“I learned everything I know about journalism from being on the Parker Weekly,” said Eden Stranahan, a member of the Parker class of 2023, a student at Barnard College, and a recent addition to the staff of Columbia University’s student newspaper “The Columbia Spectator.”
Stranahan was a Copy Editor, Features Editor, and Editor-in-Chief during her time at “The Parker Weekly.” One memorable “Weekly” article by Stranahan according to a Parker peer was “Model Home Turned Full House,” which covered gambling in the Upper School at Parker.
Currently, Stranahan is a freshman at Barnard College. She is exploring different academic paths. Majors such as English, marketing, and law are all on Stranahan’s mind. At “The Columbia Spectator,” Stranahan is a University News Staff Writer, her most recent article being “Mrinalini Sisodia Wadhwa, CC ’24, named 2024 Rhodes Scholar.” Her writing at Columbia focuses on student life and events on campus.
Journalism was a “central point” of Stranahan’s high school experience. She was excited to join her college paper and continue journalism at the University level.
“The Parker Weekly” provided Stranahan with emotional tools to support her throughout high school, and now she’s using the same tools in college. “Being on The Weekly allowed me to build confidence to interview people I was kind of scared to interview at first…I’ve covered a bunch of different topics, so I’m less intimidated,” Stranahan said. “I feel more confident going into it knowing that I’ve done it before.”
For Stranahan, the main difference between “The Parker Weekly” and “The Columbia Spectator,” besides the AP format variations, is the editing process. “At The Weekly, there were a few rounds of editing and I was confident, but here, the article goes through many rounds of people instead of a couple, so I’m more nervous. But that’s good because I know I won’t print something with a massive mistake,” she says.
Stranahan isn’t overwhelmed as she balances school and the paper, it’s just busier. After she spends the day in the office or doing interviews, she has time to focus on other aspects of her life with the gratification of finishing her article.
Stranahan is particularly proud of an article about the student government at Columbia, “Barnard’s SGA is the only undergraduate council that receives member stipends. Why?” Stranahan enjoys writing about things with high stakes. “It’s really rewarding to write about something that would elicit responses from people. I was really happy how it turned out,” she said. She notices that this contrasts with “the Weekly,” where there weren’t many controversial topics to report about.
Stranahan’s advice for young Parker journalists is to care about the article. “I think my advice would be to keep going with it and try to find articles that interest you. Once you find a topic or niche you’re interested in, the process becomes so much easier,” she said. Upon joining “the Weekly,” Stranahan was intimidated and wasn’t obsessed with the articles she was writing. “When I got older, I was able to find my own pitches and get excited about articles. Finding something you care about changes the whole process.”
