Since before the turn of the century, the Tiger Transcript has been producing editions for Ipswich High School students. Nowadays, it is the role of Seniors taking journalism to continue the Tiger Transcript’s legacy. The purpose of journalism has always been to write an informative piece to be read, but if it is not read, what is the point?

     English teacher Mrs. McShane has been in charge of publishing the Tiger Transcript since 2009. The mission of the Tiger Transcript has been to provide an informative, entertaining, and generally appealing form of journalism directed towards Ipswich High School students. The concept sounds attractive. However, it would seem that not many students read the Tiger Transcript, let alone know of its existence. 

     In an anonymous survey of five randomly selected Ipswich High School students from each grade, only two responses were gathered. Of these two replies, one student answered that they knew about the Tiger Transcript but did not read it, and the other student responded that they did not know about the Tiger Transcript. Given the severe lack of response, it became difficult to accurately benchmark how well-known the Tiger Transcript truly is. While futile in gathering the intended information, perhaps the nonresponse of the survey is actually indicative of a larger obstacle, that being an overall lack of engagement from students. 

     When students cannot be expected to respond to basic emails, how can one expect them to visit the Tiger Transcript? This notion was echoed by Mrs. McShane, who supposed that: “It is difficult to have students go above and beyond.” If this truly is the case, it would seem that to solve the Tiger Transcript’s problem of engagement, one would first need to solve the problem of enthusiasm. After all, any number of posters or social media posts for the Tiger Transcript would do little to actually provide students with a sense of broad academic eagerness. 

     Widely increasing the enthusiasm of the student body is a daunting task in need of far greater attention than can be given by an article. That being said, even if school interest truly does barricade many from finding the Tiger Transcript, it does not mean that no simpler efforts can be made to increase its engagement. For example, editors of the Tiger Transcript should strive to focus on writing stories that fascinate readers rather than solely fulfill their personal interests. When journalism is written in this way, even if it does not garner large audiences, it will nonetheless satisfy the audience already present.  At the end of the day, that is the heart of journalism. 

If you find this message, go to Mrs. McShane in B106 and give her the code word Tiger for a prize (first three people win)!