6 High School Newspaper Ideas to Improve Readership

Engagement is crucial to every form of journalism. When it comes to your high school newspaper, you’re dealing with many of the same problems as any large-scale media operation. Even though the scale may be smaller, the fact remains that the most important part is keeping your readers engaged.

But engaging student readers comes with its own unique set of challenges. How can you make sure that your journalism efforts stand out and keep students reading to the next page? Try these high school newspaper ideas.

1. Add student polls and interactive content

One effective way to improve newspaper readership and involve the student body is through interactive polls and surveys.

Incorporating interactive polls or surveys within your articles can help you gauge interest and gather feedback. Then, you can make your content more engaging and relevant based on responses. You can encourage students to give feedback on anything from school lunches to opinions on curriculum changes.

For example, you could conduct a poll before a major school event to determine students’ preferences for themes or activities. You aim to make students feel heard and show their opinions are valued. But interactive surveys can also help the planning committees make the best decisions that reflect the desires of the student body.

Student well-being, academic support, and extracurricular activities are all potential topics on which you can gain valuable insight with the help of a simple poll or survey.

2. Feature “Student Spotlight” or “Teacher of the Month” sections

Highlighting individual stories is a powerful tool in high school journalism. You can promote a sense of community while celebrating the unique achievements of students and faculty. Running “Student Spotlight” or “Teacher of the Month” segments are excellent student newspaper ideas that engage readers and foster personal connections among the school community.

Putting spotlights on academic achievements, artistic talents, or community service builds pride in your readership and makes students and teachers feel valued.

However, effective interviewing is vital for gathering compelling content. Remember to:

  • Research your subject’s background
  • Ask open-ended questions
  • Always be respectful of the interviewee’s experiences and time

Integrating interactive elements like photos, quotes, and quick Q&As in your digital newspaper can significantly enhance engagement. Bite-sized yet insightful glimpses—like those offered by Q&As—make an especially strong method for engaging student readers.

3. Create opinion columns on current school or local issues

A sense of involvement and debate is invaluable in any good high school newspaper. It’s a practice that’s applicable to high school journalism projects and mass media as a whole. Encouraging a healthy dialogue on various topics can draw in more readers and dramatically increase engagement.

If you want to capture the attention of high school students, an opinion piece is a great way to do it. Select topics directly relevant to their experiences and concerns (and meet a few guidelines, like word count limits). Maybe this includes discussions on new school policies or the impact of national events on the student body.

Encourage writers to present well-reasoned arguments and back up their opinions with facts. Opinion writing should challenge the readers intellectually and invite them to consider different perspectives without being divisive.

4. Include fun and unique “Top Ten” lists or “Best Of” features

Top ten lists and “Best of” features are highly engaging formats that can draw a wide readership, thanks to their fun and easily digestible nature. These lists can serve as entertainment and essential tools for engaging student readers through super shareable articles for school newspaper topics.

The key to crafting lists that appeal to students is creating content that resonates with them. Think of “Top 10 Favorite Campus Spots” or “Best Study Hacks” as potential topics that relate directly to their school lives. With your newspaper in an interactive PDF format, you can enhance these lists even more with interactive elements, such as maps for locations or pop-up tips for study hacks.

Anything that makes the content more engaging is extremely valuable.

Tie your content into seasonal events and popular topics to keep it timely and relevant. For example, you might share lists such as “Best Books to Read Over Winter Break” or “Top 10 Spring Fest Activities.”

Humor is a massive driver of engagement, too. But while humor can be a great element to include in your lists, you want to balance entertaining and informative. You can do this in a few ways: use funny titles or humorous anecdotes, but tie it back to the relevant information you want the article’s focus to be on.

5. Use social media to share sneak peeks and highlight content

Leveraging social media to share sneak peeks, highlight significant stories, and engage students can dramatically drive traffic to your school newspaper and encourage a more connected reader community.

Each platform offers something unique that you can tailor to different types of content.

On Instagram, you can use Stories and Highlights to share quick glimpses of new content or run polls that engage your audience. X (formerly known as Twitter) and now BlueSky (growing at roughly five new users per second at the time of writing) are excellent for sparking conversations around current school events or hot topics, using relevant hashtags to increase reach.

TikTok can be great for sharing fun, creative videos that might include challenges, school event recaps, or funny moments from student life—all of which you can leverage to draw viewers back to your newspaper’s digital edition.

6. Create a “Letters to the Editor” section for student feedback

You can never forget the most important aspect of your high school newspaper: your readers! Your audience makes your newspaper unique, so you must give them a voice. One way to do this is by adding a “Letters to the Editor” section.

The time-honored tradition of including letters to the editor gives your readers a voice and builds a sense of community and accountability within the school. Allowing students to express their views and concerns validates their perspectives and cultivates a readership that feels valued and respected.

However, managing this section requires a careful approach. You may be dealing with sensitive topics that require tact. You also might find constructive criticism or students highlighting issues previously unthought of. On the plus side, knowing their opinions can directly influence the newspaper’s content and might encourage more students to engage regularly with the publication.

With an interactive digital newspaper, you can streamline the submission process with forms directly embedded in the publication. This makes it easier for students to contribute while providing editors with the ability to review and select the most relevant feedback to publish.

Ready to FLIP your newspaper engagement?

Implementing these student engagement ideas in your high school newspaper can significantly increase its appeal and improve your newspaper. Incorporating interactive polls and surveys can go a long way in sparking more interest in the publication.

Staying in tune with your audience’s preferences and interests is key to maintaining and growing your readership. Experiment with different formats and styles and implement interactive capabilities into your newspaper to encourage further reader engagement. For ideas and inspiration, check out this example of a local newspaper that we have digitized.

What are your favorite high school newspaper ideas? Which methods are you using to increase interest? Or have you found a successful method for engaging student readers that we didn’t cover? Let us know by tagging us on social media!

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