For almost the entirety of the last century, The Bengal’s Purr has been a print publication, connecting the life of Lewiston High School students and staff with people around the country through a cherished medium: paper. This year, the Purr took a turn. For better or for worse, The Bengal’s Purr transitioned entirely online. This drastic change has been the biggest learning curve that I, personally, have had to face in my senior year. After working on the Purr from the time I was 14 until now, moving on from a process I loved and valued deeply to something entirely new was unbelievably difficult — a sentiment that seems to have been shared by other long-term Purr staffers. Figuring out a flow, and navigating the website were absolutely two of the biggest humps that both editors and assistants have had to navigate.
But the most important thing that the Purr has had to learn is how to build a community within the staff. Without the brainstorming sessions, Saturday workdays on pages with doughnuts and bagels, the relationship between editors and their reporting assistants, learning and knowing about each other, has been incredibly difficult. No matter how many rounds of speed dating or quick facts one does, learning to cherish each other through the journalistic process is difficult, to say the least, when the journalistic process has changed in such a drastic way.
However, despite this, one thing has remained constant: the community supporting the Purr. Throughout every trial and error, no matter what we had to change, the goal was always the same — and that goal has always been to provide for the reader. Even our transition online was done to cater to a new, fast-paced world driven by technology, and make receiving important news about the L-C Valley community, Idaho, and the world at large easier and more accessible for everybody interested. Even though newspapers may have gone out of fashion, giving our community the information they deserve never has, and it never will.
The ability to bring you, dear reader, news about accomplished student athletes, talented actresses and actors, and new policies affecting our school district and state is only made possible through your dedication to reading what we publish. Time and again, you have provided hope and inspiration for writers on the Purr. Your own daughters and sons, nephews and nieces, granddaughters and grandsons have provided us with the best content we could possibly hope for: the wonderful people of the L-C Valley. For this, I cannot express my gratitude in words. This community is the guiding light of The Bengal’s Purr, and you have been what keeps this paper thriving.
All this being said, we want your input. We don’t know what you want until we ask you directly. So, being the primary consumers of the Purr, we have to ask: Do you prefer print or online? What is easier for you? Why do you prefer it? We’ve compiled a survey that asks these questions, and we want your honest input. If you want to help decide the future of The Bengal’s Purr, tell us what you think.
From us to you, thank you.
To share your thoughts and opinions, visit the Google Doc, here, or the QR code above.
