During our visit to Republic Media, I was surprised to see how calm the newsroom was. The hectic atmosphere of my high school publications class seems like chaos compared to the collected Republic space. I'd like to attribute it to the 55 minutes of furious work the students complete in an hour -- but of course that's not always the case.
It was also interesting so see how professionals decorate their space like the high school journalists love to do. Guess it's not really a newsroom without goofy posters, altered photos and piles of candy. I would love to have a wall of tearable puns and smiles to take somewhere in my classroom. Must remember to do those...
The budget meeting was an inspiration. Just as Steve recommended in the session on story ideas, you could tell the editors came in with what they thought was the essential news of the day. No crazy brainstorming of the entire group and no one agreeing on topics until the bell rings. I am excited to bring that style of budgeting to my editors, and also utilize the projection board to type up the ideas so there is a better record of story ideas. We put stories on our white board, and if a decent idea isn't used for the current issue it's eventually erased and usually forgotten.
Watching the KNPX news tonight was fun because many of the story ideas they discussed during the budget meeting were included in the coverage. Nice to see how the pros do it.
Julie Fales
SM South
Overland Park, Kan.
The meeting we saw was truly relaxed it seemed. It was the kind of "comfort" that we want in the room. But I believe that when we have these kind of news meetings with our staffs, we must have some ENERGY! What's a way you could have this type of meeting, and bring some energy and creativity to your staff?
ReplyDeleteI had the same surprise at the calm atmosphere of the news room! It seems like during the time we were there, everyone spoke in hushed tones and were so focused. It's a far cry from the YouTube-blasting, screaming-across-the-room atmosphere in my classroom. I'm not sure if that means that students will get a wake-up call when they enter the real world, or that the "real world" will get a wake-up call when it gets our students. It definitely seems like a generation gap.
ReplyDeleteJulieanne McClain
Rutherford B. Hayes High School
Delaware, Ohio