Journalist Perspectives |
Legal and Ethical Principles |
During my time in the Newspaper I and II class, we spent a significant amount of time reviewing the history of journalism along with the importance of free speech. We discussed the differences between school publications that run on prior-review and those who don't. Here at CHS, we are fortunate to run our publication without interference from administration. Throughout my time on staff, the HiLite has promoted the New Voices legislation, which promotes the creation of public forums in schools and eliminates prior-review.
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When writing a story, I always consider the FERPA polices that I learned during my time in Newspaper I and II. FERPA protects the rights of under-age sources when disclosing any personal information. In March, I had to go through the FERPA process when I wrote a story about the Inclusion Revolution at CHS and how programs catered towards students with special needs have expanded over the past ten years. Since my fellow staff member and I had to interview students with special needs, it was important to obtain permission from their parents. We filled out the proper FERPA forms and were able to contact everyone involved in order to start the interview process.
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Newspaper Production Cycles |
Media Writing Processes/
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Every production cycle starts off with section maestros. Beforehand, reporters are required to submit ideas to their sections to be discussed and assigned at the maestro.
At every maestro, it is important that all details regarding the content that is assigned are explicitly discussed. My co-editor and I make sure that every reporter knows what they are responsible for before the maestro ends in order to ensure that the content that is submitted is exactly what we want. Assignments are entered into SnoFlow after the maestro. For every production cycle, we assign a source deadline and a content deadline. The source deadline is when reporters imput their sources for their stories on SnoFlow. We treat source deadline as a check in point. When considering sources, we want to vary who we choose to interview. If similar sources are being interviewed for a story or if a source submitted is not appropriate for the story at hand, my co-editor and I can contact the reporter and have them change the source before the content is turned in. Content deadline is when stories, graphics, and photos must be turned in on SnoFlow. If reporters do not turn in their content on time without a valid excuse, we assign them a missed deadline. After everything is turned in, we place content on our spreads and design them so that by the first page deadline, we can print off the spreads to be proofread during production week. During production week, everyone proofreads their assigned spreads so that editors can make edits to the spreads before exporting them. We sit through morning edits to make appropriate changes to the spreads, printing off new ones to be proofread during our class periods. The final spreads are exported to the printer by the end of the week. Throughout the year, I have always tried to stay one step ahead in order to meet every deadline. Every issue cycle, I always have PDF'ed my spreads by the end of the first PDF day. I have never had to PDF my spreads on the second date because my spreads have been in good shape since the begging of production week. In regards to writing stories, I make sure that start the process earlier to ensure that I can turn in my content on time. In November 2018, I wrote the cover story an issue cycle in advance, which gave me and the editor up to two months to refine details in the story and to design the alternative coverage to compliment the story. Click the button below to read the November 2018 cover story: |
In Newspaper I and II, we learned the basic process for writing stories. Whenever I write a story, I make sure to check the style manual to make sure that I am writing with the correct style. During production week, I am required to proofread two spreads during at least two proofreading sessions. During these sessions, I check for proper style and edit to make sure that the spreads are ready for print.
The writing process starts with finding ideas to write about. My first year on staff, primarily wrote for the news section so the type of ideas that I submitted were focused on policies or events that are relevant and would significantly impact the student population. After turning in my story on SnoFlow, I conference with my advisor and make the necessary changes to my story. This writing process is repeated every cycle. Click the button to view an example of a news story that impacts the student population: |
Media Convergence |
Leadership and Career Development |
As a reporter, my primary role was to write stories. However, I have experimented with other types of media coverages, such as photography and graphic design. One major photography assignment that I completed during my time on staff was of the inagural Martin Luther King Jr. event that took place in Carmel.
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Through the help of first year reporters, fellow section editors and the management team, I understand the importance of each role that make up the newspaper staff.
This school year, I worked alongside my co-editor Tessa to manage the Entertainment section of The HiLite. As a section editor, it is my job to assign content for the reporters in my section to complete and to take the content to produce spreads for each issue cycle. As a veteran staff member, I also have the responsibility of guiding first-year reporters as spend the year getting accustomed to being on staff. For example, each issue cycle, I would sit down with first-year reporters and teach them how to schedule content to be posted online. I have also taken a first-year reporter under my wing for an issue cycle, where I worked with her on a spread that was produced in the March issue. I showed her the process of designing a spread and how to place content into the InDesign document. We went through the process of morning edits and sent the final spread to the printer at the end of the week. By working on her first spread with me, she was able to gain the experience of being an editor before she officially became one. |