Masthead
Editor in Chief: Ani Sefaj*
Managing Editor: Samira Siddique*
News Editors: Maya Averbuch, Chester Dubov, Nicole Zhao
Features Editors: Hannah O’Grady, Max Wycisk
Opinions Editors: Shilpa Agrawal, Christopher Natoli, Varun Sharma
Arts & Entertainment Editors: Sadie Bergen, Emma Pollack, Hyemin Yi
Sports Editors: Scott Chiusano, Eddie Cytryn
Photography Editors: Christina Bogdan, Joann Lee, Harry Poppick
Art Directors: Nils Axen, Emily Martin
Layout Editors: Shanna Chen, Harry Ngai, Vivian Sze
Copy Editors: Samantha Levine, Tong Niu
Business Managers: Karen Paik, Mark Zhang
Web Editors: Jennifer Kuo, Cameron Sun
Faculty Advisor: Kerry Garfinkel
*Managing Board Members
Contact
Questions and comments can be sent to comments@stuyspectator.com.
Want to place an ad? Email business@stuyspectator.com.
About this site.
The Charter of The Spectator
History and Structure
The Spectator, founded in 1915, is the official Stuyvesant High School newspaper, a bi-weekly publication that is run completely by Stuyvesant students. It is independent of any other organization, such as the Student Union or school administration and it receives no funding. All printings are paid for by subscriptions and advertisements. The Spectator, as “The Pulse of the Student Body,” is a forum for student expression. It is accessible to all parties and is available at no cost.
The Spectator has been independent of the school administration, both in terms of funding and prior review since 1998, when the school administration briefly shut down our paper. As a result of this, we developed a formal written charter and the policies of financial and editorial independence. Any person who is not part of The Spectator staff or one of its affiliates (such as the Faculty Advisor) cannot see content before it is published. The Faculty Advisor has no say over final content decisions, which are made by the Editor in Chief, except in matters of libel. The Spectator is uncensored.
The newspaper staff is composed of 12 departments, six writing and six non-writing. Each member of the newspaper staff, consisting of over 250 students, works for one or two of the 12 departments. The writing departments include News, Features, Opinions & Editorials, Arts & Entertainment, Sports and Web Content. The non-writing departments include Photography, Art, Layout, Copy, Business and Web Development. Editors are considered staff members of every department.
For each of these departments there is at least one, but usually two, editors, who manage the writing, editing and other necessary processes to keep the paper running smoothly. Editors ensure that The Spectator comes out on schedule and that the paper does not print false or libelous material. Recruitments for The Spectator generally take place in the beginning and end of the school year, but students can try out any time for any department by contacting us.
Together with the Managing Editor and Editor in Chief, the Department Editors comprise the Editorial Board, the backbone of The Spectator. The Editorial Board, which meets daily in The Spectator Journalism class, makes most of the decisions that affect The Spectator. These decisions include content selection/changes, voicing its opinions through Staff Editorials, how to manage work flow and content and others.
Within the Editorial Board is the Managing Board, a group of four department editors, the Editor in Chief and the Managing Editor. These six editors regulate the budget with the Business department, interview candidates for possible endorsements, interview potential Editors and make other necessary decisions for the paper as the need arises.
The Editor in Chief and the Managing Editor are the leaders of the paper—they read all articles, make all content decisions, work closely with the Faculty Advisor, serve as the representatives of the paper and run The Spectator class.
The Spectator, most importantly, is an open forum for the Stuyvesant High School community. We report on issues that affect our community and aim to do so with the best of our ability, maintaining the highest levels of journalistic integrity and excellence. We welcome and encourage Letters to the Editor, which can be sent to letters@stuyspectator.com or put in our mailbox in the mail room on the second floor.