Spreading our newspaper to the masses
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Holding a mic in one hand, I nervously entered the cafeteria where a majority of students gathered during our study hall period. We figured this would be the best place to interview our peers and ask them their plans for the long weekend in order to promote our Instagram page. It may have been awkward in the moment and it ultimately didn't post, but at least I got practice to practice being a news anchor and contribute to our page!
This year, we decided that we wanted to try to post every single day, even after we got our Engagement SNO Badge. Social media is how Gen Z communicates, and they happen to be our biggest demographic of viewers, so why not use it to our advantage? Moreover, in order to make our site appealing to viewers like them, we always try to change up our story templates based on its content.
Our posts on social media
To promote our Halloween content on the website in a fun way, we filmed a reel asking students what they were dressed up as. The reel ended up getting 850+ views, which in turn increased audience engagement with our Halloween stories such as our "Fright Night" Pep Rally slideshow.
Below are two graphics that I designed, specifically to garner tracition towards our Halloween and Thanksgiving content. I utilized bright colors and themed font that accurately represented each holiday. I noticed that according to our site analytics, these articles gained more views compared to the other publications we had in those weeks.
Connecting with Prosper High programs & clubs through social media
A good newspaper is connected deeply with their community — our's is no exception. We use our social media presence to show the town of Prosper and Prosper High programs that we see them by following their accounts, liking their posts, and reposting their stories.
Formatting our stories
Depending on the type of story it was, we use a format tailored to that. If the story has needs a lot of extra information, then we will use an infographic to accompany it. If multiple perspectives need to be fit in one story, and it can't be fit within the article itself, we use pull quotes. If we want to give the featured image special attention, we use the immersive half photo format. Below are some examples of different formats.
Immersive Half Photo Format
Immersive Half Photo Format
I decided that I wanted my editorial to be more eye-catching so more people would click on it. As a result, I incorporated this format to emphasize this photo of a landmark at UT Austin.
Infographics
Infographics
When writing this article, I realized that my topic was very loaded and certain areas I couldn't cover with just my writing. So, my teammates helped me with incorporating this infographic to accompany my youth voting article. Not only that, we realized that more people would click on my story if it included accessible information that benefited them.
Pull Quotes & Inline Photos
Pull Quotes & Inline Photos
Our newspaper values all perspectives of an event or issue, which is why we include pull quotes from sources that we feel need more visibility and add an extra layer of depth to the article. Additionally, adding inline photos allows the viewers to immerse themselves in the content of the article, helping them visualize the information they're reading. These tools are great at getting attention from a visual standpoint, too.
Immersive Photo Format
Immersive Photo Format
This story was a group effort that required a lot of teamwork and communication. We were proud of this fact and wanted to make it apparent that it was. This format allowed us to do that and viewers can easily scroll through each piece of the story while being able to appreciate the paragraph and the graphic or photo accompanying it equally. This format is the most aesthetically pleasing look, and so we reserve it for special articles that we think will make a positive impact in our local community.
Different elements of our website
All of these elements are meant to attract audiences and allow them to engage or inform themselves. We have designed the site to be a one-stop location to learn all the current local updates while also getting the details of what their peers are up to.
Our consistently updated polls are made to match the viewers' mood, and allow them to interact in a fun, easy going way.
Once again, we try to match the mood of the school and uplift spirits by reminding students and staff of what they have to look forward to with our countdowns.
This feature is new! We figured that if people might not have time to skim through our weekly Eagle Brief, then they can catch announcements as soon as they click on our websites.
Many student athletes visit our page to get the latest details on their sport through previews and slideshows. We want to make the quick information they're looking for as accessible as possible with the recent results feature.
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