INTERNSHIP: Episode I

I'm into my second week as an intern at The Kansas City Star. I work in the Neighborhood News section serving Wyandotte & Leavenworth counties.

My friend, Josh, also serves as an intern in the Neighborhood News section though he works in several bureaus in the Johnson County area. Our internships, through our college's journalism department, don't officially start until the summer session begins June 6 however he's already gotten some work published.

I, on the other hand, had my first assignment exiled to the editing Phantom Zone from which copy rarely returns.

This summer interns will struggle to find their place in newsrooms and we could use some guidance. However, we realize sometimes its up to us to teach ourselves.

Well, if anything, I'm resourceful.

AWARD: Best in Show

Months of hard work paid off for my staff when The Campus Ledger won the Associated Collegiate Press "Best in Show" award for 2004.

It was the first major award the paper had won in years and proudly served as editor in chief.

TIME OUT: Falling Stars

Forget Jayson Blair, the real danger to the newsroom comes from seasoned journalists.

According to the Detroit Free Press, sports columnist and newsroom superstar, Mitch Albom, and other columnists for Free Press wrote several columns without properly attributing sources to other media, writing about events they never attended and fabricating events.

A few lessons from the latest journalism controversy:

• JOUR 122 - We know columns are not news or features but we should hold them to the same basic journalism standards as the rest of the paper. Also, sports gets away with a lot we don't tolerate in other sections of the paper. A sports round up is not a story. It is an extended sports brief. Sports uses clichés and inserts opinion. Yet, for some reason we make exceptions for this section based upon what we think readers want. Sports news should hold the same standard as a regular news. Sports features should be treated like a regular feature. And sports columns should meet the requirements of columns, commentaries and editorials on the opinon page.
• "Lifting" quotes is stealing - Just because they are words and not $20 bills doesn't mean we should excuse the practice.
• Attribute, attribute, attribute - I used to feel guilty about being an attribution tyrant by insisting reporters attribute information not commonly known fact by the reader. But this year I've come to embrace my inner tyrant and I'm glad we emphasize attributions.
• Be a skeptical editor - Ask the reporter where he or she found the information. If you don't see him or her working off notes or off a recorded interview, ask to see or hear the information. Newsroom superstars are not above the editing process or the copy desk. Experimenting with a new style is great. But a reporter must know the rules in order to creatively break them.
• Feed off feedback - The learning lab/newsroom allows us to examine ourselves (though we need to do a better job of soliciting reader feedback). Newsroom culture can help keep refocus renegade journalists while coaching reinforces good reporting. Our work with student journalists doesn't just produce a good product, it produces good reporters.
• Know and enforce ethics - A clear and enforceable code of ethics helps address these kinds of issues. My campus paper, The Campus Ledger, has an effective code of ethics as it is based on professional standards, and our college's personel policies and the student code of conduct.
• Codify unwritten rules - As our campus papers progress by incorporating professional standards, we need to evaluate, eliminate or codify unwritten rules and standing policies especially for situations like getting quotes from a televised press conference or quotes making the media roundtables that cannot be attributed to the original source (though who wants to use recycled quotes?).
• Peer review - Honor the integrity of the newsroom and respect the reporter in question by establish a formal process for reviewing situations like this. Don't wait until you have a kitchen fire to learn how to use a fire extinguisher.
• Newspapers aren't textbooks - We learn from reading and modeling good writers but when something doesn't sound right, go back to your journalism roots and verify. As we adapt good journalism from news media, learn how to spot and avoid bad journalism.
• As journalists our words are our currency - And thanks to some journalistic jackasses of late, the reader's trust costs more everyday.

I've come to the conclusion that the Free Press, a very well respected news organization, is screwed up. But they're screwed up in a way most news organizations are.

Fixated on the product and catering to newsroom superstars, managers ignore -- or worse, countermand-- procedures set in place to ensure quality.

As writing coach and an award-winning collgiate journalist including Journalist of the Year, I've had my ass kissed this year. But I've also had it kicked when I didn't produce to the minimum standard.

No one is above an edit.

AWARD: Journalist of the Year

From a campus press release:

Miguel Morales, managing editor for The Campus Ledger, was named College Journalist of the Year by the Kansas Associated Collegiate Press at its convention in Wichita April 10-11.

The paper also won 19 individual awards.

Morales has worked as reporter, writing coach and editor-in-chief for The Ledger.

“I always knew one person could make a difference. It’s encouraging to know that sometimes that one person gets recognition,” Morales said.

In addition to Journalist of the Year for two-year schools in Kansas, for which he won a plaque and $250, Morales also won five individual awards.

Writers from The Ledger swept the feature category as the paper won first, second and third place. The Ledger received a bronze medal in the overall category. Other individual winners include:

• First place – Miguel Morales, editorial writing; Shanxi Upsdell, feature writing; Aaron Whitebread, sports column writing
• Second Place – Miguel Morales, feature writing and headline writing Kevin Mimms, editorial writing
• Third Place – Miguel Morales, feature writing; Joshua Seiden, sports column writing; Dane Talley, news writing
• Honorable Mention – Miguel Morales, editorial writing;Lisa Ash, single ad design; Robert Heishman, news photography; Kevin Mimms, sports feature writing; Shanxi Upsdell, column writing; Aaron Whitebread, sports column writing

TIME OUT: Helping Word People

My adviser often reminds us when planning a story that the picture people need to talk to the word people.

Newsroom leaders must challenge the word people to think visually. Widen the story-planning stage from editor and reporter to include designers, photographers, copy desk, and web.

Ron Reason’s article, “Ten tips for visual thinking for writers and editors”provides simple advice on how we can incorporate visual thinking into our everyday newsroom conversations and meetings.

It's true, picture people and word people can coexist in newsrooms.

Another resource, “Thinking visually -- tips for writers from a designer, an artist and two photographers,” shows word people the value of visualizing the story, gathering information for graphic reporting and communicating with picture people.

Perhaps staff members don’t submit photo requests to the photo editor because they don’t know what the story is. In helping the word people visualize the story, we help them defining it. This allow them convey the story in terms picture people understand because unlike word people, picture people already think visually.

When it comes to layout and design staff members can find great examples in the trade papers we receive from other colleges. Staff members can also explore the website for the Society for News Design. This professional journalism organization, offers tips, a listserve, award-winning designs, and an Ask a Designer email submission form. SND also offers student memberships.

Looking at trade papers, we notice a common mistakes shared by the collegiate press. The biggest being that campus papers choose between style and substance. Sadly, this mistake follows the newsroom all year.

A combined approach to narrative storytelling and visual thinking will lead us away from that trap and we'll draw readers and critics into our print and online editions.