LEADERSHIP AND TEAM BUILDING

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PASSION PALOOZA

I gave a presentation once each semester to the staff about working with passion. After a number of people said to staffers that they were avoiding "hard" editors, I used this presentation to explain why edits are important and should be wanted. A few things I covered were being genuinely curious, caring about every subject one covers, the power of someone with passion in their work. Below is a gallery of the slides in the presentation.

BRAINSTORMS

At the beginning of each cycle, I lead a brainstorm with the class to choose story ideas, come up with potential angles and identify sources. This form of conversational brainstorm with all writers is beneficial because it allows everyone to contribute to others' stories and hear various ideas. Because we frequently have new staff members, I work on bringing new writers into the conversations, helping them to be more comfortable with open conversation in the journalism room.

RECOGNITION

This year as Head Copy Editor I started recapping each issue after the paper is finished. In recapping the two-week cycle, I recognize exemplary journalists for strong writing, researching, early drafts and taking on challenging edits. The purpose of recognition is to inspire staffers to continue improving their skills and pushing themselves to dig deeper and work harder. Since doing this, multiple new staffers have stepped up and taken on hefty stories. This picture is taken from my perspective of the room of 44 staff members I help lead.

The Harbinger has approximately 80 staff members. While we don't struggle with being under-staffed, our large staff comes with challenges such as motivating everyone. I have made efforts to change that before each class period and throughout the newspaper process.