Story Editing
My staff started using a new system that we call our "Editing Accountability Sheet" last year. We assign two editors to every story no matter who it was written by. We previously have struggled to keep up with younger student's stories and they would end up slipping through the cracks. We realized it was essential for them to interact with our edits on their stories to learn, as well as see their work published.
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One thing I quickly learned about editing my senior year was that I always leave it to the very last minute with so many other things on my to do list. However, I've learned that it truly should be the first thing. If we as editors don't take the time to thoughtfully edit, we cannot expect underclassmen to grow to be editors one day.
I make it a goal to thoughtfully read each story. I often leave this task to do at home so I'm not distracted by the newsroom environment. I have started leaving notes under my comments, which I'm sure looks intimidating to students at first, but I think it is important to not just edit, but explain why we are asking them to change these things. I also always try to provide specific encouragement at the end of their story to let them know what they specifically excelled at and what could be improved for next time. |
Newspaper & Yearbook Editing
Our newspaper editing usually starts at around 7:30 a.m. and goes until after school. We have three editors on each page and we look for standing elements, AP style mistakes, spelling errors, etc. We keep track of this extensive process on the whiteboard, seen to the right. Throughout the process, we print and reprint each page and hang them up around the room to see what they will look like.
After the paper is printed, we have what we call "Chat & Chew" with each class where we bring snacks and go through the newspaper to discuss what went well and what we could improve. |
Yearbook editing is also an extensive process. We use our yearbook ladder spreadsheet to keep up with what still needs to be done and what has already been sent to the plant. We also use this resource to keep track of design and content ideas for specific spreads. As yearbook editor in chief, I look over and edit each spread when it is completed and then mark it ready for my adviser to submit to the plant. I have worked hard over the past two years to make this a useful resource for my staff.
Over the summer, we spent a considerable amount of time thoughtfully planning each spread topic and brainstorming how that spread would take shape. We changed some spreads that no longer made sense for a new year and added some new ideas to coincide with our theme. |
Leadership
A part of leadership, I have discovered, is keeping yourself and your staff organized to the best of your ability. I contribute to this goal in a variety of ways.
Organization
Another essential part of leadership is doing what you expect of others. As a leader, we must be willing to do what we are asking younger editors or staff members to do or practice.
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Deadline & Event Communication
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Encouragement
Another important aspect of leadership is being positive, providing encouragement alongside the criticism. To enact this mantra into my staff, I created these encouragement cards (right) at the inspiration of a class I attended at J-Camp at JMU. We hand them out usually at the end of each deadline cycle to encourage students who are working hard or improving at a skill. |
Elementary & Middle School Workshops, Outreach
Another important aspect of leadership is preparing for those that will come after you. This includes reaching out to middle and elementary schools. We do this a couple of ways, we hold both middle and elementary school workshops where students get a taste of the journalism world. They get to try basic interviewing, photography with our cameras and basic writing. Last year, the elementary schools enjoyed the workshop so much, they created their own newspaper. Another way we reach out to younger students is by visiting their schools and presenting about our class. Last year, we used the presentation to the right to explain the basics to help them sign up for classes for next year. ACP Night: Elective's Fair Another way we do outreach is by holding a school elective's fair. We often compete with the other electives to create the most eye catching table. This is one of the most direct ways to talk to incoming and current students. |
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Media Now Leadership Emails
A step my staff's editorial board took this year to become better editors and better leaders was to participate in the Media Now Editor Training hosted by JEA President Sarah Nichols and student media adviser Aaron Manfull. We read through each email sent out per day and wrote about our personal takeaways, and then used the first half of our Friday editorial meetings to discuss what we had learned as a group. I truly think this training strengthened us all as editors and gave us the space to reflect on how we could all improve.
Some of my biggest takeaways:
Some of my biggest takeaways:
- Have staffers take a personality test at the beginning of the year to match them up with similar mentors
- Time chunking the class period: at the start of the year you cannot let 30 freshmen loose to figure out how to spend the class period, chunk the time into for example, a five minute presentation, stations (five minutes then rotate), exit ticket/closing discussion. Below is an example of a class period plan I created.
- Staff Wellness: "What good is it to have the best issue in program history if everyone requests to drop at the semester? If staffers/editors are burned out from a series of brutal late-night sessions, how well will they perform next week when it's time to do it all again?"
- "Sure, we could get this done tonight, but at what expense?"
- When critiquing a younger staffer's work, find something to compliment first and then share your criticisms
- Admitting when you're wrong is a sign of a good leader
- Negativity in the newsroom is draining
Teambuilding
Summer Workshop
Making time for team bonding and the "fun stuff" has always been my staff's weak spot. To combat this problem, another editor in chief and I planned a summer workshop to plan for the year, but also create and foster a sense of family within our editorial board. We ended each day that week with a team building exercise planned by one of the editors. Some were very extravagant and had nothing to do with journalism, but they made for great pictures:) |
Staff Dinners & Activities
We also used the week to plan out and organize our team bonding, including staff dinners and activities for the year. We placed a big emphasis on this the first month of school with the goal of staffers feeling more comfortable working together. We ended up having the largest turnout we'd had in a while at staff dinners. |
Newsroom Decorations
Another task we tackled over the summer was making our classroom feel like home as we spend so much of our time there. We as editors in chief felt this was important to give editors a sense of ownership over our space and get closer in the process.
Another task we tackled over the summer was making our classroom feel like home as we spend so much of our time there. We as editors in chief felt this was important to give editors a sense of ownership over our space and get closer in the process.
Conventions
Attending conventions with my peers has been the number one thing that has brought us together. In my experience, I have attended the JEA/NSPA 2019 convention in Washington, D.C. and the JEA/NSPA convention in Los Angeles, California last year in April 2022. This year, I plan on attending the CSPA conference in New York in March and the JEA/NSPA conference in San Francisco, California in April. |
Resources
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This was a presentation I made after the LA conference last year about staff recruitment. I also included new bonding activities I liked from sessions I attended.
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