The McHenry Messenger, McHenry High School’s award-winning student newspaper, is now delivering a new weekly broadsheet newspaper in hopes of getting their stories in front of more eyes.
They introduced the new paper on Oct. 20 to positive feedback from students and staff. They’re hoping to see an increase in visits to their daily online publication, TheMcHenryMessenger.com, too.
Each week, Messenger staff publish four articles on a two-sided broadsheet and distribute 150 copies throughout Freshman Campus and Upper Campus. Previously, 16 articles were printed in a magazine five to six times per year.
All McHenry Messenger articles are online and available 24/7, but they are hoping offering four each week in print will increase readership everywhere.
“If we can get it on paper in front of students, they generally read it,” said Dane Erbach, the McHenry Messenger advisor. “But it's a lot harder to put an article in front of them online, even with social media.”
Readers can still find the issues as PDFs on our Issuu page, and all stories will still be published at TheMcHenryMessenger.com. Find them on social media at Facebook / X (formerly known as Twitter) / Instagram / Tiktok at @mchenrymessengr.
Launched in 2019, McHenry Messenger articles are frequently recognized as Best of SNO (School Newspapers Online). The publication has also earned awards from the Illinois High School Association, the Illinois Journalism Educators Association, the National Scholastic Press Association, Youth Journalism International and others.