Personal Narrative
I’ve walked through life with a love for writing, a love nurtured by stories of my great-grandma’s days as the chief of her high school’s newspaper, and one that grew stronger when I started my own one-woman newspaper in elementary school. By the time I entered high school, I was determined to make my mark in the newsroom, imagining widespread recognition as “Ella Johnson, Staff Writer” and peers eagerly awaiting each new article.
My fourth grade ambitions to be a journalist.
Instead, I walked into a newsroom that was struggling to survive. The first lesson taught in class is that a journalist’s primary responsibility is to report the truth. The second lesson—taught on the job—is that this is a complex responsibility. The truth is, entertainment is often sought out more than reports of the truth. As a result, the survival of the newspaper hinges on its ability to compete for attention, undermining a journalist’s golden rule.
During my first semester, I poured hours into an article on the rise of AI in school, interviewing eighteen teachers about their firsthand encounters with AI in the classroom. I’ve long considered the article to be among my best work, but it’s also among my least read. It’s disheartening knowing that the truth I report largely goes unread. And I’m but one journalist facing this harsh reality.
By the following school year, I was determined to change that at my school. I rebranded the logo and header, introduced social media campaigns, and our small newsroom team of six added podcasts and videos as new storytelling avenues, all while never compromising our journalistic values. As a result, our readership grew, and so did our team. The foundation for a revitalized newsroom was laid, and I proudly continued to lead this transformation as Editor-in-Chief in my senior year.
With my new title came new responsibilities. By the fall semester of my senior year, the “News Media” elective had been retitled from “Newspaper” to better reflect the evolving landscape of journalism at my high school. As Editor-in-Chief, I have taken great responsibility in ushering this new era of journalism to my high school, overseeing the news videos, podcasts, and expanded social media presence initiated in my junior year in addition to the steady publication of online articles.
It is my firm intention for this evolution to never slow down, for News Media to be an unrelenting force for truth, and for no future Dowling student to ever have to rebuild the newsroom as I did; instead, my successors will build upon the legacy that has been started.
In the act!