Hello! I’m currently a freshman deciding on my sophomore year schedule.
I knew before entering high school that I would be doing either one, but now I’m extremely torn. I’m in student government and have become known for the flyers I make as well as my writing skills. Both yearbook and newspaper have actively pursued me in efforts to have me join either committee. I like newspaper because of its writing aspects; truly speaking on important issues (my school newspaper is actually read). I love writing, especially on current events and anything social. I like yearbook because I really enjoy graphic design as well as photography, though I’ve been told newspaper has more freedom with page layout in contrast to yearbook members, who get pre-made pages at my school. The yearbook staff has told me that they are working on changing many things for the following year. I know that newspaper is typically less laid-back than yearbook.
Since I enjoy both equally, which would look better on college applications? I’m aiming to be editor-in-chief for either one and have been told that my chances are good.
Six of one; one half dozen of the other. One is not “better” than the other.
Neither is “better” or more beneficial; they both are different and you choose based on your goals. Are you wanting to be a professional journalist? If so, maybe newspaper. If you want to be a graphic designer, yearbook might be better.
I’m the editor of my school’s newspaper, so I’m slightly biased, but you can’t really go wrong with either. One thing I will say is that newspaper has plenty of design itself. Of course, a yearbook has way more pages, but the newspaper has just as many design aspects to it. And there are plenty of opportunities for taking pictures in newspaper, too.
If you have any questions about the newspaper, feel free to PM me or ask!
I’m also on my school’s newspaper staff, and I think personally at my school that our newspaper program is overall a better experience and publication to be a part of, obviously why I chose newspaper over yearbook.
Both my school’s newspaper and yearbook are ranked very highly in my state and win some of the highest honors school newspapers and yearbooks can achieve. Look into that. Which publication has better stats? Also, which adviser do you prefer? And also another thing that can make your decision is which staff you’d rather be a part of. Teamwork and communication are really important, and the people you surround yourself with will impact how much you will enjoy it. Typically those on the newspaper staff (and yearbook maybe lol) are pretty awesome though.
I do agree with CE537M. There are so many design aspects people typically don’t think of that must be done in order to produce a paper. And it really comes down to what you want.
Good luck! Tell us which one you inevitably choose!
There’s awards and honors for newspapers and yearbooks? :-/
I’ve seen it all then.
@Hawkace, for North Carolina, the NCSMA (North Carolina Scholastic Media Association) in Chapel Hill ranks the state’s school newspapers, yearbooks and literary magazines. The highest honor is the Tarheel award.
There are national competitions as well, though we don’t send our paper to those.
I did both in high school (and my kids did neither). Both require some long hours and commitment, but I found yearbook to be a more solitary (and maybe thankless) pursuit. Yes, there is satisfaction at year end when everyone sees the product, but the newspaper has a more immediate feedback loop, and people talk about it more. I think getting writing experience is particularly useful in the long run, too. Also, you might get opportunities beyond your school paper to write for other publications in your community if you are in newpaper. So I give newspaper a slight edge.
Way to make journalism sound unimportant.
Have you never heard of the Pulitzer Prize?
^Nice one, @CE527M!
And why wouldn’t there be high school awards for that? It takes a TON of time and commitment. I bet I spent 20 hours a week sometimes on newspaper activities in high school, especially the week before we published.
I would say newspaper because more universities have newspapers over yearbooks, so you could say that you would want to continue writing for the paper there and stuff. However I think yearbook would probably be more fun though.
Which ever you pick, just stick with it and it will be fine.
I too was in both yearbook and newspaper. I was the Editor in Chief of the newspaper and Copy Manager of the yearbook, both high level positions. I’d honestly say do the one you enjoy more and you can find your “crew” in. Neither one will necessarily be better for college admissions, but one may be better than the other in terms of being more enjoyable.
What type of writing do you enjoy? If it is current events and opinion based pieces, then I’d give my hat off to newspaper. If it is school wide “capture the memories” sort of writing that people will keep for a long time, then I’d choose yearbook. If it is somewhere in between, you could always try out both, possibly shadowing staff and deciding which one you like better.
For me, yearbook was more enjoyable than newspaper. It had more of a presense in the school and had its own office where we had late night deadlines, fun activities, and where people chilled in addition to working. Newspaper was great and I enjoyed the freedom of writing for it, but after moving online, it wasn’t as visible on campus, which was a shame because people worked hard on it. I eventually decided to stick with newspaper because I felt that is where I was needed. The yearbook had people more experienced in design and had an eye for making spreads, whereas there weren’t as many people that did that in newspaper.
Basically, my point is, the community of people where you work is very important. It can be in either group, or sometimes both, but more likely or not one place will just feel right