The tour of the Republic Media building was every high school journalism teacher’s dream field trip. The E. Van Buren St. location is stately and impressive, just the venue where most of us would love to work—or to see our students eventually land a job.
The newly converted news suite on the eighth floor now blends all platforms of late-breaking news. A central news desk is strategically stationed between the print and broadcast areas for efficiency and news sharing. On one side, print designers for the Arizona Republic laid out pages; on the other, anchors for 12 News (KPNX-TV) perfected their scripts.
On the tenth floor, the 11 a.m. newspaper budget meeting was enlightening; it put into a professional context everything we try to do in our high school journalism classroom.
The 1 A editor, Josh Susong, ran the meeting and asked each section editor to share stories for the next edition, including valley and state, business, sports, features, metro, and photography.
What ran on the Saturday front page would depend on the available art, Susong told the editors.
The Wallow fires, although still significant and news worthy, have been ravaging the area for nearly two weeks.
“How does a really compelling wildfire image play on day 16 of the fire?” he asked.
Anxious to see the next day's paper, I hurried to the hotel newsstand this morning.
What led 1A on the Saturday, June 18?
The wildfires.
Lucinda Hogentogler
Central York High School
York, Pa.
This article shows how a hint of advice given from Jim Trotter, Associated Press West Region Enterprise Editor, can positively influence writing. Trotter encourages writers to "attempt to take the reader along for the ride." The author of this article has successfully used a narrative thread to engage the reader all the way to the newsstand. It is this type of direct connection that adds a sense of vitality to what could have been otherwise misconstrued as simply lifeless words.
ReplyDeleteAngelique McClain
Dixie Hollins High School
St. Petersburg, Fla.