An all-nighter, six articles and an NTU campus newspaper born again

In the wee hours of the morning on Apr 8, the lights remained on in a small room at Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

As most of their peers lay sound asleep in bed, a group of about 13 students, with the help of a few alumni and faculty advisers from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI) were still up working for a common purpose: they had a campus newspaper to bring back to life.

It had been around six years since the last time an article was published in The Nanyang Chronicle, a student-run publication dating back to July 1994.

The paper had put up a notice on its website that it was undergoing a "transformation" to adapt to a new media landscape and how audiences consume news, with a new online version promised by August 2020.

That, however, never materialised – until now.

That early morning on Apr 8 this year, the Media co-Lab at NTU buzzed with activity as students hopped from desk to desk and screen to screen, poring over stories with the closest scrutiny, their makeshift newsroom thrumming with energy.

At the break of dawn, once every word and photo had been quadruple-checked, they hit "publish" on their brand new website. Just like that, The Nanyang Chronicle was alive again.

"The articles weren't perfect, but publishing everything that night gave us a lot of satisfaction," said Ms Eunice Chin, a second-year student at NTU and chief editor at the Chronicle.

"It's a blur in my memory now, but it was also really fun."

That evening was the culmination of an effort led by NTU WKWSCI students Ms Sharon Tay, 20, and Ms Nooraishah Karim, 23, who had initially approached the school to start a new student-run newspaper to practise the journalistic skills they were learning in class.

The administration counter-offered: Instead of birthing a new beast, why not resurrect the sleeping giant?

A slate of six articles were put out that morning to kick off the Chronicle's new era.

Among the stories was a piece examining students' backlash behind NTU's renaming of The Hive (its world-famous "dim-sum" building), an article digging into concerns over the school's halal food variety, and a human-interest feature on students saving fallen bats on campus.

The stories received considerable interest among former NTU students – especially those once affiliated with the Chronicle. An article on campus-specific indie matchmaking platforms also made the rounds on social media sites such as Reddit, garnering about 1,000 views in a single weekend.

It was a victory for the group who did not have any expectations of how the articles would perform.

Yet the paper's six-year hiatus that preceded that hectic all-nighter is indicative of the odds stacked against student publications today.

In a media landscape inundated with content and shaped by shrinking attention spans and news fatigue, what is a student newspaper actually for?

AN EVEN HARDER SELL THAN BEFORE

Even before the Chronicle faded out in 2020, getting students to read a campus paper has never been that straightforward.

Mr Samuel He, an adjunct lecturer at NTU and a faculty supervisor of the Chronicle, was part of the team at the Media co-Lab that evening and used to write for the original iteration of the paper back when he was a student.

"Some students would break stories that make it to mainstream media, and it would be a big source of pride for the students working on it," he said.

But when asked about whether the wider student population cared about the work, he said he would sometimes find his peers simply using copies of the Chronicle used as placemats for their food.

"Just because you put in the effort to write a story, it doesn't mean your audience will read it," said Mr He, 43.

"The stories must also have an impact. You must also write good stories."

Today, the challenge to overcome that apathy is compounded by how young people increasingly consume the news. A 2025 analysis by the Pew Research Center found that adults under 30 are much more likely to get their news on social media than older adults.

In response, student publications in Singapore are increasingly focusing their efforts outside of simply putting stories out.

The Chronicle plans to recruit a dedicated social media team to promote their work from next semester onwards, said Ms Chin.

"I have a lot of friends who say that they read the news – but the 'news' is them scrolling through a few slides on Instagram," she added.

Still, she said, it's vital for the team behind the paper to know their audience and what readers want.

"The articles are not just for us but for the readers. They cannot (exist) in silos."

Over at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, students running the e-magazines HYPE and The Urban Wire as part of their capstone project said they edit short-form videos for their social media channels as an accompaniment to their stories.

"It's not part of our deliverables, but it's something we wanted to include," said Ms Oviyah Kumar, 20, a mass communication student and lead editor for HYPE.

"Our generation prefers short-form content, but we don't want them to just watch the TikTok video and not read the article. We still want to lead them there in the end."

Just because you put in the effort to write a story, it doesn't mean your audience will read it. The stories must also have an impact.

Persuading others to read a student publication is one thing, but convincing them to be part of it is another challenge in and of itself.

Mr He pointed to Singapore's prevailing internship culture – where students "collect internships like they collect Pokemon" – as one such obstacle.

"Even during the semester, you hear students doing internships on their free days. So how do we convince them that a school paper is still an important endeavour?"

WHAT'S THE POINT?

For those already involved with their campus publications, the significance of such work is greater than mere readership.

Ms Sarah Lee, a second-year student at NTU and photo editor at the Chronicle, said the paper gives students a legitimate avenue for their voices to be heard.

Take for example one of the articles the Chronicle published in April, which outlined students' concerns over a lack of variety in halal food options on campus. While Ms Lee, 20, said the story may not be surprising to the Malay-Muslim student community, others may have been oblivious up till the article's publication.

"It's good to bring these kinds of issues out to the wider student population so they know it concerns their friends – and hopefully it would bring about a change," she said.

Ms Tay, 21, who is credited as one of the first students behind the Chronicle's revival, sees "a lot of value" in exploring issues of interest specifically for NTU students that may not be "big enough" for local news outlets to pick up.

Her supervisor Mr He agreed, referencing how some town councils in Singapore have newsletters to update residents specifically on community happenings, and so too for religious institutions.

"This community of (around) 30,000 people is big enough for three MRT stations to be built to serve them," he said, referring to parts of the Jurong Region Line that will run through NTU, slated for opening in 2029.

"They should also have a newspaper to serve them."

Ms Tay and her peers also believe that student reporters can serve as a bridge between the school and the student body, providing perspectives that are "neutral and nuanced" to create productive discussions between both groups.

"Often, in institutions like universities, there's a gap between what the schools think they're doing compared to what's actually happening," said Ms Tay.

"I hope the Chronicle can be a place to ask more difficult questions on both sides – the school and the students – and to have an avenue for the truth."

SPECIAL INTEREST

There is also the argument that not all student publications need to be about serious news or should exist solely to serve the community.

At its core, a student paper or magazine can also be an avenue for reflection and individual expression, said Mr Zander Koh, a third-year student at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and editor-in-chief at The Ridge, the largest student-run magazine there.

The Ridge prints around 150 physical copies of its magazine for distribution around campus each semester and recruits about 50 student contributors every academic year.

It's important to give students an environment to form their own opinions – where people can think more about their place in society.

About 20 of these active contributors are not from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, which houses NUS' Communications and New Media programme. In fact, many of them are not thinking about careers in journalism at all, said Mr Koh, 22.

Instead of sniffing out news in campus affairs, the magazine serves as a platform for students to share poetry, observations and insights on things they are passionate about with "lower stakes compared to an academic paper".

"In Singapore, there's usually a standard 'model answer' for a lot of things, including our own lifestyles – like going to a good school or getting married," he said.

"It's important to give students an environment to form their own opinions – where people can think more about their place in society."

Asked why she believed student publications to be important, Ms Beatrix Chen, 21, second-year student and head of design for the magazine, cut right to the chase: "Art cannot die."

PLANS FOR PRINT ZINE

Back at NTU, the students have ambitious plans to take the revitalised Nanyang Chronicle into the new age.

The team's goal for the first semester of the coming academic year, which starts this August, is to deliver both an online newspaper and print zine simultaneously. Amid rising interest in physical zines, the print companion is intended for a youth audience beyond campus borders.

The team is looking to recruit between 50 and 60 students to make that happen.

"It'll be great for our writers, photographers and designers to see a physical product resulting from all their hard work," said Ms Lee.

And while the task may be challenging, Ms Lee and her peers are optimistic that NTU students will once again have something tangible to hold and read in their hands.

"It doesn't make sense to have a journalism school without a student publication for people to actually write in," she said.

"We want to keep The Nanyang Chronicle going for decades to come."

Source: CNA/re/ml