Website
May 13, 2022, Jenny Creech is announced as our new publications adviser. March 10, 2023 - she tells me I’ve been named Digital Managing Editor. Sept. 22, 2023 - The ReMarker Online launches. In the 196 days between those dates, a website was created.
I worked with Ben Adams, the Digital Editor-In-Chief, and we researched and found that SNOSites was the best option to host our site; I planned out a production cycle for a platform we never had, keeping stories consistent and informative; I convinced a staff that never had a website that it was our future.
When it launched, it was like we were building a plane while flying it– I had to learn the in’s and out’s of SNOSites and teach the staff how to create and post stories. Since Sept. 22, I have updated smremarker.com multiple times a week with a fresh batch of web-exclusive stories, as well as print stories, videos, podcasts, and much more.
When I was named Digital Editor-In-Chief, I started off by asking for help– bringing on three new editors to help run the site. Over the summer, I began the redesigning process (updating the design like I mentioned in the last section). The one area I thought we fell short on was multimedia content, so I set up a new monthly organizational structure to increase our production efficiency. As of right now, we have shared 4 long videos, multiple short-style videos, and 4 podcasts, with our most viewed piece of content getting over 22,000 views.
A new digital age
On smremarker.com you can find the fruition of all my work in this past year bringing our program a website. Below is a column I wrote laying out the future of the website and our program:
I’m inspired by my classmates on staff, who all take pride in the work they produce. Journalism isn’t just a class they took to fill a credit or an activity they joined just to look good for college applications– they’re a part of this publication because they’ve taken on the responsibility of spreading the news to our community. From pitch meetings to interviews to final edits, this team of teenage boys consistently goes the extra mile to produce a high-quality publication.
There aren’t many schools where the administration trusts teenagers to cover controversial topics with little oversight. That’s why students rush to open the newspaper on seven Fridays throughout the school year and truly appreciate the work their peers have done.
This storied program has built a legacy of trust, integrity, and journalistic excellence. With each issue, we uphold the responsibility that comes with an independent student-run publication, knowing that our words have the power to inform, challenge and inspire our community.
And as the world changes, we must change with it. While there’s nothing like flipping through the pages of a newspaper, the way journalism is shared has changed since we began publishing 71 years ago. While there will always be a place for print media, our program was behind the curve in adapting to the digital age. We have brought a new dimension to the school’s journalism program in the last two years: a website. The new platform allows us to achieve our purpose as a publication, enabling our audience, wherever they may be, to consume our content as easily and effectively as possible.
Before we had a website, the print newspaper only shared stories once a month, limiting our coverage. As a result, our coverage of events around campus was often late or nonexistent. We update the website multiple times a week with up-to-date coverage of everything on campus.
I’ve watched the website blossom, constantly pushing the limits of what we can cover and how we can cover it. On the website, we provide more insight into student life through podcasts featuring important figures and debates between students and video content, from documentaries covering historic school moments to news segments covering the future of entertainment.
In addition to web-exclusive stories, every story featured in the print newspaper is also accessible on the website. The website also presents scores, schedules and highlights from varsity sports teams on campus, as well as athletics recaps shared on the Focal Point Podcast’s “Talking Lions” series with the Superfan Men.
The website lets our community access information about campus life more efficiently than ever. Parents no longer need to wait until their son brings the ReMarker home, and alumni don’t need to wait until the copy is delivered to learn how things are going at 10600 Preston Road. When smremarker.com is in your bookmarks, campus life is just a click away.
This is the new era of the ReMarker.
While the unveiling of our website was certainly a cause for celebration, I made it clear to the staff that our job was only starting. In the first year of having a website, there were ups and downs — but I have made sure our team’s mentality never wavered. The additional stories allow rookies to have more opportunities to write, which is crucial for their development. Our staff’s least favorite part of every cycle is the “upload print stories to website” day, but I keep them motivated with late starts and snacks as a token of my appreciation. On the right is my assignment for each classmate to upload stories, with their work due at the end of the period.
