Written by Jessica van den Brink and Megan Newell

At the beginning of this calendar year, it was decided that UNIS Hanoi would start up a journalism program and publish an online newspaper created by students, for students. The question remains though: Is the UNIS community truly ready for it? Will this new aspect of UNIS life truly prosper?

Yes, UNIS is ready for news. People are always ready for news, but for this program to succeed both student writers and readers will need to fully commit to the program.

We’ve had a wonderful start as journalism teachers and experts from California, Beatrice Motamedi and Paul Kandell, came to UNIS to share their experience with not only the core journalism crew, but also with the entire UNIS community. They’ve given us a crash course on the basics of good journalism and have left us with the training wheels needed to get the program running. What matters now is “how determined the students are and how much they want the program to keep going” as said by Grade 10 student Ciara Reybet-Degat.

As Kandell said, “The student’s power will have an effect on whether the newspaper lives or dies.”

Starting a journalism program in a school like UNIS can promote students’ critical thinking and can help them form fact-based opinions. The program can serve to build a community within UNIS and connect students, allowing them to have a voice. An online newspaper can teach skills vital in the 21^st century by giving them a foundation in technological literacy.

The journalism core crew encourages the UNIS community to send in articles and topics it would like to see discussed and we thank the community for its support.

Contact us at unis.theflame.news@gmail.com

–         Additional reporting by Paul Kandell, Beatrice Motamedi, Ciara Reybet-Degat