Thursday, February 10, 2000
Six decades for student newspaper
Anniversary paper takes look back
BY MARK SCHMETZER
Enquirer contributor
NEW RICHMOND — Decades ago, the Messenger warned New Richmond High School students about diphtheria and scarlet fever. Now, concerns include higher proficiency test standards and the impact of declining attendance.
Much has changed in the 60 years New Richmond students have been publishing their newspaper as the Messenger, but the basic journal ism goals of providing service and information remain the same.
The monthly, tabloid-format newspaper celebrated its 60th anniversary of publication under its current name in its January 2000 edition, which featured a front page display of front pages from past editions. The newspaper was published under several names, including the Red and Black and Reflections, for most of the 1930s before settling on the Messenger in 1939.
Senior Kimberly Root, this year's co-managing editor with Fred Wolfinger, was the catalyst for the commemoration. Ms. Root was cleaning up around the newspaper office last year when she noticed the film version of a front page from a 1991 edition that indicated the newspaper was in its 51st year.
“She looked at that and said, "If that was the 51st year, then next year would be the 60th year,'” said Susan Griffin, an English and journalism teacher who doubles as the newspaper faculty adviser.
Ms. Root and classmate Vikki Bond, who is one of the Messenger's section editors, started leafing through back issues to get a sense of the newspaper's heritage.
“We were looking for interesting ideas of what the paper was like,” Ms. Root said. “One from 1986 had a picture of a bus going through the library wall. Nobody was hurt. The driver had just dropped everybody off. Some earlier ones had pictures of the bad floods they've had. Some of the ones in the 1940s had gossip columns. One said something like, "We hear Polly had a good time at her party. How about that, Eldon?'”
“The older issues don't have headlines,” Ms. Griffin said. “They were done on what looks like a poor-quality typewriter. They had columns such as a calendar of events and honor rolls. At the time, the building was down on Market Street near the (Ohio) river, and it was kindergarten through grade 12. Each grade had a whole section devoted to grade news, like who had perfect attendance. One had a little obituary for the mother of a teacher — a Mr. Charles. There was an editorial piece on "The Spirit of Christmas.'
“We don't do that anymore. There have been lot of changes. Ours is done on computer now. That's the biggest change. We have sections for news, features, in-depth pieces and sports. Those divisions aren't apparent in the old issues. We try to focus on higher-impact news stories. The older issues had birthdays and things like who received good grades on tests.”
“It was really interesting to see how far back it went and to look at the front covers and see the difference in technology,” Ms. Wolfinger said.
The Messenger, which consistently earns ratings of excellent or superior in high school press association competitions, usually consists of 20 pages and is printed by the vocational school graphic arts department, Ms. Griffin said. That's a long way from the mimeographed copies of the World War II era. She said much of the credit for the Messenger's development should go to Betty McKenney, her predecessor as the newspaper adviser. Ms. McKenney spent 27 years in that job before dying of breast cancer in 1998.
“She was the one who really got the newspaper involved in the competitions,” Ms. Griffin said.
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