November Issue of School Newspaper

Here is our first print issue of the newspaper.

http://warriorledger.org

Scroll down to lower left side of screen and click to download the pdf.

I'm pretty happy with it, but it didn't go off without some kinks. Since I figure I can find a sympathetic ear/eye among my kin, I think I'll tell you what went wrong. That way I'll be motivated to correct them.

So here is my list of kinks and ways I plan to fix them:

Kink 1 - Photographers didn't take many photographs. With a few exceptions, our photo staff did the bare minimum and many stories were left without art. Next issue I plan to make the writer responsible for photos and graphics for his/her article. The writer will give instructions for the photographer or will take the photos him/herself.

Kink 2 - Saturday session because articles were late. Yuck. We did about six hours of work on Saturday because students didn't turn in their articles on time. Next issue I am evil Mr. Wessman and will lower grades mercilessly.

Kink 3 - One Co-Editor in Chief hated the issue. In an interesting turn of events, on the day of distribution we kind of debriefed on the paper. One of the Co-Editors in Chief was writing phrases like "I hate this damn class" and "Boring" and "This paper is for stupid people" all over the edition. Puzzled, I took her out of the class for a walk and she proceeded to vent about how horrible and juvenile the paper was.

Of course I asked why she had problems NOW of all times, and encouraged her to actually attend after school editing sessions and planning meetings to help her peers produce a "better" paper. In the end, I think I got her buy-in. At the root of the problem is that she has been in journalism every year of her high school career and this year has had to adjust to my style.

Congratulate me on holding my tongue and avoiding saying something I might have regretted. Trust me, it wasn't easy. Next issue she will be more involved in the planning process so she can't hate the end result. Or at least will blame herself.

Kink 4 - One of my best writers wrote an opinion piece about living in Utah (she's originally from Boston). Needless to say, she ruffled a few feathers and her cell number got out. She has changed her number, but is certainly catching some heat at school. While the hubub will likely calm down after a couple of days, I'm a little concerned that she feels threatened.

Fortunately, she has a thick skin and is kind of amused at the controversy. The only change I'll make for next issue to address this problem is to encourage my opinion writers to make a concession or two to the opposing point of view. That's better writing anyway.

Overall, the positives outweighed the negatives. The paper has generated some good discussion among the student body and everyone has read it. I'm amazed that even though kids are so connected to the Internet and to their friends through technology, the newspaper generates so much debate and discussion. Perhaps the fact that the paper is tangible, has undergone an editing process, and is given out at school legitimizes the stories and opinions the way the Internet cannot.