Editing, Team Building and Leadership
AP Style Tips and Tricks
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"I love dogs," Tworek said. "My mom wanted us to have dogs while growing up."
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No Oxford comma
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spaces surrounding em dashes
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percents use the symbol (i.e. 100%)
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Most states are abbreviated (i.e. Mich.)
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Big cities don't need to have the State name (i.e. New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles)
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When referring to the State in general, spell it out
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a.m. or p.m. when using times, never "o'clock"
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U.S. or USA
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Months in dates are abbreviated except March, April, May, June, and July (i.e. Oct. 23, 2019)
Editing
Editing is one of the most important parts in writing and journalism. After we put each edition together, my fellow co-editors and I equally divide the magazine and copy edit. This process can be therapeutic, and it is a great way to put finishing touches on a piece. When copy editing, it is important to only make small grammatical changes, as the larger edits come before. Usually when copy editing, I make sure to look for basic grammar rules and think back to my AP Style Tips and Tricks; these rules usually correspond with what our staff members miss the most when writing.
Before copy editing, though, I am accustomed to making larger edits on articles while they are still in the beginning phases. It is not unusual for me or another staff member to write up to four or five drafts of an article. When I edit, I usually try to look at the structure of someone's article, like if it is conveying a certain message and if it follows the typical structure for the type of article it is. For example, I tend to see if someone's feature has a compelling lead that starts in a moment.
Team Building
Some of my favorite memories from high school revolve around The Communicator. Although we tend to submerge ourselves in work everyday, we try to find times to create fun bonding opportunities. For example, during the first semester of my junior year, we sent out two editions before Thanksgiving in order to bring both to national judging. In between these editions, we decided that, as a staff, we were feeling a bit burnt out. We decided to take a day trip to a local corn maze to celebrate producing and distributing our first edition. We walked the corn maze together, fed the petting zoo animals and, of course, got cider and donuts to share. We try to plan other fun annual events, like our holiday party and final banquet.
My friends and I at Blast Corn Maze after we sent our first edition of the 2019-2020 school year to the printer. We decided to set up an optional bonding event on the weekend so we could reset and prepare for four more editions worth of hard work.
Leadership
This is currently my second year a part of the editorial staff for The Communicator. As one of the four editors-in-chief for our newsmagazine, my leadership manifests itself into many different forms. For example, I often lead the class through design and writing tutorials or exercises. Each year, we create new design elements and editing systems for the magazine; we must work together with our staff to figure out how to best implement these strategies, which often leads to a lot of revision. During our multiple-hour productions, I am always available to help younger staff members with a page design, provide InDesign tricks or edit an article.
The way I best present my leadership, though, is through example. By dedicating myself to truthful and thorough reporting, I hope that my peers will also see the value in youth journalism. I have worked tirelessly to create community in my area and to amplify marginalized voices; from this, I have noticed that my peers have started to do the same.
This is our all-staff picture after we won the 2019 NSPA Newsmagazine Pacemaker in Washington D.C. This is the highest award in national youth journalism, and it was the most rewarding feeling to hear the name of our publication called in the conference hall. Our entire staff was invited to receive our award, which is where this chaotic picture was taken. This was such a special experiences, especially because I got to share my love and pride for my publication with my peers and adviser.
Often, as an editor-in-chief, most of my time is spent devising a way to ethically guide our publication. By holding myself to the highest standard of truthful reporting, I then hold my peers and publication to the same standard. Additionally, a lot of my time outside our production hours is discussing with my co-editors what the general organization of each edition will be. We spend a lot of time discussing fonts, drop caps and other design elements. Overall, my long-term goal as an editor is to provide a platform for my peers to find their voices, cover the issues that matter most to them and create a team of strong designers that can best lead our reputable publication to new heights for the current staff and future generations.
My identification badge from the 2019 National Scholastic Press Association conference in Washington D.C. We were given "Pacemaker Finalist" ribbons to put on our badges during the conference. As editors of the magazine, we also were given the opportunity to participate in critiques with professional designers, like ones from Time Magazine and The Washington Post.
These are the five editions I helped lead during my first year as editor-in-chief.
