Home-schooler Learns the Newspaper Trade by Publishing Brooklin Times

BROOKLIN With the critical success of The Hutchins Times, a newspaper Hoyt Hutchins wrote for his family, the young newsmans next step was obvious find a larger audience.

I was doing it for my house as a fun project and I thought maybe we could do it for the whole town, Hutchins said Monday.

With that, the 13-year-old home-schooler launched the first edition of the Brooklin Times on Feb. 12, 2011.

Ive missed a few weeks, but it was a scheduled miss, he said, explaining that the fledgling journal didnt reach the newsstands for a couple of months while he was on an extended vacation and one other week when he was away to attend a conference.

As editor in chief, Hutchins writes the news stories, sells and creates the ads, arranges guest columns and letters to the editor, lays out each issue and delivers fresh-off-the-press copies to newsstands every Saturday morning.

Hutchins produces the paper on a home printer.

Along the way, hes developed a keen eye for news and features, and hes adopted the tools of the trade, including his own shorthand that he uses when working as a reporter.

Hutchins is well familiar with the driving force behind all newspaper work deadlines.

Ive always got it done on time, though Ive come close to not, he said. I deliver every Saturday morning. Getting it done Friday night is the deadline.

The young entrepreneur is also learning the business basics that can make or break a newspaper.

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Home-schooler Learns the Newspaper Trade by Publishing Brooklin Times