Christine Russell
Section Editors Madison Platt and Cooper Burch, Assitant Editor Skylar Fleming, Section Editor Zaniya Brown and Editor-in-Chief Vy Nguyen (from left to right) sit in a editors' meeting to discuss the new branding policies and image of the high school newspaper.
With a shift from print to digital and a fresh new name, the Florida High newspaper is entering a bold new era.
“It’s The Seminole Scribe. I think it speaks to positivity that we have Seminoles that are writing this thing rather than a Tomahawk,” high school principal Megan Brink said. “I think it makes more sense in the long run. I think it represents our students better to say The Seminole Scribe.”
The rebranding goes beyond just our newspaper; FSU as a whole is reviewing its own branding while guiding Florida High through theirs.
“It’s a whole school-wide thing that we are looking at. FSU is working with us to help us understand the branding behind Seminoles,” Brink said. “The Tomahawk really isn’t even something the Seminoles are known for, and so things like that, we want to make sure we are culturally sensitive to…Tomahawk Cafe is something that we’re looking at too.”
Along with the name change, The Seminole Scribe has embraced a fully digital format as of this school year. With our new website, readers can actively engage with articles by commenting, sharing links and voting on polls.
“I think that with rising high schoolers and middle schoolers and just new people coming into our school in general, people are more likely to read it if they just have to read something on their phone than actually pick up a paper,” Assistant Editor Skylar Fleming said. “I think it will get a lot more clicks, and I also think that over time, people will forget about The Tomahawk Talk and just become known as The Seminole Scribe.”
These changes to the newspaper are less of a challenge and more of an opportunity for the staff to take advantage of.
“I think it gives more ownership. [With] The Seminole Scribe, it sounds like our students are owning it more,” Brink said. “We are getting more people involved and interested, and that is what you want with a newspaper and communication, it is telling the stories of the students by the students.”