Trib Launching High School Newspaper

By Margaret Lyons in News on Jun 9, 2008 5:59PM

The Chicago Tribune is teaming up with CPS to form a weekly high school newspaper and website, written for and mostly by high school students. The Mash, as the new paper is tentatively titled, should eclipse the Red Eye in terms of quality and worthwhileness almost immediately.

From the press release:

"We want to redefine what a high school newspaper can be, so we put a lot of thought into how we can improve the media experience for local teens," said Scott Smith, Chicago Tribune president and publisher. "This audience represents our city's future, and the new weekly student newspaper and website will help them be better informed and engaged with their communities."

Chicago Tribune will distribute 100,000 copies of the new weekly newspaper to all CPS high schools beginning in September. The newspaper will feature student-generated and student-targeted editorial content, with student contributors receiving on-the-job journalism training by Tribune editors, who will review and edit all content. The newspaper...also will contain advertisements sold to sponsors by the Tribune advertising department.

Hm...newspaper circulation is dropping, thanks at least in part to the fact that younger people don't read the newspaper as much as older people do; 46 percent of teenagers and 45 percent of young adults say they hardly ever or never read a newspaper, compared with 33 percent of older adults. Those who do read, according to a 2007 study, tend to skim more, while older people read more in-depth. Advertising is based on readership, so if the Trib could position itself as the only news outlet through which advertisers could reach teenagers, it's almost like they could try to make money off that or something.