Nov. 18 Grace Kweon (12) saw the November issue of the Panorama drenched in water left on the sink of the girl’s bathroom. That’s why, as the proud Copy Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper, she may have shed a tear. Because unbeknownst to many Ladue students, newspapers don’t appear out of thin air — they cost time, money and effort to make.
Unfortunately, newspapers being dunked in the sink isn’t uncommon. After they are passed out during lunch, most are taken — but some are left crumbled, stained with food or thrown in the trash never to be seen again.
Of course, there are many students who value the physical copies in comparison. Every community likely has its bad apples, and people tend to react more to the inflammatory than the good. For instance, countless students collect the newspapers every year, some teachers leave a copy on their desk and many sponsors willingly support behind the scenes.
It’s not just any sort of effort, either — Ladue’s newspaper, amongst its countless list of accomplishments, just won a Pacemaker. That’s the equivalent of a Pulitzer Prize in the high school newspaper scene, given to only 17 high school districts in the nation every year.
Beneath those accomplishments, is the hard work of staff — collectively spending hours of cramming on working on the month’s newspaper’s issue, even being mandated to stay after school at 7 p.m. to get final copy edits or design changes done. On top of that, too, the staff publishes two web stories every month: one focused on school activities and the other under topics ranging from photo polls to opinion stories like these.
Newspapers are also expensive to produce, too. Each Panorama issue costs roughly anywhere around $2 to $3 each. The publication prints out around 700 of those every month, with each issue being anywhere from 35-40 pages. Simply put, these shiny bunches of paper that some seem to be casually throwing around are not cheap.
It’s not like these numbers are being subsidized entirely by the school either. At the start of every school year, every staff member is required to raise $125 in sponsorships for a grade. This is typically achieved by asking six individuals (often neighbors) for $25 donations or securing $300 in ad sponsorships. For a staff of 50, that equals to around raising around $12,000 yearly.
Newspapers aren’t cheap. Staff spend hours of hard-earned time on them every month. The Panorama newspaper often wins national awards and boosts Ladue’s notoriety. Students need to recognize the value in these issues and stop treating them like castaways. Instead, read it over. Take one and store it in your room. Treat it like you would a yearbook.
