So you’ve joined The Collegian staff. Now what?
It’s likely you’re going to feel a little intimidated once you receive your printed staff guide and the adviser starts going through expectations. The reality is that the core of this course, 70 percent of your grade, is newspaper production.
Even if you aren’t part of the staff that’s expected to build and produce the newspaper, it means you are learning how to contribute to the churn of content.
With the exception of November for the fall semester and March for the spring, the staff will produce two newspapers a month. You are expected to write six stories, even if not all of them are published in the newspaper.
There is no midterm in MCOM 11 or MCOM 12. The final for both sections is a WordPress-based digital portfolio.
So what do you need to do to be successful?
First: Pitch well
Six times a semester, you will be expected to contribute story ideas. The worst thing to do is show up with only one idea. Why? Because if someone else pitches what you considered to be “your” idea, you have nothing else to pitch. (View a complete list of pitching rules.)
Pitching is first come, first serve. You will need to pitch a story that is relevant to the campus community, even if it isn’t necessarily happening on campus.
You will need to justify the reasons for your pitch. It’s not enough to say you want to do a story about “football.” You have to give the staff reasons why. Do some research. Don’t just regurgitate what’s on the college website.
You are given points based on your pitch. A pitch that gives little insight receives no credit.
Second: Don’t delay reporting
Yes, you’re a college student. Yes, you have other responsibilities. The editors are too. The staff gets it. But this isn’t the class you want to wait until the night before to start your work in.
Once assigned a story, begin reporting immediately. Start asking questions and talking to people. If you run into a program or hit dead ends, see the editor or the adviser immediately.
Don’t send frantic emails and text messages on a Friday night when the story is due Monday morning because you didn’t start your reporting early enough. Failure to turn in a story on time results in missed points that can’t be made up.
Third: Don’t be afraid to have a conversation
Or conversations with your editors, the editor in chief or your adviser. Not asking for help when you are challenged is not a way to succeed. Everyone in MCOM 12 has had this course for at least one semester. Your adviser has led this newspaper staff since Fall 2010.
If you wait until the last minute to say you needed help, we can’t help you navigate the process.
Fourth: Understand interviewing is always nerve wracking
It’s not just you. Journalists who’ve been in the profession for 10-plus years still get nervous from time to time when cold approaching people.
You’re likely used to communicating via text message, social media or email. We are a society that doesn’t talk to one another. This course requires you talk to people. Take a deep breath, compose yourself and know it is OK.
Fifth: Know we all start somewhere
This style of writing is different than an English course. The expectation is that you let your sources speak, while suppressing your own voice. You don’t matter in newswriting. The story content does.
You may spend half the semester formatting quotes wrong. Or using lead up sentences for your quotes. Or composing ridiculously long paragraphs. That will be corrected over time.
If your first story is kicked back with content moved around, words crossed out and lots of red error marks that doesn’t mean you’ll fail the class. As long as your writing elevates from one issue to the next, you’ll be fine. Work on improving incrementally.
Sixth: Previous experience isn’t always applicable
So you were on your high school newspaper staff? Or you did some work for a local newsletter? Or you have your own blog?
That’s amazing. But it doesn’t mean you know everything there is to know about journalism. An “A” in a high school journalism course doesn’t always translate to an “A” at the college level. A story that your newsletter editor deemed “acceptable” may not be at this level. All those “I” mentions on your blog, won’t necessarily work here.
Don’t be offended if you’re told you need to get better.
Seventh: Everyone needs an editor
Even college professors. Don’t hang on to words. Don’t fight to put something in a story just because it makes YOU sound good.
Newswriting, as mentioned before, needs to be egoless. There is no YOU involved outside of the reporting you do. Your editors are editing to serve the readers. You are writing to serve the readers.
If that means we can make a sentence that’s 50 words into one that’s 20 while accomplishing the same thing, we’re going to do it.
Eighth: Be active in the process
Every other Tuesday we edit stories. We work as quickly as we can (very similar to a real-world environment) to get content moved through the process. Your editors will ask you for changes. They’ll ask you to do additional reporting.
You have until 11 a.m. on Wednesday to those edits in without deeply impacting the editing process.
Don’t blame your editor if your story gets pulled from the page because YOU didn’t do the work. It’s your responsibility to be active in the process and be a present, productive member of this course.
Ninth: Understand the hierarchy, but don’t feel excluded
Often times, your adviser or your editors get accused of “playing favorites.”
Your adviser’s favorite line is: “My favorite student is the one who turns in their story first.”
You’ll notice students who’ve been around longer have deeper connections to one another and the class. They’ll seem to joke around the the adviser better. Please, feel comfortable joining in the conversation. Stick around in lab for a bit. You’re welcome to spend time in Shima 203/204 to use the machines or do other work as long as the lab is open (See lab rules for more on this.).
You’ll get out of this experience what you put in. The adviser is not off limits. Your editors are not off limits. It’s OK to talk to us.