Editing, Leadership & Team-building
When I first joined the ODYSSEY, I was afraid to even speak to older members of the ODYSSEY. Over my years in the ODYSSEY, I've grown in confidence, and am now able to stand at the front of a room presenting, lead meetings, and give self-assured edits. As a leader and an editor, my highest goal is to give my staffers the tools and the space to achieve that same kind of growth, and to feel seen and appreciated. As an editor, I try to keep the same mindset, and give writers the space to find their own style, so that they won't just correct something once, but know not to do it the next time. I try my hardest to form bonds with all of my staffers and other people on staff, and to try and draw them out of their shells and give them more confidence.
Editing/approving website stories
One of my primary responsibilities is updating our website daily. I handle all of our website stories, personally editing and approving everything that goes on our website, about 75 stories from mid-September to mid-December. Our Menu Editor and Beat Editor are the first eyes on web stories, and then I get involved at various stages in the process, depending on the story, and edit/work with the writer to get it to final quality. I keep track of all stories that are currently in the process of writing/editing with a spreadsheet, which you can see by clicking on the image.
Editing staffer’s work as the News Editor
One of my primary responsibilities as the News Editor was editing my staffer’s work. At the rough draft stage of the magazine, I conferenced with them about their work, and throughout the magazine process I continued to check-in on and edit their work. When I’m editing, I focus on the staffer’s vision for the story, and helping to guide them to the best version of their own work, instead of just editing it to what I think it should be.
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* name omitted
Editing the final magazine
At the final stage of the magazine cycle, I look over and edit the magazine, looking for AP style and copy-edit mistakes, design flaws, inconsistencies and inaccuracies. This is a compiled document of edits that I contributed to.
Publishing staffers
I have a goal of getting at least 75% of the staff published on the website every month. I believe that everyone should be able to see their work published and their hard work pay off, and that it is an important way to build up staffer’s confidence. With my spreadsheet, I keep track of who has been published each month, and what potential stories I could push along to get a higher number of writers published. If there are staffers who I think particularly need some encouragement or a pick-me-up, I will make getting something of theirs published a priority.
Teaching how to edit
I have helped to teach our new editors how to edit through leadership seminars and workshops. This screenshot is from an editing simulation we did with the new editors, where they edited a news brief, and gave them feedback on the edits. I work with them on their edits, and go through stories with them to offer feedback together.
Team-building
Team-building is an important part of being a leader, so your team can work cohesively in and out of the workplace. I make efforts to meet up with my team outside of the classroom, such as meeting up to work at a boba place. This is a picture of me at our Friendsgiving, an annual potluck we have.
Meetings -- Digital Team, Cabinet, and Editorial Board
I create the agendas for Digital Staff meetings on Monday mornings and help to lead them, being sure to keep them focused and productive, so that the staff knows what to expect and what to work on over the coming week. In Cabinet meetings, I collaborate to create the agenda with the rest of the Cabinet, with the expectation that I will lead the conversation on the agenda items I add. I also help to lead the Editorial Board meetings when necessary, such as when the Editor-In-Chief is unable to. One of my duties is to take minutes during meetings, so during any meeting I am a part of, formal or informal, I create a Google Document and take notes on what people share and what important next steps are, to share out with everyone present.
Human resources
As a managing editor, one of my jobs is to maintain a positive and productive workroom for my staff and for the staff as a whole. I manage conflict, check-in about mental health, have conversations about productivity and work, and deal with any issues that come up at any point. I have conversations with all members of my staff at different points during the year about how they're doing, what they need, and what they need to do doing forward.
Mentorship
I have worked hard to train members of the Digital Staff, including our Beat Editor, Menu Editor, and Web Master, working with them through practicing edits and conferences, and showing them the ropes of how I do my responsibilities. I have also worked closely with some of our other younger staff members, working with them on stories, sitting with them during class time, and making an effort to start conversations with them. I have focused these efforts especially on quieter students and students that I am worried are not getting the attention they need elsewhere. I have taken younger students, including Journalism I students, with me on interviews or when covering events.
Peer evaluations
As one of the two managing editors, one of my major responsibilities is peer evaluations. At the end of every cycle, each staffer writes an evaluation of themselves, their editor, the other members of their staff, and the Editors-In-Chief. I worked with the Print Managing Editor to compile all of the evaluations into a list of glows and grows for each staff member, which we then used to hold conferences with each member of the staff to talk to them about how they feel they did that cycle, what they can improve on, and what we can do to help them.
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Editor's Journal
Every month, I write an Ed-Journal looking back over that past month and how my staff and I functioned. This allows me to reflect on what I’ve done well and what I can do better. This Editor's journal was written at the end of the first semester, looking back at how I'd done, and reflecting on how I could better hold my staffers accountable and gain more confidence as an editor. Click on the picture to view the document.