Jericho High School media students ventured to The New York Times printing facility in College Point, Queens, on Tuesday, March 3, to broaden their understanding of “the purpose and power of print” as they look to expand their digital news publication, The JerEcho, into print.
The students toured the newspaper’s 300,000-square-foot plant, learning about the printing process from start to finish. The plant features massive, specialized printing units called Colorliner 85 press towers, and 8,000-gallon black ink vats and 2,500-gallon color ink tanks—all of which it uses to produce more than 250,000 copies of the paper daily. The tour included Q&A’s with a New York Times reporter and staff members from the facility.
Prior to the trip, the students explored how a modern news organization such as The Times balances demands across print and digital platforms, said Diana Vlavianos, an adviser for The JerEcho, who teaches English at the high school. The students also discussed hybrid newsrooms and potential tensions between print and digital newspapers therein.
“The trip was an authentic opportunity for our student journalists to see what all of their hard work looks like in real world practice,” Vlavianos said. “They were able to see that the skills we practice in a high school newsroom are actually incredibly relevant in a higher stakes career newsroom. Through talking to New York Times journalists and getting a tour of the facilities, students were able to resonate with the importance of deadlines, resilience in the writing process, and maintaining flexibility for success.”
The tour shed light on the enduring values of a bygone world of print journalism.
“On the trip, I learned the process and importance of maintaining print journalism,” said sophomore Jordan Greenstein. “Everything we do at school felt so real in the facility. I am excited to bring back what we learned to our school newsroom and hopefully bring back print to some degree.”
As a new adviser for The JerEcho this year, Vlavianos has been working with her students in the new media track to rebrand and innovate, aiming to make their school newspaper accessible to more audiences.
“Seeing how fast-paced The New York Times is inspired me to innovate my own contributions in our newsroom at The JerEcho,” said junior Heer Patel. “I saw how important print is and I hope we can integrate it to reach more readers in the district.”
