Over the past three years, our world has evolved into a place where viewing a menu involves looking at your phone, participating in school requires a computer  and you can pay for groceries with a tap. The common denominator with all three of these experiences is technology. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, our world has shifted to become a paperless, tech-focused environment. The vast majority of high school teachers go an entire year without ever touching a piece of paper prepared for submission by their students.

As the prevalence of technology has grown in our world, it has also become crucial to the success of most businesses and newspapers are no exception. Digital engagement through platforms like Instagram, LinkTree, and newspaper websites have become integral to the success of papers throughout the country. 

At Parker, we still devote many hours to our print layout. Every issue a deadline is set for the writers based on the timing of the print issue, then the Editors-in-Chief tirelessly work to design the paper using Adobe InDesign. There are many different facets of newspaper production for The Weekly, but the piece which takes the longest is always the layout. We spend time editing every single mark you see when a printed Weekly touches your hand, down to the continuations markings later in the issue.

Despite the tireless efforts to produce our print edition, the place where The Weekly has the most viewership is undoubtedly our wonderful website — parkerweekly.org. When we publish an issue there are 350-450 print copies in circulation, all of which are taken by the end of distribution day. On that same publishing day, we received approximately 1500 viewers on our website, far exceeding our print readership.

Although a school newspaper doesn’t really feel like a newspaper without the print layout, the future of news is definitely online. On publication days students passively peruse the paper for entertainment, however, when students really need information about the happenings at 330 West Webster, they use the website. We post news briefs, videos, galleries, and more. Even when the physical Weekly’s have faded from the halls of Parker, our work can still be found online.

The website is also the Weekly’s connection to outside of Parker. By having a website, the Weekly has been able to submit articles to awards and participate in journalism programs. Also, the Weekly’s coverage of certain topics continues to benefit the greater community. We have information about local elections, local art, and even Poochie the Wiener Circle Dog, all of which can be viewed by our greater Lincoln Park and Chicago community.

We do not think that our paper should transform into an entirely electronic news source. We feel that would take away some of the camaraderie and feeling of accomplishment contributors have when they get to finally see one of their stories, on which they worked tirelessly, printed on sheets of newsprint and viewed by hundreds of people. However, we do think that the website should become a growing focus of all Parker community members. Parker Alumni should be enticed to regularly check the website for updates on school news, students should use it as a resource for school projects, and teachers should be able to start using The Weekly as a source of conversation in class about current events. The Weekly should be a source of pride for Parker community members across the United States and the world. Parkerweekly.org is the strongest means of our model home staying connected throughout all our various endeavors, and is a vastly underutilized resource.