On Wednesday, 1st of February, we visited the Pattaya Mail offices to seek advice from the experts on how to produce our first school newspaper. At around 10:40 we gathered at the front entrance of the school and the buses to us to the Pattaya Mail offices. When we arrived we were greeted by Kamolthep Malhotra, the general manager and Suwanthep Malhotra, the business development director.
Suwanthep and Kamolthep explained what we needed to do in order to set up our own newspaper successfully. They talked about all aspects of the newspaper business from selling advertising space, writing effective articles and printing. Lots of tips were given about deadlines and reaching our target audience. We took lots of notes and asked many questions.
Students visit Sue and the PMTV crew in our television studio.
Next we went on a tour of the Pattaya Mail offices and saw the journalists and publishers at work. We also had the opportunity to learn about how stories were researched, edited and produced for TV. We were then taken to a restaurant and whilst we waited for our food to arrive we were interviewed for Pattaya Mail TV (PMTV). We were each asked about what we learned and what we had enjoyed about our visit. We are all looking forward to seeing ourselves on TV in the future.
Suwanthep “Tony” Malhotra gives expert advice on how the newspaper is put together.
At the end a very informative day we were each given a certificate of appreciation and had our individual photographs taken. We then returned to school, very excited and buzzing with ideas on how to set up our school newspaper. We would like to thank Kamolthep Malhotra and Suwanthep Malhotra for sparing time from their busy schedules to give us their best tips and advice on how to make our newspaper a huge success. We cannot wait to give the first copy of our newspaper to them to show our true appreciation.
The students learn how pages are laid out by King in the graphics department.
Kelly Harkins tells Pattaya Mail TV what she learned on her trip to the Pattaya Mail offices.
Kamolthep Malhotra general manager.
Individual comments from students:
Farruh Khaitov (Year 9)
The trip taught me many things, including: what a challenge it is to make a newspaper, but how rewarding and fun it is to see the finished product. The advice and tips that we were given will definitely be useful in the near future. I look forward to seeing how our newspaper will turn out.
Pang Thawornwong (Year 8)
The visit was lots of fun and extremely insightful. We learnt a lot about how to organize newspapers, how to print, to sell advertising and many more helpful techniques. I can’t wait to get started on our newspaper!
Edward Burnes (Year 9)
We thank you Pattaya Mail for allowing us to visit your headquarters and for the tour. We learnt a great deal about how to write, design and sell our school newspaper. We have all come away with a clear understanding of what we need to do. We also thank you for your support and great hospitality.
Georgie Carter (Year 9)
We all went to investigate the processes needed to produce a newspaper. We were all so curious and had many questions, which were all answered. We were all particularly interested in the facts and figures behind running a newspaper. I realised how a much hard work, time and effort is needed from each team member to make a successful newspaper.
Kamola Khaitova (Year 7)
This was a fantastic experience for me. I love writing and really enjoyed learning about the whole process of producing a newspaper. This has inspired me to work hard as part of a team, on our newspaper. I think I will really enjoy the challenge.
Chamai Prins (Year 8)
The trip to Pattaya Mail was fantastic! We received a lot of valuable advice for setting up our own newspaper. It was very generous of the Pattaya Mail letting us come and taking us to lunch. I hope I will can go back and learn more in the future.
Catherine Eggen (Year 10)
Visiting Pattaya Mail was a great experience. We learned how to create a successful school newspaper reporter. The steps are definitely not as easy as we all imagined. However, this tour just increased our enthusiasm and gave us a lot of motivation to work hard for the best results.
Kelly Harkins (Year 10)
Today, myself and fellow members of the newspaper club at my school, St. Andrews, were invited to spend the afternoon at the Pattaya Mail offices. We were eager to ask our questions and we left knowledgeable and confident about setting up our new school newspaper. The owners and staff were very kind and informative and we were able to learn about the different areas in creating a newspaper, how to lay it out and what we can do to make our sections more interesting, targeting our teenage audience. We also were fortunate enough to enjoy a fantastic lunch at the Tavern restaurant and have a short TV interview discussing what we learnt.
