By Elizabeth Coscia ’12, Editor-in-Chief

Any high school student will affirm the obvious truth—more teenagers check their Facebooks daily than read the newspaper each morning. Does this mean that as a generation, the young people of today prove less interested in the world around them? Could it indicate that they remain self-absorbed and careless to the issues that plague humanity? Only an untrained eye would answer yes to these questions. The attraction to Facebook felt by the youth, and a large number of adults, has roots in the fundamental force that drives humanity—the interest in other humans. The Minuteman newspaper has chosen to strive to harness this interest in order to grab the attention of the Newark Academy community.

Teenagers can hardly shoulder the blame for procrastination on Facebook and other social media, as mentioned by Shreya Srivastava in “Is Social Technology Really Taking Control of our Lives?”, because this interest stems from the irrepressible desire to learn things about other people that has long been natural human instinct. Not only can this curiosity about humanity be considered innate, but also innovative and utilitarian. Humans have survived and prospered, despite their physical inferiority to other species, due to their sense of reason as applied to relationships between creatures. As in the beginning human collaboration enabled survival, today our empathy leads to humanitarian selflessness. Thus, the root of the youth’s supposedly self-centered habit stems from the same characteristic that originates charity and the success of the human race.

Despite the understandability of the attraction to social media, it remains important that people stay informed of current events. At times, however, people find forums of communications such as newspapers inaccessible and impersonal. Facebook finds success in its ability to provide news that people view more personally, and therefore with greater interest and concern, than ever. As a newspaper, The Minuteman has taken steps to employ this accessibility and thus apply the same empathetic human interest that Facebook utilizes to news stories.

The editors have chosen articles that should appeal to the community by focusing on individual members, as does a Facebook page. Many people feel compelled by Madeline’s story, as recounted in “A True Lifer” by Rebecca Gorelov, because they are able to tap into her personal life chronicle. Additionally, readers find interest in the senior artists described in “SLANT, A Last Hurrah for Senior Artists” by Ben Martin-Katz and the athletes mentioned in “A Tribute to NA’s Senior Athletes” by Chewy Baumel because their personal accomplishments may be evaluated through a lens of human comparison and resulting appreciation.

Many times people lose interest in news stories because they cannot understand their seemingly distant implications. Consequently, the death of Osama Bin Laden, faculty reactions to which may be read in “The Death of Osama Bin Laden: Reactions from the NA Faculty” by Alexander Serratelli and Jake Wieseneck, proved an explosive news story because people are able to feel extreme emotion toward an individual. The face of Bin Laden has become an icon. News followers feel as though they know their enemy, and hatred may stem from a comprehensive study into this individual’s life because, despite his actions, people can relate to his humanity and compare it with their own.

Once a reader feels a personal connection to a news story, they feel more compelled to take action towards that specific cause. For example, while the earthquake in Japan shocked many Newark Academy students, it only became personal when the community learned that one of its members was directly affected, as described in “Every Bit Counts: Nikki Blank on the Tragedy in Japan” by Tyler Goff. This tactic has long enlisted compassion for foreign events and tragedies, including wars. There is a reason why the picture of one suffering child in a war-torn nation proves more effective than a lengthy article on the origins of the conflict.

At times the issue of human sympathy becomes embroiled in more contentious topics. The issue of affirmative action, opposing sides to which can be read in “Affirmative Action: Just Another Factor” by Josh Faber and “Affirmative Action: A Scar on American Education” by Varan Satchi has roots in the conflict of personal consideration. Many people oppose affirmative action after having encountered a highly motivated, qualified individual who is rejected from a school due to his or her race because they associate a personal example to a broad policy. The proper and most effective light under which to view the issue is debated in these dueling articles.

Readers of The Minuteman may now “like” articles by their peers as they can on Facebook. Additionally, the use of video has increased, with “It’s Friday” debuting in the Arts & Entertainment section, 60 Minutemen: Exposed in the Humor section, and IB Economics Teacher Mr. Hawk Explains the Budget Crisis over in Commentary, among others. The plug-ins provide a more personalized experience of news reception. Although these new features may seem flashy or deviations from true analytical journalism, the editors of The Minuteman feel confident that they will serve a higher aim. In making The Minuteman more accessible, a greater number of community members will feel personally attached to the stories that they read here. Humans are naturally interested in news because they instinctually care about other people—often times they just need to put a face to the story to understand the true purpose of journalism.

In The Minuteman these faces will be your own. Thank you for reading, and we hope that you will find understanding and identification with the issues discussed throughout. Happy reading!

Sincerely,

The 2011-2012 Staff of The Minuteman

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