What I learned as an editor this year was how to use adobe InDesign and how to manage deadlines while improvising when things didnt go as planned. I liked the editing aspect and being able to create and design a page while being able to call it my own. The added stress of having to edit a page ontop of writing all of the stories wasn’t any help when it came to handling all of the work flow throughout production cycles, but it was a well needed and refreshing challenge. Editing stories on my page, proved to be an aspect of being an editor that I personally felt like I fell shy in. A very common mistake I found was the use of opinion in non-opinionated stories (on my end too). I think early in the year if we have better lessons in writing journalistically and working in a news/journalistic environment.
As a first time editor, I learned the struggles of balancing my work, and learning how to make pages, stories, and photos more appealing to the reader. With editing stories, graphic design, managing white space and doing all the necessary research for my stories. I think focusing more on the intricacies of journalism, focus on getting the correct information and working on conveying the central message/ theme of the article and putting it at the forefront of the article itself.
The page I’m least happy with is gonna have to be my first page. I don’t really like how it looks, and while the poll is aesthetically pleasing and themed, I feel as if it doesn’t fit the feel of the page as much as I would have liked it to fit more of a coherent theme, and I would like to do better on getting my stories in on time.
The spread i’m most proud of this year would have to be the March spread. I am most proud of this spread because of the way I formatted everything felt like there was no better way to orgainze all of my stories and pictures than in the way that I did. I feel like I could have done way more with the April issue. I felt like there was a lot to be done with the way it was organized, and it being my first time doing a side bar, I felt like it could’ve been improved upon but I didn’t have any ideas on how to do so at the time. I think my design skills lie in knowing how to navigate the menus added a lot and helped me work on my pages more efficiently. Working to fit things and covering white space was a fun and interesting task that I took over every issue, not specifically the second semester.
The page I’m most satisfied with is the one that I did for the December issue. I like my story and I’m proud of the formatting and the way the pictures fit together and how they correlate perfectly with the story. The stories are all well written and on top of that they all fit and leave the perfect amount of space for the poll that was taken for the page. There are no glaring issues with the page and that is all I can ask for when it comes to designing these pages as a new editor.
The most significant piece of writing i’ve done for the paper in my opinion is my Syria and Turkey earthquake story. I believe this is my best story because of the importance of the story itself. It was a relatively easy story, but definitely required me to look around at different sources to get the best and most reliable information. At first I had asked around for information on how the scale had worked, but through further research and deeper digging. I learned more about using different sources regardless of assumed reliability in the first place, and worked on writing in a more journalistic manner. The finished product was definitely one of my favorite stories that I had written. The way I was able to communicate and get across all the major points without the story feeling too rushed or too overwhelming as a read made me feel confident in my growing ability to write in a journalistic style.
Learning how to navigate InDesign this year was a struggle, but as I started to work with it more I started to form a style and understand the basics like formatting, inserting pictures, and finding out my own way of putting things together that makes my pages look fresh and unique
Giving other staff members a more warm experience by being open to conversation and understanding the stress of deadlines was a big part of connecting with eachother. I definitely feel like I could have connected better with other students in the class, but I think differing nterests and views put a bit of a stick into that. I do feel like everyone including myself could have been a bit more warm to eachother in the grand scheme of things but for the most part I think we made a good happy disfunctional publications family. Being a leader in a classroom of people with different backgrounds can prove difficult, but I think the most important attributes a leader must have is to bridge the gap between everyone and give everyone an equal playing field when it comes to talking. I think overall the best paper we could make is one where everyone is as involved as possible and one that maybe not everyone gets along but one that everyone can work together despite those challenges. Being confident is a defining feature in any leadership role, and any leader unsure of what to do is one unfit.
