Embedded Files
Central to our publication's purpose is both to ensure our relevance and keep our readers engaged. I have contributed to this goal through projects such as creating a journalism app to make news more accessible, expanding reader interaction through comments, and representing our publications to local businesses — all aimed at delivering the right information to the right people at the right time. Just as being at the center of events requires careful observation, I strive to provide timely, accurate, and engaging reporting that informs and strengthens our school community.
Audience Engagement
I am currently working closely with one of Voice's News Editors and Webmasters for the creation of a Paly Journalism App. It started out as an app for only The Paly Voice but I helped her get in touch with the editors on our school's other publications to propose collaboration. With her coding experience, the Paly Journalism App is now near completion and awaits funding so it can be available on the App Store.
The Paly Voice is known for being the first strictly online news publication at our school, making it a trailblazer. To continue its innovative nature, I thought creating a mobile app platform would be the next step. I attempted constructing the app on my own, meeting in person with WordPress managers at SNO, but I quickly found that the project was going to be more complicated than I anticipated. Therefore, I enlisted help from our staff's News Editor and Webmaster, who programmed an app.
Once she created the prototype, we discussed and realized that our readership would be better if we included all of the publications at Paly in the app instead of just The Paly Voice. I emailed each editor to attend a meeting during a study-hall period where the News Editor and Webmaster presented her progress and suggested that we combine all of the publications. The meeting was successful as she and another editor were able to merge the publications into one app.
The app will be launched March 2026. Below are screenshots of the app prototype and the email I sent to the rest of our school's editors:
The email sent to the editors-in-chief of all of Paly's publications including Campanile, Verde, Anthro!, Via Verde, Veritas, InFocus, Viking, Madrono, and C-Magazine.
As an online-only publication, The Paly Voice can track website traffic over time. At the end of 2025 and the start of 2026, our coverage of the student walkout and a highly attended February school board meeting drew some of the highest readership in the site’s history. This strong engagement reflected our team’s timely, accurate reporting — an approach I consistently encourage and prioritize when covering major stories. Below are our site analytics and recent stories that received a lot of attention.
The Paly Voice's number of page views in the past year.
The Paly Voice "All Site Data" graph showing the number of page views.
A map illustrating The Paly Voice’s readership by state in the last year. California leads with 49,069 views, followed by Virginia (2,553) and New York (2,331). The publication recorded views in all 50 states, with North Dakota the lowest at 15 views and 38 states surpassing 100 views.
A map displaying The Paly Voice’s global readership in the last year. While some views may be attributed to bots, the publication has reached all but 22 countries represented on the map.
A pie chart showing the most common devices used to view The Paly Voice.
A list of the most-viewed posts on The Paly Voice website, with eight published during my senior year as co–EIC and two written by me.
A list showing the top 10 most common external platforms that send readers to The Paly Voice.
A list showing The Paly Voice’s overall statistics and the most popular times readers visit the website.
During the first semester of my junior year when I was the news editor of The Paly Voice, I presented "How to cover a news story" at NorCal Media Day, our regional journalism conference. I discussed lede writing, attention-grabbing techniques, AP style, and more. My fellow news editor and I quizzed our attendees at the end of the lesson to see how much they learned.
Beginning Journalism is a first-semester sophomore course. For the final exam, students report on a breaking news simulation that includes mock interviews, location details and a summary of the situation. Another staff member and I created a story centered on a promposal gone wrong that caused an entire class to arrive late and miss a math exam that they couldn't retake. All sources and details were fabricated for instructional purposes.
The Paly Voice has an option for readers to comment on our stories which has been a great way to hear our audience's feedback about our content. However, I intend to expand this engagement by creating the option for readers to subscribe to an email list where they get updates every time we publish. Even though this project is still in progress, I anticipate it will be a great way for students and other community members to stay up-to-date on our publications through notifications for each new story.
Marketing
'Mac 10' was an event that marked the "10-year anniversary" of Paly's Media Arts Center. Planning for this event began months in advance, as journalism advisers anticipated a large-scale celebration featuring emcees, alumni speakers, presentations of a commemorative magazine, video and podcast project, and dinner. In September, five other journalism students and I volunteered to serve as operations officers for the event. This role required determining the program order, managing space logistics, and coordinating with other student teams producing the magazine, video, and podcast content. The event concluded successfully, and with additional assistance, we constructed a balloon arch for a photo booth that became a popular feature. A peer and I were the cover of our local newspaper.
A Voice podcast that includes interviews from alumni and Paul Kandell, current Paly journalism adviser.
Palo Alto Online's cover page for the MAC 10 story featuring me and a peer.
Palo Alto Weekly's cover page for a story about the MAC 10 event featuring me and a peer.
Recruiting new reporters and writers is an essential part of Paly's journalism program. What makes this challenging is the competition of all Paly's publications trying to recruit new staff members. I have spoken on a panel twice to convince incoming reporters, from freshman and sophomore introductory journalism classes, to join The Paly Voice. The first time I was on a panel I was the only junior representing my publication on a panel full of seniors. The second time I was a co-EIC. I prioritized highlighting all of the aspects of The Paly Voice that I enjoy and how our publication is special and different from others.
A beginning journalism panel in February 2026 for incoming staff writers where I advocated for The Paly Voice. (Third person from the right: Ava Knapp).
Photo Credit: Rod Satterthwaite.
At the start of my senior year, my fellow EIC and I wanted to set a strong tone by making The Paly Voice a visible and welcoming presence during freshman orientation. We handed out stickers and tote bags to incoming students who followed our Instagram and took photos with our merch. By staying approachable and enthusiastic, we introduced new students to our publication, sparked interest in our school’s journalism pathway, and made a memorable first impression as they began considering electives.
As a reporter on The Incubator, I have needed to sell ads to restaurants and small businesses in my community to earn money for printing. This experience has shown me the importance of effectively communicating and representing our publication to the people we sell to. This is an example of our ad selling contact sheets that my team and I used to get signatures and information from interested businesses.
Ad-selling signature and contact information sheet.
The business cards of each place our group went to sell ads.
Photographic evidence of me attempting to sell an ad to Oriental Carpet in Menlo Park.
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