bugle From paper to pixels
Issue 1, Volume 79 August 23, 2013
the
4525 Highway 109 Eureka, MO 63025
Check out
www. ehs-hub. info
The student newspaper of Eureka High School
The Bugle transitions to an online publication as social media, technology evolve monika nayak • • editor-in-chief
Fingers glide along a polished screen as the texture of books and the scent of printed word become faint memories to the members of the new generation. Tangled ear buds in the pockets replace a booming stereo on top of shoulders, and Twitter triumphs over Fox News. The taps of a typewriter are drowned out by the clacks of a keyboard. eBooks compete with hardbound books, and iTunes has reigned over the radio. “Technology is changing the world day-by-day whether we notice it or not,” Alex Todd (9) said. Social media has only just begun to alter the standard of living. Shopping can be done from one’s living room, and an entire library can be held in the palm of one’s hand. EHS news will now be on a computer screen instead of the grey and black speckled cafeteria tables. There will only be two print issues decorating the tables this year, one in August and the Senior Issue in May. “We decided to shift our focus to primarily online because we are creatures who live on our smartphones,” Monika Nayak, News Production editor-in-chief, said. “Now hopefully people will visit the Hub as much as their facebook and Twitter accounts.” The website—updated daily—will be the source of news. With the transition to online, students won’t be missing out on the parts of the print paper that they admired the most. “I really look forward to The Bugle because it’s full of news you actually want to hear,” Kristen Wood (12) said. “I love how it highlights personal and team achievements. I especially like when the EHS-hub does polls, for instance the one about the election and which party each student was for.” All of EHS’s news, statistics, columns and updates can be found on www.ehs-hub.info.
Community members can also get up-todate information— including the daily
madeline karas
taylor balleau • • feature writer
Handing out one of the last print issues of The Bugle last year, Forrest Nettles, staff writer, distributes the December issue of the newspaper to Anna Molengraft (11), Dec. 14. The staff passed out newspapers to the
announcements—by liking the EHS-hub facebook page or following @EHS_hub on Twitter.
The news will be the same quality and same coverage, but now there will be more of it and it will be more accessible than ever. The lunch-time chatter over the current events will evolve into whispers in the library, as EHS-hub will be the home page on virtually every school computer. The shift from print to digital may feel unfamiliar. “I’ll miss being able to talk about certain stories with my friends,” Eva Durchholz (10) said. “But I think there will be less paper littered around the cafeteria.” The staff is always trying to innovate. “We want to fill a need and reach
student body during all three lunch shifts one Friday each month. The www.ehs-hub.info site now replaces the monthly print issues. The staff will produce two print newspapers over the course of the school year.
the largest audience possible,” Mrs. Elisha Strecker, publications adviser, said. “We have been trying different formats for video the last few years and consolidating our efforts online. The payoff is much bigger and more immediate when we shift our resources from print to online.” The staff can publish online all year for the cost of printing just one month’s issue, Mrs. Strecker said. “It’s a good idea because everyone will have access to it instead of just once a month,” Todd said. The power of staying up-to-date is now in the readers’ hands. “Not everyone will be as aware of it, but it shouldn’t matter too much,” Durchholz said. “Those who want to read it will be able to read the online version.”
If a reader visits www. ehs-hub.info from
an Android or Apple device, s/he will be prompted to make an app for the site. Readers can always bookmark the Hub’s website on their smartphone home page. The advances in everyday tools have changed the way the world views, interprets and produces materials. Now, a Vine is not solely something people swing off of, Pandora isn’t just a box and a Tweet is not primarily known as the sound a bird can produce. www.ehs-hub.info isn’t just a website, it’s the definitive source of all things EHS and the voice of the student body.