Journalism takes center stage during our visit to The New Zealand Herald

The newspaper is a greater treasure to the people than uncounted millions of gold.

-Henry Ward Beecher

For those of us with short attention spans, an invite to a newsroom is likely similar to unwrapping a golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory: countless televisions trumpet the news of the day, innumerous phone conversations play out as facts are checked and new leads come in, and row after row of desks provide an opportunity for a respite from the commotion, as journalists furiously type out the day’s news on their laptop, taking the occasional break to refresh their Twitter feed. Such was the scene at The New Zealand Herald, where fifteen of our students recently had the opportunity to engage in a day’s worth of place-based learning about the topic of journalism and its associated careers.

Our students sat down with The New Zealand Herald’s Business Editor, Liam Dann, who explained how he and the Herald’s 150+ reporters circulate both regional and international news to an audience of over 800,000. The conversation was informative and delved into how papers have been thrust into a sink-or-swim position with the advent of the digital age, adaptability being the life raft that can keep a publication afloat. Now more than ever, newspaper teams are tasked with producing content that is intriguing enough to hold a viewer’s attention while also being viral enough to warrant a click of the “Share” button. As David Carr of the New York Times wrote, “Great journalism, on any platform, is the one sure hedge against irrelevancy.”

Breanna Reynold’s 10th grade World Language and Literature students took their visit with Mr. Dann to heart, and over the course of the last three weeks have been applying their acquired knowledge to a digital publication of their own, appropriately named “The THINK Times.” The THINK Times is a cross between a newspaper and a newsletter, and contains pieces written by both our tenth grade students and the greater TGS community. All aspects of The THINK Times are student produced, including the planning, approving, editing, and designing of each news story researched and submitted. The stories contained shine the spotlight on both the TGS community and our host country of New Zealand, looking at the good (awards for the best restaurants in Auckland) to the bad (the spiraling drug abuse among Auckland’s homeless youth). The THINK Times also features multiple videos that highlight our term, including footage from the 2014 THINK House Olympics.

A special shout out to the THINK Times team:

Editor-in-Chief: Danielle R
Managing Editor: Kiana F.
Design Director: Natalie C.
Copy Editor: Sally A.
Photo Editor: Ayesha K.

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