Editing, Leadership
and Team Building

Reflection:

Leadership is about leaving your mark on those who follow behind you.

My definition of being a good leader is being selfless, focusing on preparing those who follow in your footsteps, and setting an example by establishing good habits and holding others accountable. Through building this program and creating good relationships with professionals, I’ve learned and gained leadership traits I hope cement my legacy as a student journalist at Bridgeland and in Texas.

Editing

At Bridgeland Student Media, we host the online site through School Newspapers Online and use the SNO platform, Flow, for staff management. Stories are written in Google Docs and we use Google’s commenting feature to share edits on online and magazine stories.

Editing, it’s the first thing I do whenever I get to class, or whenever a story is submitted to me. I’m the second pair of eyes to look at the story after the section editor, and I make sure the article flows well and stays on topic throughout the entire piece. 

Once the editor-in-chief and adviser approve the article, it’s my responsibility to get it on the site at the right time. First thing is to reread the article one last time to make sure everything is grammatically correct and make any last minute changes. After that, each article needs to have a cover image, and staffers do a good job of creating those. Lastly, there needs to be some sort of multimedia component inside the story so something grabs the reader's attention and keeps them engaged throughout the article.

Click on the images below to see examples of editing.

Tommy’s Takeaways from Editing:

• Studying and using AP Style in corrections.

• How to provide negative feedback in a positive and constructive manner.

• Learning skills for my own writing based off of peers’ style.

Leadership

Coming into my senior year on the heels of a six-month summer vacation because of COVID, I wasn’t satisfied with the rate of production within the newspaper program.

So I created a plan. 

Having read online newspapers and gathering advice from colleagues at media outlets, the common factor was a beat system. 

In the beat system, every writer on staff is assigned to one or more subcategories to create content. This way, staffers are able to focus on their own sections of the publication, leading to the maximum amount of content in production. Alongside that, it calls for a variety of content being published, as stories can be spread out so not only sports stories or entertainment stories are being published. This helps to balance the coverage. 

So far this year, it’s been an incredible success. We’ve seen our desired goal of consistent production and it’s had a great balance as well. Brainstorming sessions have provided us with plenty of original ideas, and staffers genuinely enjoy writing and producing their own content.

Tommy’s Takeaways from Leadership:

• Communicating with staff members via Zoom.

• Coordinating content with editors and adviser during the pandemic.

• Establishing a personal style of leadership.

Team Building

The biggest responsibility I have in a leadership role is making sure the people who will have my position after graduation are prepared for the challenge. 

Going all the way to middle school, it’s important the next generation of journalists understand the importance of their role in society. How reporting accurate and reliable information is the most crucial part of working in the media industry. 

I’ve had the opportunity to do that by going back to my middle school and speaking with the media students.

I reminded them how important they are. It isn’t an easy job, but someone has to do it, and they’ve done it well. After telling some stories about where the job area could take them, I could see a bit more light in their eyes. I can only hope I was able to spark some inspiration. 

Within my school, I’ve focused on helping young journalists who want to work in the sports industry. Millan Jain, Haylie Stum, and Ashton Lux blew me away from the beginning with the amount of raw talent they have. As newcomers who had little to no experience, they reminded me a lot of myself when I started out. I’ve worked to get them the best possible opportunities they can have for their future. 

Tommy’s Takeaways from Team Building:

• Emphasizing keeping in contact with staff members who learn from home.

• Developing personal friendships outside of the classroom with students.

• Combining professionalism with having a good time working.