Why Student Newspapers Matter: How Newsrooms Build Critical Thinking, Communication and Civic Power

“Portrait of a Graduate,” a framework adopted by 26 states, sets out core competencies every high school graduate should demonstrate: critical thinking, clear communication and civic engagement. As districts nationwide realign diplomas to reflect those goals, one proven place for students to practice them is often already inside their schools: the student newsroom.

Yet student newspapers are disappearing. A national study found fewer than half of U.S. high schools had a student paper in 2021, down from nearly two-thirds a decade earlier. The decline is especially stark in New York City, which must implement the Portrait of a Graduate fully by 2029–30 — a 2022 survey found only 27% of the city’s 400+ public high schools had a student newspaper, with participation lowest in high-poverty schools and those with the lowest graduation rates.

Hands-On Learning Inside the School Newsroom

For five years my nonprofit, Press Pass NYC, has helped close that gap by training teachers to advise student-led news teams in both digital and print. We have partnered with more than 40 schools across the city to launch new newsrooms or revive publications that had closed. Because print newspapers no longer circulate as visibly as they once did, many teens don’t encounter one until they join a school paper — and that first exposure can be transformative.

Student reporters routinely practice the very skills Portrait of a Graduate prioritizes. Middle and high school journalists covered contentious policy changes like the citywide phone ban; an editorial at a Chinatown school exposed a shortage of laptops and tablets that undermined remote learning plans. A Queens student described how reporting on immigration taught him the difference between opinion and accountability reporting:

“This is this person's life, this is their story and you're listening and you're resonating.”

Student work has had real impact. Lathania Williams of Bronx River High School won a George Polk Award for reporting on immigration enforcement in her community. In Brooklyn, a school newsroom debunked a rumor that a lockdown had been caused by immigration agents, clarifying facts and calming a worried community.

Why Advisers Matter — And Why Training Must Be Sustained

Launching and sustaining a newsroom is more complicated than finding a teacher with a free period. Effective advisers need expertise in journalistic ethics, interviewing, audience engagement, newsroom management and the legal responsibilities unique to student media. These professional competencies cannot be absorbed in a single weekend session.

While AI can help brainstorm questions or refine headlines, it cannot replace an experienced adviser who knows when a source needs corroboration, when publication could put a student at risk, or when an administrator is improperly attempting editorial control. Building those capacities requires multi-year professional development, regular practice and institutional support.

My colleague Lara Bergen, who founded Press Pass NYC, learned this firsthand. As a former teacher who started a school newspaper, she was energized by student engagement but limited by a lack of formal journalism training. Her response was to design a three-year Journalism Adviser Fellowship — a cohort-based program where teachers learn together from veteran journalism educators.

Policy Recommendations

To make student journalism a durable pathway for civic learning, schools and districts should:

• Recognize advising as professional work: Count student newsroom advising as part of a teacher’s workload and career progression.
• Fund sustained training: Support multi-year fellowships and ongoing professional development for advisers.
• Include journalism in credentialing: Create clear pathways or endorsements so teachers gain verified journalism expertise.
• Value student media outcomes: Treat successful newsrooms as evidence that graduates can think critically, communicate clearly and engage as citizens.

Student newsrooms provide reliable local reporting, teach collaborative workplace skills, and help students differentiate credible journalism from unvetted social media content. If districts are serious about the Portrait of a Graduate, investing in student journalism — advisers, training and funding — is an effective, evidence-based strategy for preparing young people for civic life.