huddy's portfolio
(with guest appearances)
editing
This year, I learned how important attention to detail is to the editing process. If something in a story or page goes unnoticed early on, it can create a huge issue later in the production cycle. This being said, I did like going through the stories on my page, editing, and revising them to make them better. I did not like the tediousness of some parts of the editing process, but that is inevitable when trying to create a good product.
design
My favorite spread from this semester was the Trending Now page. I worked really hard on laying out the page and making everything look nice, and I think it turned out nice in the end. Even though we didn’t use our Converse photo (it got lost), the one we used worked well on the page, plus it looked good. To be honest, I didn’t like my May page that much. It felt like there was too much and too little all at once, and there was no good configuration for all the photos and stories. That being said, the final draft looked way better than the original design. I think I could’ve done a better job if I had complete control over the photos and the articles, but of course that’s improbable. I think I’m skilled at the photo side of page design, like where to put images in conjunction with articles. But I’m not as good at organizing text for the articles, like the columns etc. I would like to have more training in Photoshop, since I think that is important for good page design.
writing
I’d say my most significant piece this semester was the satire article about Tucker Carlson. I didn’t actually know he was going to get fired from Fox, but I had a feeling, so I thought it would be funny to write about it before the fact. The article didn’t evolve a lot between the first and final draft, but there was a little conflict with the principal regarding the article, because she thought there should be a disclaimer. In the piece, I wanted to emulate Carlson’s rhetoric and speech mannerisms, which I thought I did fairly well. I also thought the notion of him coming to write for a random high school newspaper was funny.
leading
I tried to make my peers feel apart of the news team by being friendly while also trying to make sure everyone gets their work done. I could have communicated more with other staff to ensure that they were alright and did not need any assistance from me. A challenge that arises while working with peers is that sometimes it is difficult to remain productive and on task. I think it’s more important to be respected among your peers than it is to be popular. If you are respected, you are probably doing good things and are deserving of that respect. We have an award winning publication because we consistently put out quality articles covering an array of issues, all formatted onto well-designed pages. Our time management skills could have been better, since at many times it felt like we were rushing. I think, to be a good leader, you have to have a vision and good communication with your team.
February
March
April
May
