Editing, leadership and teambuilding are crucial in student journalism for maintaining high-quality reporting and fostering a collaborative environment. They ensure stories are polished, teams are guided effectively and all members contribute to the publication’s success.
Editing, Leadership, and Teambuilding
Editing
The editing cycle is an essential component of a successful high school newspaper. It ensures the quality, credibility and professionalism of student work.
At the start of every cycle, we hold a pitch meeting where each staff member presents their story ideas. These stories are organized by section, and editors are assigned to stories to ensure a balanced workload and a smooth editing process. After the pitch meeting, staff have one week to focus on writing and reporting. Once rough drafts are complete, the editing phase begins. Each story receives three rounds of edits. Finally, we select the most well-reported and timely stories for online publication and/or inclusion in the print paper.
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This is my second year as a news editor. I am proud of how much I have grown in this role. Above is the pitch sheet from Nov. 4, 2024, and below is the editing list from Dec. 3, 2023, showcasing my progression. This year, I’m excited to take on a more significant role in the editing cycle, particularly by handling the majority of second edits for news!
Example Edit: Clarity and Style
I was the first editor for a story written by sophomore Emily Eckmann. She had several transitions with redundant phrasing. I revised one of her transitions for clarity. I revised two of her transitions to remove redundant phrases and improve the flow of her writing. Additionally, as a paper, we always put the quote attribution after the first sentence of the quote to maintain style. I fixed this along with a few minor grammar issues.
Example Edit: Style and Editorializing
I did the first edit for a story written by sophomore Erin Smearman. Inserting personal opinions into news stories is called editorializing. In this edit, I cut out her editorializing. Additionally, I rephrased some of her transitions, and I made sure her quotes followed the attribution style our paper uses.
Example Edit: Story Restructure
I was the second edit for junior Fairlie Mercer's story on the Pride at Midtown and in the community. While I was reading, I noticed there were essentially two stories combined into one. The first story was a news story about the GSA club being removed at Midtown; The second story was more of a lifestyle/feature story on Pride celebrations in the community. I talked it over with news editor-in-chief, Sierra Pape, and we decided to split it into two stories. Instead of one vaguely related story, they were now two high-quality stories.
Earlier Work Edit
This was the first story I ever wrote in Journalism 1: a feature on Arden's Garden. I completed a full revision of my old work to how I would write it now. Beyond the edits shown to the right, if I were to start this story over again, I would diversify my sources (my sources were all girls). Additionally, I would try to get one more Arden's Garden worker or manager, as I believe they have the most knowledge and best perspective on Arden's Garden. Furthermore, the pictures I took for this story were taken on a cell phone. I would go into Arden's Garden with a camera and take higher quality photos.
Leadership
Leadership in high school journalism is essential for guiding a publication’s vision, fostering teamwork, and upholding ethical standards. At the beginning of every year, we have new staff members who need guidance on pitching, how to write stories and more. I worked with several of the sophomores to make their integration into staff as easy as possible.
"Brennan has been so helpful to me this year. Coming in as a sophomore, it was intimidating being new to the staff, but Brennan was always warm and welcoming to me and everyone else. She helped me with pitches, taught me how to use InDesign and was always willing to help with anything I needed."
Lilly Amato, sophomore sports editor
"Brennan welcomed me onto The Southerner staff by always encouraging me to be my best and to try new things. She taught me how to use InDesign, new strategies for enhancing my writing and to write News Briefs."
Dylan Knight, sophomore news editor
Late Nights!
On the staff, we have 3-5 late nights a cycle where we work after school hours to design, edit and finalize the paper before we print it. Every staff member is expected to attend 2-3 late nights a cycle for an hour each, but I try to attend every time, even if only for a short time. This fall, I would sneak into late night to edit the newspaper between my volleyball games in the Midtown gym. In addition to working on the paper, late nights are the best opportunity to integrate sophomores into the staff and teach them how to use our designing software (InDesign and Photoshop). Here, I was teaching sophomores Alex Brendle and Reese Seinberg how to properly format photos in Photoshop and how to use our templates in InDesign.
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GSPA Presentation: "Reporting on District News"
I had the opportunity to present at GSPA's 2024 Fall Conference: Broadening Perspectives. Alongside my co-news Assistant Managing Editor, Zelda Lerner, I created a 30-minute presentation on reporting district news. We covered sourcing stories, connecting national headlines to local communities and provided practical tips on interviewing, selecting sources and crafting compelling story introductions. This shows my leadership by sharing expertise, guiding peers and helping others improve their reporting skills. Collaborating with my co-editor to create and deliver the presentation also highlights my organizational and communication abilities.
Taking Initiative
Some of my friends sent me the fliers they had received for an event in response to Trump's inauguration. Since no one from the staff was previously planning on going, I volunteered to attend the rally and take photos. I also needed photos for the story I was co-writing on the ceasefire and war between Israel and Hamas. I try to involve myself as much as possible and assist my fellow staff whenever I can, even when it means going out in 20 degree weather for over an hour!
Teambuilding
Teambuilding in student journalism fosters collaboration, ensuring a supportive environment. It is particularly important for the news staff as we cover many in-depth stories in large groups.
Sierra Pape
Election Coverage: "Polling locations across Midtown calm on Election Day"
As this year was the 2024 presidential election, it included a massive undertaking for our staff. This was one of the stories I worked on. We had 10 people go to five different polling locations and report on the happenings of their assigned location. I was assigned the Joan P. Garner Library at Ponce De Leon with Lifestyle editor, Penelope Keenan. We worked together to interview sources and write a short story on our polling location. Each team wrote a portion of the story. Without collaboration, we would not have been able to effectively report on all five polling sites around the Midtown area. While this was just one story, teamwork significantly enhanced the overall quality of election coverage.
In-Depth Story: "Two hurricanes in October damage Southeast, raise climate change concerns"
I collaborated with news editor Zelda Lerner, comment editor Henry Moye and sports editor Julia Barton to craft an in-depth story focused on the effects of Hurricanes Milton and Helene on the Atlanta area. We divided the interviews, reporting and writing responsibilities to produce a thorough, high-quality piece. This experience strengthened cross-section collaboration and enhanced our communication as a team. We would not have been able to achieve nearly as many sources if we had worked individually.
Fairlie Mercer