By Davis ’24
Journalism has an important role in our society: it keeps us informed and empowers us to make rational decisions. Among the myriad of programs and interests for students to dive into and become passionate about, Harvard-Westlake is home to a serious journalism program that allows students to explore what it means to be a journalist and experience the real-life process of writing, editing, and publishing articles.
In addition to various other publications, such as the Middle School’s Spectrum newsmagazine, the Upper School’s foreign literature magazine Babel, and the Upper School’s sports magazine Big Red, perhaps the best example of Harvard-Westlake’s devotion to allowing students to express themselves through journalism is The Chronicle.
The Chronicle is Harvard-Westlake Upper School’s student-run newspaper. The Chronicle was founded in 1990 at Harvard School for Boys, and following the merger, became Harvard-Westlake’s student newspaper. In the 30 years since its founding, The Chronicle has won various school journalism awards, such as the NSPA Pacemaker Award and CSPA Gold Crown Award. While The Chronicle is a newspaper, it allows student writers to express themselves through a variety of sections, including news, opinions, arts and entertainment, features, and sports. Staffed by 10th to 12th graders, sophomores serve as staff writers, juniors serve as assistant editors and layout assistants, and seniors serve as editors – with various roles ranging from Section Editors to Editors-in-Chief.
Students involved with The Chronicle take the Modern Journalism classes. Sophomores learn the foundations of writing for The Chronicle, such as AP Style and Inverted Pyramid, in Modern Journalism I. Juniors and seniors take Modern Journalism II and III in which they collaborate on bringing The Chronicle from pitched to published. Additionally, The Chronicle has multiple layout weeks a year during which all members of the staff work together after school in Weiler Hall, the home of Upper School journalism, to work on The Chronicle’s 8 issues in each year’s volume.
The Chronicle is a very special school publication. I’ve written for various publications at schools I’ve attended but none have felt as rewarding and professional as The Chronicle. Our editors are serious about publishing a quality newspaper, we have real deadlines, each edit round improves the quality of articles, and there is a general sense of enthusiasm surrounding our online articles and printed issues.
I’ve also felt unbelievably welcomed and valued at The Chronicle. Because of a special scheduling issue, I was not able to enroll in Modern Journalism I. However, because of my passion for journalism, the editors and faculty advisers allowed me to freelance write, and now I’m treated as if I’m a full member of the staff. This rings true of many things at Harvard-Westlake – if you have a passion for something, there will be a way to become involved and express that passion.
If you’re interested in checking out The Chronicle’s website with all its online articles, click here. To subscribe to receive The Chronicle’s print issues, click here.
