed throughout the school. The editors noticed in the recent years, however, that fewer and fewer copies were being taken, and they knew steps had to be taken to increase interest in their publication.
The answer came from Mrs. Enid Goldberg, English teacher and newspaper faculty adviser, who suggested that the paper be digitized, which would allow for easier circulation within the community and for more frequent content updates. The editors, myself included, agreed that this was a wonderful idea, and The-Source was born. Implementation of this idea, however, has not been without challenges.
The first challenge was technical, i.e., we had to learn how to maneuver within the site to publish articles and to include media such as pictures, video and audio to supplement the written content. The next challenge was to define our goals for this new paper. After discussion among the leadership team, we decided that, in addition to reporting on events going on in our school, The-Source would also address world issues and stories from a perspective that would be familiar to the Ma’ayanot student; to accomplish this, we not only report on current events, but we have also created an editorial series in which Ma’ayanot students comment on relevant political issues, e.g., healthcare reform and gun control. Toward the goal of maintaining a steady flow of articles about the goings-on in Ma’ayanot, we have published on everything from our new Friday minyan, to a spotlight piece on new faculty, to a new fashion column.
The digital world has proved a stable and effective home for Ma’ayanot’s new e-Source, and we look forward to increasing our presence within the community as the year continues. Check us out at Myhsource.com!
By Hannah Siegel (‘16), Editor in Chief The-Source
