Blog 3- Claire Fisher

Of all the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) online High School Digital Publication Crown Finalists and High School Hybrid Publication Crown Finalists I looked, the three I thought were best are the Knight Errant, the Campanile, and the Hoofprint.

I loved the Knight Errant from Benilde-St. Margaret’s School in St. Louis Park, Minnesota because the content was updated everyday and the stories were great. However, the main reason why I consider the Knight Errant one of the best online publications was because of its format. The website looks clean and professional but is still eye-catching; it is easy to navigate and find time-relevant stories in all categories; and it is easy to access through social media.

The Campanile from Palo Alto High School in Palo Alto, California is an exemplary newspaper because of the content of its stories. Though the format of website is only commendable and the stories have not been updated recently, the style of the stories are superb. Their stories range from world news updates to features stories on teachers with Twitters and all are well written.

Finally, my absolute favorite online publication was the Hoofprint from Walnut High School in Walnut, California. Visually this publication beats the competition to a pulp. The website looks amazing and is by far the most modern publication I viewed. In addition, it is really easy to navigate. The website is not updated as regularly as some of the others, but the content of the stories is good and it is updated enough that things on the home page aren't outdated.



When scrolling through stories on the Best of SNO website, the one story that caught my eye and captivated me was a story written by Mason Miller of Groom High School in Groom, Texas about his school potentially allowing teachers and faculty to carry concealed fire arms. I found this story extremely interesting because with the data he collected the topic seemed fairly reasonable and made think about the effect this could have on a school.

Another story that stood out to me was a story written by Zion Douglass of  Catonsville High School in Catonsville, Maryland about Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) ratings. In this opinion piece, Douglass argues that when a movie tiptoes the line between a PG-13 and R rating, companies choose to give it a PG-13 rating because the limits placed on R-rated movies limit its success. This topic is something I feel strongly about and the points Douglass brings up are thought-evoking and well supported.