We, the 114th masthead, inherited The Choate News just as the Covid-19 pandemic shuttered U.S. businesses and schools, forcing people into isolation.
As a young, inexperienced masthead, we were intimidated by the task before us. We had to transform our publication process to a virtual setting. Instead of crowding into the Newsroom on our first Tuesday layout night, we fumbled onto Zoom from living rooms across the world. Once the initial shock of our new situation passed, we started to realize the immense opportunity we had as journalists in this unconventional year. As we brainstormed story ideas for each issue, we imagined how our paper would look in the School’s Archives in 20, 50, or 100 years.
Instead of covering games and matches on the Sports page, we ran articles on virtual practices and female identity in athletics. While we couldn’t report on live arts performances, our Arts page published pieces showcasing how Choate’s artists practiced their craft from home. Our Opinions pages highlighted students’ experiences and opinions concerning the status of our campus and world in the midst of social and political upheaval. Although our Features reporters couldn’t sit down with subjects, we sought pandemic stories from students across the globe. Even from thousands of miles away, our Local News reporters managed to keep up with Wallingford businesses. Reporting on School News was challenging when Choate’s campus was devoid of school meetings, weekend events, and club meetings, yet we took advantage of the opportunity to document this remarkable time in the School’s history.
As our community became increasingly aware of the hateful systems both within and outside of the Choate bubble, we sought to use reporting and opinions writing as a form of activism. When George Floyd was murdered by a policeman last May, the world finally began to confront the racism our society is built on. Part of the core of this hatred lies in journalism’s history of pushing minority voices into the shadows to illuminate the straight, white, male experience. As journalists documenting this moment in history, we considered it our responsibility to reverse this pattern of journalistic white supremacy. So, we focused on expanding the diversity of voices we were publishing and tried to recruit writers from all corners of the Choate community. We reported on Choate’s inclusion initiatives and even ran opinions pieces confronting the School on its own prejudice.
Our goal at The Choate News has always been to inform and empower. This mission has never felt so important. In today’s combative world, “fake news” and “fake science” deprive us of shared facts, eroding at our hope to find common ground and build consensus. But these hopes remain alive, and, over time, they will strengthen. These challenges, in fact, create an opportunity for journalism to try again to fulfill its unwavering mission — to inform, to inspire, and to drive us all to be better citizens.
Although this year has been one of the most challenging that a Choate News masthead has ever faced, we are proud to have been a part of journalism this year. We hope that this year lays the foundation for a new era of journalism, one in which media outlets walk party lines, acknowledge nuance, and lean into persuasion both at Choate and beyond.
Photos courtesy of Jones Day, KSAT, U.S. News, MarketWatch, CNN, Labor Notes, Forbes, WTNH, KPBS, CBS, and Zoom
