Michelle Andersen, who teaches journalism at Paynesville Area High School, said their budget only allows one paper issue to be printed each semester, a total of four times each year. With 21 students, it doesn't take very long to more than fill that issue. "We can't publish them all," said Anderson.
Using the Internet allows more articles to be "published" via cyberspace. "The online enables them to write a beat article every week," explained Andersen. "They get immediate publication."
The Internet site is set up by a commercial company, who sells advertising nationally to pay for the service. Andersen and her editors have passwords that allow them to load and edit the stories. Andersen checks the articles before "publishing" them online.
"I think it's a big step up," said Tanya Lieser, a senior who is editor-in-chief of theBarkthis fall. "It's fun to work with that kind of technology."
Lieser's beat is the girls' basketball team. By being online, she will be able to publish articles weekly. (She will also be writing articles for thePress.)
Lieser said she's heard from other students who like reading theBarkon the Internet. She likes it because the class can focus more on writing articles rather than book learning and tests.
Candice Utsch was the firstBarkreporter to go online. Her top ten list was the first article to be posted. "I think it's very cool cause we're the first year that got to do it," she said.
Since August, theBarksite has received 1,961 visits or hits. A couple weeks ago, it had nearly 200 hits in a week.
Journalism is open to juniors and seniors. One group takes the class for two quarters in the fall, and another group takes over for the third and fourth quarters in the spring. The group of students in the class is responsible for writing and publishing theBark,the high school newspaper.