When those fresh copies mysteriously materialize in front of classroom doors in neat stacks once a month, it’s common to see students engrossed in the pages of the Tattler rather than the class at hand. Yet, there are some who prefer to flip to the Back Page for the puzzles, leaving the issue trampled on the ground to be found by a janitor with only the Sudoku and crossword half-filled out. Many others claim not to have read a single issue in their high-school career, citing a lack of material to sustain their interest.
Curious to see how people really read the Tattler, Tattler editors asked 112 students from randomly selected English classes—29 seniors, 21 juniors, 31 sophomores, and 31 freshmen—to fill out a survey during the last week of school. Here’s what we found.
Note: Due to the length of this analysis, responses to open-ended questions have been omitted, although some have been included in the analysis where appropriate.
Chart 1
With 60 percent of respondents confirming that they do read the Tattler and 24 percent more saying that they read it occasionally, it’s clear that the Tattler isn’t just appealing to a small niche of students. Perhaps a breakdown of the responses can provide a little more detail.
Chart 2
Most people don’t pick up a Tattler issue just for the Sudoku, that’s for sure. Most people who read the Tattler claim to do so because they enjoy the content. Interestingly, the chart also shows that people who read the Tattler occasionally end up doing so from a tight schedule, suggesting that more people would read the Tattler given the time.
Chart 3
It always seems as if the first few periods on the day of a Tattler release are filled with students engaged with the issue rather than the class, to the chagrin of many teachers.
Chart 4
Hardly surprising results here. Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and more have all allowed students to not only get news and opinions fast, but also directly engage in and discuss these events. Television and online news sites, of course, always have and will be extant.
Chart 5
Virtually no one reads the Tattler solely at home, but 26 percent of respondents claimed to read it both in school and at home—perhaps to finish up a particularly difficult puzzle or a lengthy article.
Chart 6
Overall, 27 percent of respondents said they picked up an issue of the Tattler every month in the last school year.
Chart 7
First of all, yes, the Tattler did launch a new website last June. However, a few people have commented that they wouldn’t take the effort of actually looking up articles online. If it’s there, people will read it; if not, they aren’t going to try to find it. On the flip side, with smartphones being widespread among students, reading articles online could be even easier than reading a hard copy, and the responses reflect that.
Chart 8
Although no one just reads the Back Page, it nonetheless appears as if the Back Page is the most read section in the Tattler. Meanwhile, News and Opinion contest for second place in popularity.
Chart 9
Opinions vary greatly here, but a clear outlier is for current school news, with 69 people believing it to be the most important. When you add in the fact that 53 people think student essays and opinions are the most important, it’s evident what people think that the Tattler should focus on: IHS’s own community.
Chart 10
A majority of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed with this statement—a reassuring claim for the Tattler.
Chart 12, 13
While most people believe Tattler covers a wide scope of topics, a large amount of respondents were unsure if they are in-depth.
Chart 14
Again, more people are more unsure than strongly agreeing. Especially with both experienced and new writers creating articles for the Tattler all the time, the abilities of writers can vary, and it’s very important to make sure that one is well-informed on topics that may carry a large amount of controversy.
Chart 15
Perhaps not every article is someone’s cup of tea, but most people seem to find something they appreciate. A number of respondents did comment that Teacher Features were not particularly engaging for them.
Chart 16
A few people have commented how they would prefer an actual newspaper style to the current magazine look. Based on these results, however, it appears as if most people are at least content with the way the paper looks.
Chart 17
Unless you’re coming into school late on the day of an issue release or looking for an extra copy a few weeks later, it really shouldn’t be hard to find a copy (protip: try looking at the doorway of your classes in the mornings).
Chart 28
Many respondents additionally noted in their surveys that they would like to see a larger focus on local rather than international news.
Chart 19
A bit more difficult to see anything obvious here, but on the whole, it seems as if a majority of people would prefer a little more than just a summary of events. Especially for News and Opinion, including more than the bare minimum would certainly help out. Perhaps these results could be associated with concerns about writers being well-informed.
Chart 20
Respondents were heavily divided on this topic, revealing a glimpse of the ongoing controversy on how much trust we should give our authorities. The Tattler itself does not deliberately attempt to “fight the system;” rather, it tries to uncover or explain a hidden aspect of events that the administration of our school—or even higher-up governments—may not always agree upon.
Chart 21
Very few people disagreed with this statement, and it reflects the student body’s willingness to allow groups such as the Tattler to provide a voice for many people in helping to improve our community.
Chart 22
People seem rather divided on this one—while sports are a major part of IHS (or really any high school), it can be difficult to find oneself interested in certain sports unless knowledgeable on the subject. Compared to the News and Features sections, which showcase more general articles on a wide variety of topics, the more selective Sports and Arts sections may find themselves with a smaller group of readers.
Chart 23
Although how much “entertainment news” is needed in the Tattler is disputed, a similar aspect can be observed from our survey results. A large amount of respondents, when asked about what they would like to see more of in the Tattler in a separate question (not included in the analysis), responded “humor”. In fact, many went on to explain that humor would help to catch their attention more and stated that the Tattler should try to be more humorous overall.
Chart 24
Not completely unexpected, but still, it’s surprising to see that a large amount of students don’t seem to respect peer-made playlists all that much. In fact, many respondents commented that the playlists were their least favorite part of the Tattler.
Chart 25
Again, tying back to previous results that we’ve seen, people seem to prefer reading about news that has some relevance to their own lives.
Chart 26
For the most part, the distribution of responses is centered closer to “Agree,” but it is necessary to consider those that are unsure or don’t want the Tattler to have bring about change. Even with these data, a simple conclusion cannot be made.
Conclusion
What does all this mean? That we should stop publishing playlists altogether, or that the singular Back Page should become Back Pages? Of course not—rather, this data helps the Tattler find its weak points. Information like this allows us to assess the complaints of individuals in the scope of a larger group to see if they amount to a relevant problem. Equally importantly, it allows both budding and veteran writers of the Tattler to realize their own abilities and shortcomings in writing. At the same time, however, we should take this data with a grain of salt. A problem or strength that may seem glaringly obvious could in reality be less severe or merely trivial, a result of unknown error or bias. As AP Stats teacher Ben Kirk once wisely said, “All models are wrong”—words to keep close when observing our world.
The Tattler Staff contributed reporting.