Taipei American School Wins Journalism Award
May 19, 2014
Taipei American School (TAS)
This is the home screen of the TAS website, which won the online pacemaker at the NSPA convention. To find out more, visit the site at blueandgoldonline.org.
The Taipei American School (TAS), Harker’s sister school in Taiwan, won a pacemaker for their online publication at the last NSPA journalism conference in San Diego that took place from Apr. 10 to 13.
Pacemakers are awards given at high school journalism conventions, such as NSPA. These awards are given for the topics of Newspaper, Online, Yearbook/Magazine, and Broadcast. The school competed against online news sites around the world.
Their online site, Blue and Gold, won with four people designated to the online publication out of 15 staff members total. The journalism program there only recently created its two online editor positions at the beginning of the school year to create a more firmly established website.
“This was a two year process,” program advisor Ron Bell said. “Our website had languished for a few years and we decided we wanted to revamp it and then relaunch it.”
Adrienne Shih is the editor-in-chief of the Blue and Gold.
“I never imagined that a 15-person staff from Taipei would win the NSPA award,” Shih said in an email interview. “Our school has been incredibly supportive, and the administration has been following up on the status of our award since we were finalists. The Blue and Gold has never had a very strong online presence prior to this year, so we really wanted to emphasize that this school year.”
Blue and Gold has not only competed with but also learned from our news site because they are our sister school.
“We are extremely lucky to have this partnership [with Harker]. TAS readers love to see what occurs in a school similar to their own across the pond,” Adrienne added.
The news site features design elements that are black and blue, the colors of their school, and each article consists of at least one visual aid. Writers range from grades 9 through 12 and are guided by their advisor, along with their editors.
The publication also has Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts where the staff posts videos and discusses recent news at their school.
After starting their online section and winning the pacemaker the same year, Adrienne gives other developing news sites some advice.
“Don’t be intimidated. Creating a website, especially one for a school paper, may seem daunting, but with patience, you will find success,” she says.
Blue and Gold won the award as beginners in the online platform, but they hope to continue their success next year with their website, and their print paper as well.
“[Winning the pacemaker] is yet to sink in,” Mr. Bell said. “The award is on the wall and the team are very proud. We’d love to attend the national conference of the National Scholastic Press Association in Washington this year. That would be our reward!”
To visit their site, go to blueandgoldonline.org.
Interview with Taipei American School’s Editor-in-Chief
Special to Harker Aquila
This is where the last NSPA journalism convention was held in San Diego. TAS won their online pacemaker at this convention.
The Taipei American School recently won a pacemaker award for their online publication titled Blue and Gold. Harker Aquila interviewed their Editor-in-Chief, Adrienne Shih.
TD: How has the staff at your school worked together to create a pacemaker-winning news site?
AS: At the start of the year, we delegated 4 people from our 15-person staff to be in charge of our online platform. They were led by our two online editors. The Blue and Gold has never had a very strong online presence prior to this year, so we really wanted to emphasize that this school year. After everyone is assigned their articles, we have an “online deadline” where the online staff will reformat the articles to place online. In terms of web design, the two online editors work in tandem with me on coding and HTML.
TD: What is your position on the staff and how have other members led the staff throughout the year?
AS: I am the editor in chief of the Blue and Gold. I work closely with my managing editor (Berlin Cheng, grade 12). She is in charge of the administrative tasks, such as contacting our printer and keeping tabs on our budget. As I said above, we also have two online editors. The online editor position was created this year in hopes that having journalists dedicated to the online platform would increase our web presence.
TD: What impact does it have on your program and school to have won this award?
AS: As a personal aside, I never imagined that a 15-person staff from Taipei would win the NSPA award. Our school has been incredibly supportive, and the administration has been following up on the status of our award since we were finalists. Having won the Online Pacemaker, I think it’s fair to say that the journalism program at TAS will put an even greater emphasis on web-based platforms. We are hoping to further explore other digital mediums, and I hope that next year the Blue and Gold will have even more success with not only our digital sector, but our print paper as well.
TD: What is your advice for other schools that are working on establishing their own online news site?
AS: Don’t be intimidated. Creating a website (especially one for a school paper) may seem daunting, but with patience, you will find success. If you need help, don’t be afraid to ask your peers. Make your online news site engaging by adding videos, polls, and other interactive features. People like to be engaged! Finally, realize that road bumps are inevitable when it comes to designing an online news site. Code may not run correctly, articles may be disappear, or people might leave spam comments (all of which the Blue and Gold Online has experienced this past year). The difficulties are temporary and will be resolved in a matter of time.
TD: How has your school interacted with the Harker School, being our sister school, and how has Harker’s journalism program affected you, if at all?
AS: As an international school, TAS has always prided itself on being globally active. Having been able to work with journalists from the Harker School has widened the Blue and Gold’s global perspective, and we are extremely lucky to have this partnership. TAS readers love to see what occurs in a school similar to their own across the pond.
TD: What is your favorite part of your award-winning website?
AS: Being a person obsessed with the aesthetics of web design, I would have to say that my favorite feature of the website is the layout. We originally started with a pre-made WordPress theme, but decided to code our own in order to add specific features that the layout pack did not include. I love that the layout of our web pages is streamlined and modern, but also practical and user-friendly.