When the presses stop, student newspapers scramble to keep print alive

After a longtime Charlotte publisher shuts down, student journalism programs race to find a new printer, even as students insist the physical paper still matters

The following article appeared in the Feb. 25, 2026, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.

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Rising costs and fewer printers are forcing Charlotte student journalism programs to rethink how — and whether — they publish in print

Pete Johnson has been the news and photojournalism teacher at East Mecklenburg High School for three years. The Eagle has been publishing since the 1950s. (Photo: Lindsey Banks/The Charlotte Ledger)

by Lindsey Banks

When an edition of Myers Park Hoofprint is published, students don’t scroll through it on their phones like one might expect from Gen Z teenagers.

Instead, they flip through printed pages between classes and point to their bylines. They circle crossword answers. Teachers hold up articles for classroom discussion topics. A couple of years ago, a custodian taped a feature article about the custodial staff to his office door, said the paper’s adviser, Megan Ledford.

For the Myers Park High students who produce Hoofprint, the physical newspaper represents the moment their work becomes real and valued.

“It’s like getting a gold medal,” said Chip Smith, a longtime local printer whose presses turned those student stories into something tangible. “Task completed; there’s the evidence.”

But last month, Smith’s Charlotte-based publishing company, Mullen Publications, went out of business after 80 years. His clients had dropped by more than half in the past decade, and the rent at his space in Steele Creek was too high.

Across Charlotte, student newspaper advisers are making phone calls, comparing quotes and discovering what many professional newsrooms already know: the infrastructure that supports print journalism is thinning out. Traditional broadsheet presses are disappearing, commercial printers are pivoting to glossy magazines and the costs for schools operating on tight budgets are difficult to justify.