Are HIS Newspapers to Die or Thrive

Text: Kowa Schlosser

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School newspapers inform people about what is going on in their daily lives at school. But over the years Hokkaido International School has not had many published works that relate to newspapers. This could be because newspapers are decreasing in popularity in current times. Around 2016, HIS had a high school newspaper called The Pulse that ran for a couple of years before going out of print. For years, the school ran without a physical newspaper. But then, in the spring of 2024, two paper publications were born: The Unauthorized Times and The Husky Howler.

The Unauthorized Times was not known to everybody at first, and it is probably still not known to high school because it started as a small elementary school newspaper that was focused on reporting school news to elementary students — only distributed to four grade levels (two elementary mile-posts). Slightly before the advent of The Unauthorized Times, another newspaper began circulating the hallways: The Husky Howler. Produced once a month, guided by Mr. Fazio, along with the eighth grade. For a brief moment in HIS history, two newspapers had sprung to life. But things could not last. As the school year 2024 began, production of The Husky Howler stopped, leaving a gap at the middle school level that The Unauthorized Times seeks to fill. 

This school year, The Unauthorized Times has produced one issue, but its readership remains focused on the grade level where it began: Mile-Post 3 (grades 4 and 5).

So now a couple of questions surface: Will The Unauthorized Times find a way to expand its readership, to fill the gap left by the out-of-print Howler? Will any paper newspaper make it back in the hands of the high schoolers, or the parent and staff community? And the biggest question of all: Is there still a place left in our ever-digitalizing world for paper publications?

The currently active newspapers provide a voice for students, bringing in an important perspective, making HIS a school that honors a variety of perspectives and an education that focuses on the needs and voices of its students. Throughout history, newspapers have helped people understand what is going on more fully and have also contributed to global awareness of the world's status.

But what do you think? If you have an opinion on this, please contact the founder of The Unauthorized Times, Kowa Schlosser. He would be happy to hear your perspective, and, who knows, perhaps you will turn the unauthorized times "authorized" and create the first "whole school" newspaper in our known history.