The Making of The Mount Holyoke News

The first issue of the Mount Holyoke News, October 3, 1917.

In June 1917, the Students’ League petitioned the faculty for permission to create a weekly newspaper believing it would be more beneficial to the College than the monthly The Mount Holyoke. That fall, the very first issue of The Mount Holyoke News was published. The newspaper served as a hub for any and all important news related to campus life. In the early years of its publication, the first issues of the semester even featured a full schedule of classes offered. Subscriptions were offered to students, faculty, alumnae, and parents for just $1.75. These subscriptions along with advertisements from local businesses went towards the printing costs of the newspaper.

Public Opinion. Keeping up with the Newspapers. The conservatism of college life is a term often used in condemning the isolated condition college affairs with reference to those in the world at large. To say that the college student is indifferent to what is going on in the outside world is of course an unfair exaggeration. It is, nevertheless, true that the conservatism of college life in its best essence tends to develop a lethargic state of mind in which the student's interest in the world's affairs grows less and less keen. Perhaps to say her interest is growing dull is rather harsh. She would declare she is just as interested as ever, only she has not been able to follow up just what has been going on. She read the papers faithfully all summer, but now there is always something else to take up her attention, -- besides the home newspaper is not at hand, and she is not used to another. The deplorable results of not keeping up with the newspapers were shown last year, when President Woolley asked how many had read the important news in the morning paper. Were there four, five, or six who stood up? How often one hears students say, "Oh, I don't have time to read the paper, but I always make it a point to glance at the headlines," or "I haven't read the paper for an age, some one else is always reading it when I want it." The only way to keep up with what the world's doing, is to keep up with the newspapers, and that is something which every one can do. Our newspapers are not infallible, but they are the most trustworthy means we have for making us intelligent lookers-on of the world's events. We are beginning a new college year, a year that is to be full of stirring actions and changes in the world of which our college is a part. Let us keep the balance between our college and our national life, and keep up with the newspapers. --1919
This public opinion piece published in the Mount Holyoke Monthly around the same time as the first issue of MHN reveals students’ feelings about the importance of newspapers in being informed on world events, October 1917.

In its early days MHN staff consisted of only six reporters and four editors. Due to the inexperience of its staff members, the newspaper’s format was a bit clumsy and unorganized at first – content was separated into three columns, with small and indistinct headline text. However, with more students becoming involved during the next few years, the newspaper was well on its way to becoming an appealing publication with substantial content.