Text by JONAS PAO and ISHAAN BATRA
ISSUES AMID C Editors’ note: Staff writer Jonas Pao wrote several articles for Midpeninsula Post after completing the reporting for this story but prior to its publication.
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OST, CONFUSED AND worn providing COVID updates, features and out. These are words everyone news stories for their readership. can relate to in the tough times Normally, student publications are of the COVID-19 pandemic, and associated with a school, but Midpeninsula student journalists are far from exempt Post is independently run. This allows the to these feelings. Day in and day out, it publication to be a regional paper that gets harder to contact, write and publish. brings together journalists from Mountain However, journalists like Tomoki Chien of View, Los Altos and Palo Alto. Midpeninsula Post and Erin Kim of Ink see “I think local news is often more a challenge — and more so, opportunity. relevant to high schoolers than big national “I was still writing for The Talon when stories are, but local publications that are the coronavirus hit,” covering local news Chien, a junior at Los don’t target high Altos High School, If we cover this [the schoolers, because said. “I turned to my pandemic] right, this high schoolers don’t friend, and was like, donate, and nobody ‘Dude, if we cover this can be the best thing wants to advertise [the pandemic] right, that’s happened for [to] high schoolers,” this can be the best Chien said. “So the thing that’s happened the newspaper since it idea is, why don’t we for the newspaper started.” kind of get together since it started.’” the best student —TOMOKI CHIEN, Midpeninsula Post journalists in the After a few months editor-in-chief area, and provide of reporting during the pandemic with the local news in a really Talon, his school-based publication, Chien reliable way.” decided that he wanted to start his own Midpeninsula Post quickly got to work publication and report on a new platform writing stories that appealed specifically to with other student reporters. their high school audience. Chien and other high school journalists “Coronavirus guidelines and school who have started a new publication reopenings — I think that’s something that during the pandemic have all faced high schoolers care about a lot,” Chien said. unique challenges in addition to dealing “So that’s kind of what a large portion of with the usual technicalities of building our coverage is.” a publication from the ground up. From With school shut down and in-person informing the community on coronavirus- interaction put on hold in the early stages related topics to simply providing a means of the publication, Midpeninsula Post has of enjoyment for those stuck at home due had a hard time finding journalists to join to shelter-in-place orders, publications like their staff; as a result, Chien has resorted Midpeninsula Post, Z Magazine and Ink to some unorthodox ways of getting people have risen to the occasion in the pandemic. to join. “One of our best reporters ... is Midpeninsula Post somebody we just cold-called,” Chien said. Chien co-founded the Midpeninsula “We just sent her a DM [direct message] ... Post, Bay Area’s student-run digital news and she joined us.” source, with six other journalists from The Talon in October 2020. They ran their first Z Magazine story in November and have since been “I created the magazine as a way to
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DECKED-OUT DESIGNS — In their first issues, Z Magazine celebrates Black History Month (top) and youth activism (bottom). “We released our first issue once the shelter in place was already set, and because of this, all of our issues are completely digital,” said Caroline Zhang, editorin-chief of Z Magazine. Photos: Caroline Zhang
30 APRIL 2021
