Although graduation is a week away, I think it's safe to say that The Daily Mississippian is now under new management.
Despite the fact that the incoming editorial staff has been working diligently over the past two weeks to settle into our new positions, the paper won't "officially" roll into our hands until May 27, 2008.
As Campus News Editor for the summer, I am truly experiencing a myriad of emotions. Considering I only began writing for The DM as a staff reporter four months ago, acquiring this position is both exciting and a bit overwhelming.
Let's face it; the University of Mississippi is approaching one of the most exciting years in its history. Being an Ole Miss student in the 2008-09 school year will be an amazing privilege.
Because of this, it is my personal goal to provide relevant news that accurately reflects the concerns and interests of every Ole Miss student and faculty member.
I want to know what the Ole Miss community cares about. I want to provide an outlet to explore and possibly resolve issues that truly matter to Ole Miss students and faculty members.
However, I am only one woman and there is no way I can possibly know about everything happening around here. The staff of The Daily Mississippian is here to serve YOU. So, I encourage everyone to share your ideas for what you would like to see in the campus news section in the upcoming months by sending me an email at thedmnews@gmail.com.
With that said, I wish everyone the best of luck during Finals Week. For those of you remaining in the Ole Miss community during the summer, keep an eye out for some pretty incredible changes to The DM and TheDMOnline.com.
For those returning in the fall, have a terrific summer. We'll be here when you get back.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
The DM Online gets a facelift
Let's be honest: TheDMOnline.com is ugly. The obnoxious red, the silly globe graphic, the novelty font in the main logo... It certainly doesn't reflect The Daily Mississippian or its content. Though the print and online versions are two different types of media and have different readerships, they should still coordinate. So a few months ago I made a new design and sent it over to College Publisher, our content management system, and today I received word that it's ready to go.
The new site is based in blue and white instead the overbearing red and blue of the current site. It also features an updated logo and a few font changes, but it's still the site you know how to use and it still functions the same way. We're improving other aspects as well, but we have to take baby steps with the web site — unlike with a newspaper redesign, there is a whole engine running behind the web site, and not many people speak its language.
I hope the updated design of The DM Online now better reflects the print version of the newspaper and the content of the site. I certainly feel that it's a step in the right direction of what The DM Online can and will eventually become.
The new site is based in blue and white instead the overbearing red and blue of the current site. It also features an updated logo and a few font changes, but it's still the site you know how to use and it still functions the same way. We're improving other aspects as well, but we have to take baby steps with the web site — unlike with a newspaper redesign, there is a whole engine running behind the web site, and not many people speak its language.
I hope the updated design of The DM Online now better reflects the print version of the newspaper and the content of the site. I certainly feel that it's a step in the right direction of what The DM Online can and will eventually become.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
An unknown future?
It seems like everything I read that concerns the world of journalism is focused on one thing: the future of print. Every blogger (including myself, ironically), every professor, every newscaster, every reporter: it seems like they all have one thing on the brain. And even if it isn't a prominent thought, I can't say it isn't something I often dwell on. After all, the newspaper is something every American citizen knows well and expects to see in his or her everyday life. But what about the day when the newspaper just doesn't come?
Editor Marti Covington and I were casually discussing the future of print at dinner earlier tonight and both came to similar epiphanies: why do we care so much about the future of print? While it's a huge concern and the thought of hundreds of my potential employers ceasing to print physical copies of their newspapers is scary, I have no fear that journalism will not continue to grow and thrive. When the Internet was invented and began to shape itself into what we know it as today, the world of journalism knew it was in for a big change. But why is that such a scary thing? Why is change so hard for people, namely the journalists themselves, to accept and even embrace?
Apple released the iPhone in the summer of 2007, the first phone with a "real" Internet browser on it. You don't just get the baby Internet that most mobile phones know, but you get the real deal. When I load up the New York Times on the iPhone, it's the same version I see when I access it from my MacBook. And if I can do that in 2007 (and now 2008), how will I be accessing NYTimes.com in 2015? Or 2030?
When I first began studying journalism, I was totally turned off by the idea of online journalism. Publishing my work somewhere that wasn't a physical, printed version of a newspaper or magazine wasn't anything I was interested in doing. Now, three years later, I'm finally beginning to warm up to it. I won't say I prefer it — yet — but I can see myself getting to that point soon. After all, what's not to like? Publishing online is instant, quickly correctable and easy to update. Also, it's nowhere near as harmful to the environment as printing and disposing of a newspaper, the shipping is cheap (just a monthly ISP bill) and wireless and the space is unlimited. Why don't we think it's too good to be true?
Thinking about the process of The DM, where the writers and photographers submit their assignments by 4 p.m. and 11 hours later Marti is sending a completed newspaper to the printer on Jackson Ave., is almost sickening because of the amount of time and effort it takes. But what if we didn't have a newspaper to print, rather just the web site from which you accessed this blog? What if we didn't have a 3 a.m. deadline for the printer and were able to publish the stories as they were turned in randomly throughout the day? What if we didn't have to spend 8 hours coming up with, implementing and then tweaking the design of the paper, just to come back the next day and do it again? Would it make our jobs easier and allow us to be on a more normal sleep schedule? I can't help but wonder.
In the end, I want print to stick around and I think it will, at least for a while. However, I won't be surprised the day the New York Times or the Washington Post stops printing weekday editions of their papers to focus on the Saturday and Sunday print versions while updating the web sites with their normal news coverage. And I won't be surprised when a device that downloads the morning online editions of my favorite newspapers so I can flip through them at my breakfast table is invented to replace the usually paperboy version.
Actually thinking about a feasible future for online journalism makes it much less scary than fretting about it all the time. I think it's something that could happen soon, that will happen eventually, and that we'll have to deal with. And though the Internet is still something new, shiny and somewhat scary to most of the old farts in the current media world, for my generation it's just the Internet. It revolutionized the way we do everything in life, and while it's odd that the journalism world is so behind, I have to think that eventually it will catch up with the Internet (if the Internet doesn't catch up with it first, that is).
So as I begin to search for jobs for after graduation in May, I'm not shying away from the online positions as I once thought and said I would. And while I suppose everyone will continue reading, writing and discussing the "demise" of print, I can't help but thinking a little vocabulary changing isn't in order here. Perhaps it's not the demise at all, but the reinvention, and hopefully the reinvigoration, of journalism and it's journalists. And maybe that's not such a bad thing.
Check back with me in 2015 or 2030 and I'll let you know.
Editor Marti Covington and I were casually discussing the future of print at dinner earlier tonight and both came to similar epiphanies: why do we care so much about the future of print? While it's a huge concern and the thought of hundreds of my potential employers ceasing to print physical copies of their newspapers is scary, I have no fear that journalism will not continue to grow and thrive. When the Internet was invented and began to shape itself into what we know it as today, the world of journalism knew it was in for a big change. But why is that such a scary thing? Why is change so hard for people, namely the journalists themselves, to accept and even embrace?
Apple released the iPhone in the summer of 2007, the first phone with a "real" Internet browser on it. You don't just get the baby Internet that most mobile phones know, but you get the real deal. When I load up the New York Times on the iPhone, it's the same version I see when I access it from my MacBook. And if I can do that in 2007 (and now 2008), how will I be accessing NYTimes.com in 2015? Or 2030?
When I first began studying journalism, I was totally turned off by the idea of online journalism. Publishing my work somewhere that wasn't a physical, printed version of a newspaper or magazine wasn't anything I was interested in doing. Now, three years later, I'm finally beginning to warm up to it. I won't say I prefer it — yet — but I can see myself getting to that point soon. After all, what's not to like? Publishing online is instant, quickly correctable and easy to update. Also, it's nowhere near as harmful to the environment as printing and disposing of a newspaper, the shipping is cheap (just a monthly ISP bill) and wireless and the space is unlimited. Why don't we think it's too good to be true?
Thinking about the process of The DM, where the writers and photographers submit their assignments by 4 p.m. and 11 hours later Marti is sending a completed newspaper to the printer on Jackson Ave., is almost sickening because of the amount of time and effort it takes. But what if we didn't have a newspaper to print, rather just the web site from which you accessed this blog? What if we didn't have a 3 a.m. deadline for the printer and were able to publish the stories as they were turned in randomly throughout the day? What if we didn't have to spend 8 hours coming up with, implementing and then tweaking the design of the paper, just to come back the next day and do it again? Would it make our jobs easier and allow us to be on a more normal sleep schedule? I can't help but wonder.
In the end, I want print to stick around and I think it will, at least for a while. However, I won't be surprised the day the New York Times or the Washington Post stops printing weekday editions of their papers to focus on the Saturday and Sunday print versions while updating the web sites with their normal news coverage. And I won't be surprised when a device that downloads the morning online editions of my favorite newspapers so I can flip through them at my breakfast table is invented to replace the usually paperboy version.
Actually thinking about a feasible future for online journalism makes it much less scary than fretting about it all the time. I think it's something that could happen soon, that will happen eventually, and that we'll have to deal with. And though the Internet is still something new, shiny and somewhat scary to most of the old farts in the current media world, for my generation it's just the Internet. It revolutionized the way we do everything in life, and while it's odd that the journalism world is so behind, I have to think that eventually it will catch up with the Internet (if the Internet doesn't catch up with it first, that is).
So as I begin to search for jobs for after graduation in May, I'm not shying away from the online positions as I once thought and said I would. And while I suppose everyone will continue reading, writing and discussing the "demise" of print, I can't help but thinking a little vocabulary changing isn't in order here. Perhaps it's not the demise at all, but the reinvention, and hopefully the reinvigoration, of journalism and it's journalists. And maybe that's not such a bad thing.
Check back with me in 2015 or 2030 and I'll let you know.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Negatives into positives
Since the spring semester started about two weeks ago, I have considered quitting or taking a lengthy sabbatical from my job as editor of The Daily Mississippian approximately 1,029, 890, 145, 502.662 times. It hasn't been that I don't love my job, my staff or the newspaper itself. Rather, I have been confronted with a lot of issues all at once and it's starting to take a toll on me.
This is a hard job, dear readers. Not just because of the decisions I have to make everyday about what should be printed in the paper and what should not, but also because I am subject to a rather intense, uncomfortable level of scrutiny. There are students, alums, administrators, faculty members, community members and other journalists looking at our product word for word, line by line everyday. Many of them are very, very vocal in letting me know exactly what they think -- and let's just say that people who are pleased are not the ones who write and call me. I appreciate every comment I get, no matter how virulent, but reading things like "The DM sucks" and "The DM is the worst paper ever, it should be shut down immediately" all day long does tend to wear on my nerves. I know how hard our entire staff works and when we fail to connect with our readers, it affects the mood in the entire office.
What gets to me most though are comments that attack me as a person. I like to think the "editor hat" is something I can put on when I get into the office, when I make some newspaper-related appearance, or when I am dealing with DM business. When it's not one of those moments, I like to just be an Ole Miss senior approaching graduation in May and trying to figure our what in the world I want to do with my life. But comments that say "Marti Covington is ignorant," "Marti Covington is an atrocious human being" or "Marti Covington is the stupidest, most wretched person on earth" hit me much closer to home. I sometimes wonder, "Can't this person see Marti Covington, student and Marti Covington, editor are almost like different people? Why did they have to take it there? They don't really know me."
The solution is two-part. First, I need to stop taking negative comments personally, because *hopefully* they were never intended to hit me on that level. Second, I need to be more visible in the community. I've found that when Ole Miss and Oxford residents actually meet and speak with me in person, they come away with a greater understanding of who I am and how that affects the paper we put out everyday. They see that I'm not an angry black militant hell-bent on dismantling positive race relations at the university. They see that I'm not a left-wing, hippie-type that hates Greeks and wishes the Greek system did not exist.
What I am is a regular student who loves journalism and wants the student newspaper to reflect that love and appreciation. I try go to parties at Billiards and on the Square and hang out at my friends' houses just as often as I'm in front of my computer at the Student Media Center. I take a few hours off work on Sundays to make my own sorority's chapter meetings. I sneak off between classes for impromptu shopping trips to Batesville, Tupelo or Memphis, depending on my time.
Simply put, I'm just an average student with a rather extraordinary job. But the longer I keep this position and give 100 percent of myself everyday to being successful in it, the more extraordinary I also become -- and that is really exciting.
This is a hard job, dear readers. Not just because of the decisions I have to make everyday about what should be printed in the paper and what should not, but also because I am subject to a rather intense, uncomfortable level of scrutiny. There are students, alums, administrators, faculty members, community members and other journalists looking at our product word for word, line by line everyday. Many of them are very, very vocal in letting me know exactly what they think -- and let's just say that people who are pleased are not the ones who write and call me. I appreciate every comment I get, no matter how virulent, but reading things like "The DM sucks" and "The DM is the worst paper ever, it should be shut down immediately" all day long does tend to wear on my nerves. I know how hard our entire staff works and when we fail to connect with our readers, it affects the mood in the entire office.
What gets to me most though are comments that attack me as a person. I like to think the "editor hat" is something I can put on when I get into the office, when I make some newspaper-related appearance, or when I am dealing with DM business. When it's not one of those moments, I like to just be an Ole Miss senior approaching graduation in May and trying to figure our what in the world I want to do with my life. But comments that say "Marti Covington is ignorant," "Marti Covington is an atrocious human being" or "Marti Covington is the stupidest, most wretched person on earth" hit me much closer to home. I sometimes wonder, "Can't this person see Marti Covington, student and Marti Covington, editor are almost like different people? Why did they have to take it there? They don't really know me."
The solution is two-part. First, I need to stop taking negative comments personally, because *hopefully* they were never intended to hit me on that level. Second, I need to be more visible in the community. I've found that when Ole Miss and Oxford residents actually meet and speak with me in person, they come away with a greater understanding of who I am and how that affects the paper we put out everyday. They see that I'm not an angry black militant hell-bent on dismantling positive race relations at the university. They see that I'm not a left-wing, hippie-type that hates Greeks and wishes the Greek system did not exist.
What I am is a regular student who loves journalism and wants the student newspaper to reflect that love and appreciation. I try go to parties at Billiards and on the Square and hang out at my friends' houses just as often as I'm in front of my computer at the Student Media Center. I take a few hours off work on Sundays to make my own sorority's chapter meetings. I sneak off between classes for impromptu shopping trips to Batesville, Tupelo or Memphis, depending on my time.
Simply put, I'm just an average student with a rather extraordinary job. But the longer I keep this position and give 100 percent of myself everyday to being successful in it, the more extraordinary I also become -- and that is really exciting.
Friday, November 9, 2007
You may comment...
The comments on The DM Online hardly cease to amaze me anymore. When I was first hired as online editor and re-enabled the comment system, I was shocked at the sheer volume of online comments we received. You see, every time someone comments on anything on the site, I get an email. And back then, I was getting at least, and by at least I mean at the very, very least, 65 comment emails a day. I would read through them pretty generally if I had the time, but, for the most part, the comments went unchecked.
After a few weeks of "The DM SUX!!1!" and "This writer is a fool and a slut!" though, it was obvious that something had to be done. And what we did was install a comment policy. Based on the Washington Post's online comment policy, we changed the language and the terms of the statement to fit our needs as a college daily. And while it may get a little wordy, the comment policy basically says this: Don't defame anyone, don't use inappropriate language and leave your first name and your last initial. Should be easy, right? Wrong.
The daily number of comment emails dropped significantly when I started moderating them. From an unchecked 65 to 100 comments a day, we now get about 20. And do you know how many of those survive the Great Comment Purge As According to the Comment Policy? Maybe 6. On a good day.
Most people's comments get deleted because they simply don't put a last initial with their name. I know it may seem trivial and silly to delete comments, even if they're perfectly acceptable by all other standards, simply because they're missing a single letter, but the letter is not the point. The point is that the commenter didn't take the time to read the shortened, bolded version of the policy that's on literally every article page, much less the full version. And for not paying attention, delete.
There are other instances where I will delete a comment as well. Calling someone an idiot on the site isn't cool: delete. Something like "ok" or "sux" as your only comment: purge. Racial slurs, sexist comments, "The South will rise again," etc.: peace out. Typing in all caps: buh-bye.
A few things that don't get deleted (if they follow the policy), though, are bad mouthing The DM when it's merited or telling us we're wrong about something. I never delete a comment simply because I don't like what it says, because if I did, we might have two comments a day. If I was feeling nice that day. (And I'm hardly ever feeling nice.)
Reading your comments every day, I often chuckle and show other editors around the office how, well, silly a lot of them are. Some are sensible and well written, and some even contain an actual point, but most of the time the commenters think they're calling Meghan Blalock a bitch for the first time or informing Alex McAdams she doesn't know anything about music as if a light bulb will click on and she'll come to her senses and quit. Or they think their comment telling us that we're totally wrong about something on the opinion page will cause us to realize the error of our ways and track down all 15,000 copies of The DM from that day and burn them.
Everything we do is planned in some way or another. We know what columns and stories we're going to run several days in advance, and even if we decide to run something on the fly, it still goes through at least five editors. And, sure, mistakes get through sometimes. After all, you can't pick up a single newspaper or magazine in the world and find it without a mistake, usually even on the front page. That's what happens when humans run everything.
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you just want to tell us we suck and you can't back it up with why, don't waste your time. And if you think posting on every edition of a "controversial" column or story that it's stupid is going to make us stop publishing it, you might as well leave the site. Because I'm always there, lurking in the background, hoping you didn't read the policy or that you don't really have anything to say. And it gives me great pleasure to check that little check box and press 'Delete.' (No, seriously, I get warm fuzzies when I do it.)
However, if you have something real to say, please comment. And if you took the time and put a little thought into your paragraph, I assure you we would take it seriously and I would be delighted. In fact, I might even print it out and hang it in the office. We love when intelligent people write in and give us a grounded opinion, and it's those opinions we actually consider when making editorial choices later.
But above all things, be sure to remember this: leave your last initial. Because if you don't, I will be there, purging without a second thought. And if you do, I, as well as The DM Online readers, will actually have to consider your thought. And after all, isn't that what commenting is all about?
After a few weeks of "The DM SUX!!1!" and "This writer is a fool and a slut!" though, it was obvious that something had to be done. And what we did was install a comment policy. Based on the Washington Post's online comment policy, we changed the language and the terms of the statement to fit our needs as a college daily. And while it may get a little wordy, the comment policy basically says this: Don't defame anyone, don't use inappropriate language and leave your first name and your last initial. Should be easy, right? Wrong.
The daily number of comment emails dropped significantly when I started moderating them. From an unchecked 65 to 100 comments a day, we now get about 20. And do you know how many of those survive the Great Comment Purge As According to the Comment Policy? Maybe 6. On a good day.
Most people's comments get deleted because they simply don't put a last initial with their name. I know it may seem trivial and silly to delete comments, even if they're perfectly acceptable by all other standards, simply because they're missing a single letter, but the letter is not the point. The point is that the commenter didn't take the time to read the shortened, bolded version of the policy that's on literally every article page, much less the full version. And for not paying attention, delete.
There are other instances where I will delete a comment as well. Calling someone an idiot on the site isn't cool: delete. Something like "ok" or "sux" as your only comment: purge. Racial slurs, sexist comments, "The South will rise again," etc.: peace out. Typing in all caps: buh-bye.
A few things that don't get deleted (if they follow the policy), though, are bad mouthing The DM when it's merited or telling us we're wrong about something. I never delete a comment simply because I don't like what it says, because if I did, we might have two comments a day. If I was feeling nice that day. (And I'm hardly ever feeling nice.)
Reading your comments every day, I often chuckle and show other editors around the office how, well, silly a lot of them are. Some are sensible and well written, and some even contain an actual point, but most of the time the commenters think they're calling Meghan Blalock a bitch for the first time or informing Alex McAdams she doesn't know anything about music as if a light bulb will click on and she'll come to her senses and quit. Or they think their comment telling us that we're totally wrong about something on the opinion page will cause us to realize the error of our ways and track down all 15,000 copies of The DM from that day and burn them.
Everything we do is planned in some way or another. We know what columns and stories we're going to run several days in advance, and even if we decide to run something on the fly, it still goes through at least five editors. And, sure, mistakes get through sometimes. After all, you can't pick up a single newspaper or magazine in the world and find it without a mistake, usually even on the front page. That's what happens when humans run everything.
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you just want to tell us we suck and you can't back it up with why, don't waste your time. And if you think posting on every edition of a "controversial" column or story that it's stupid is going to make us stop publishing it, you might as well leave the site. Because I'm always there, lurking in the background, hoping you didn't read the policy or that you don't really have anything to say. And it gives me great pleasure to check that little check box and press 'Delete.' (No, seriously, I get warm fuzzies when I do it.)
However, if you have something real to say, please comment. And if you took the time and put a little thought into your paragraph, I assure you we would take it seriously and I would be delighted. In fact, I might even print it out and hang it in the office. We love when intelligent people write in and give us a grounded opinion, and it's those opinions we actually consider when making editorial choices later.
But above all things, be sure to remember this: leave your last initial. Because if you don't, I will be there, purging without a second thought. And if you do, I, as well as The DM Online readers, will actually have to consider your thought. And after all, isn't that what commenting is all about?
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Life = Work
I wish I could come up with some kind of flashy title for this blog, or even think of something witty to say to all those readers out there who will look at this, but that just won’t happen. You see, I am the Photo Editor of the DM, so hopefully that excuses me from my over use of commas and slight grammatical errors.
Taking the job at the DM was a great opportunity; however, completely the opposite of what I thought it was going to be. I thought this would be a great part time job, just a few hours a night, weekends off, excellent resume builder. Well, it certainly is a good resume builder, but the part time job with weekends and nights off went through the window on my very first day of work.
On a typical day, I wake up around 8 a.m. to a text message about work. Usually it is about a feature photo idea, or what did and didn’t run in today’s paper. In fact, my 8 am work text message is so regular I depend on it to get to my 9 am classes. I usually get phone calls and text messages about breaking news or photo ideas all day. Even though my work day ‘starts’ at 4:30 pm with our daily budget meetings, I have been on the prowl for pictures and in contact with photographers all day.
After 4:30 is when the paper starts to get a face. I do my part by keeping up with what stories are going in the upcoming week’s paper, and brainstorm feature ideas with the help of Sally, the Assistant Photo Editor. Sally and I then take in the photos from the photographers, format them and give them cut lines.
The photographers help immensely by having cut lines already written so Sally and I can simply type them into a single document and put them on the server. We shoot all digitally, which makes it easier for us load the photos onto the computer. Thank goodness the days of cutting and pasting photos onto each page are gone.
After all the proper formatting is done, and all cut lines and photos are in the correct folder and placed on the server, I assign things for the coming days. Even though it certainly is a lot of work; it is all done with a smile because of the great people that I work with every day.
Taking the job at the DM was a great opportunity; however, completely the opposite of what I thought it was going to be. I thought this would be a great part time job, just a few hours a night, weekends off, excellent resume builder. Well, it certainly is a good resume builder, but the part time job with weekends and nights off went through the window on my very first day of work.
On a typical day, I wake up around 8 a.m. to a text message about work. Usually it is about a feature photo idea, or what did and didn’t run in today’s paper. In fact, my 8 am work text message is so regular I depend on it to get to my 9 am classes. I usually get phone calls and text messages about breaking news or photo ideas all day. Even though my work day ‘starts’ at 4:30 pm with our daily budget meetings, I have been on the prowl for pictures and in contact with photographers all day.
After 4:30 is when the paper starts to get a face. I do my part by keeping up with what stories are going in the upcoming week’s paper, and brainstorm feature ideas with the help of Sally, the Assistant Photo Editor. Sally and I then take in the photos from the photographers, format them and give them cut lines.
The photographers help immensely by having cut lines already written so Sally and I can simply type them into a single document and put them on the server. We shoot all digitally, which makes it easier for us load the photos onto the computer. Thank goodness the days of cutting and pasting photos onto each page are gone.
After all the proper formatting is done, and all cut lines and photos are in the correct folder and placed on the server, I assign things for the coming days. Even though it certainly is a lot of work; it is all done with a smile because of the great people that I work with every day.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Yes, folks, we're for real
As the City News Editor, one of the most surprising things I've seen is just how many people take us seriously. I mean, after all, we're just a bunch of students, not a professional news organization, right?
When I started writing for the paper last semester, I was shocked that people were willing to talk to me after I said I was with The DM. For the most part, no one treated me differently than if I had been with the Oxford Eagle, the Clarion Ledger or any other major newspaper.
I find that has stayed true as I moved up to the editorial position.
It still amazes me that the mayor of Oxford is willing to answer pretty much any question we ask him, let alone the fact that he is now holding a press conference for us twice a month. It amazes me that we have a reporter who is one of the first people the chief of police talks to after something happens. It amazes me that the vast majority of the city's aldermen, most of whom have demanding day jobs, are willing to talk to us, even when we call them at home.
Now, this isn't to say there are no problems. There are still a number of people who refuse to ever say a word to us, or who look down on us as a third-rate amateur rag. But thankfully, and to my perpetual surprise, these people are the minority.
So more than anything, I want to say thank you to Mayor Richard Howorth, County Administrator Richard Copp, Alderman Janice Antonow, Police Chief Mike Martin and all the other administrators who lend us their voices, opinions and knowledge when we ask them. Without them, the city section of our paper wouldn't do much good.
And now, I ask for the opinions of whoever is reading this. I need to know how to cover this city better. What do you see going on in Oxford and Lafayette County that you want to see in the paper? Is there an area of the city's culture that we're missing? Let me know what you think by emailing thedmnews@gmail.com, because there are only so many recycling and Pathways Project stories I can run.
When I started writing for the paper last semester, I was shocked that people were willing to talk to me after I said I was with The DM. For the most part, no one treated me differently than if I had been with the Oxford Eagle, the Clarion Ledger or any other major newspaper.
I find that has stayed true as I moved up to the editorial position.
It still amazes me that the mayor of Oxford is willing to answer pretty much any question we ask him, let alone the fact that he is now holding a press conference for us twice a month. It amazes me that we have a reporter who is one of the first people the chief of police talks to after something happens. It amazes me that the vast majority of the city's aldermen, most of whom have demanding day jobs, are willing to talk to us, even when we call them at home.
Now, this isn't to say there are no problems. There are still a number of people who refuse to ever say a word to us, or who look down on us as a third-rate amateur rag. But thankfully, and to my perpetual surprise, these people are the minority.
So more than anything, I want to say thank you to Mayor Richard Howorth, County Administrator Richard Copp, Alderman Janice Antonow, Police Chief Mike Martin and all the other administrators who lend us their voices, opinions and knowledge when we ask them. Without them, the city section of our paper wouldn't do much good.
And now, I ask for the opinions of whoever is reading this. I need to know how to cover this city better. What do you see going on in Oxford and Lafayette County that you want to see in the paper? Is there an area of the city's culture that we're missing? Let me know what you think by emailing thedmnews@gmail.com, because there are only so many recycling and Pathways Project stories I can run.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Arts & Life... now including feature stories!
One thing I’ve been hearing a lot of around the office these days is, “Hey, Alex, where are the feature stories?”
I have to admit, I have not done the best job of injecting the Arts section with feature stories since I took over in August. Perhaps the biggest reason for the lack of features is because of the immense popularity of our columns. In making new designs and more prominently featuring them on the back page, the section has ignored some of the better features we could have run.
This is all going to change really soon. Don’t worry – we’ve got a lot (and I mean a lot) of feature stories on the way in the upcoming weeks and months that I think will really appeal to our readers.
Speaking of improvements, we are also working on new ways of bringing out fresh takes on our current columns. Your favorite columns will be seeing some more festive outings (like the Halloween edition of Hautey Toddy) and more personal takes on the topics (like Alex McAdams’ top 10 indie songs list this week in iWeekly).
Now that I’ve plugged the section enough, I’d like to share one thought on The DM office that you may not believe: we really are trying to put out the best paper each and every day. The quality of my section and the paper as a whole may see good days and bad, but it does not change the fact that we really strive to put out content you, the reader, will enjoy. I normally would not reference all of this a lot, but after last night, I feel like I need to.
Halloween is one of my favorite days of the year, so when I realized that in addition to my classes, I was going to have to go into work on that day, I got pretty annoyed and depressed. I got carried away and began to rush through my section with the goal of getting out as soon as possible. About half way through this, Marti, our editor, came back, put her hand on my shoulder and says “How’s it going?”
She began looking over my pages and giving me tips. I realized while we were doing this that, despite the holiday, we still needed to put out a quality paper the following day. Marti understood this better than I did, but it just goes to show you that we’re not thinking about ourselves when we put this paper together — we’re thinking about you.
I hope you enjoy the section in the weeks ahead!
I have to admit, I have not done the best job of injecting the Arts section with feature stories since I took over in August. Perhaps the biggest reason for the lack of features is because of the immense popularity of our columns. In making new designs and more prominently featuring them on the back page, the section has ignored some of the better features we could have run.
This is all going to change really soon. Don’t worry – we’ve got a lot (and I mean a lot) of feature stories on the way in the upcoming weeks and months that I think will really appeal to our readers.
Speaking of improvements, we are also working on new ways of bringing out fresh takes on our current columns. Your favorite columns will be seeing some more festive outings (like the Halloween edition of Hautey Toddy) and more personal takes on the topics (like Alex McAdams’ top 10 indie songs list this week in iWeekly).
Now that I’ve plugged the section enough, I’d like to share one thought on The DM office that you may not believe: we really are trying to put out the best paper each and every day. The quality of my section and the paper as a whole may see good days and bad, but it does not change the fact that we really strive to put out content you, the reader, will enjoy. I normally would not reference all of this a lot, but after last night, I feel like I need to.
Halloween is one of my favorite days of the year, so when I realized that in addition to my classes, I was going to have to go into work on that day, I got pretty annoyed and depressed. I got carried away and began to rush through my section with the goal of getting out as soon as possible. About half way through this, Marti, our editor, came back, put her hand on my shoulder and says “How’s it going?”
She began looking over my pages and giving me tips. I realized while we were doing this that, despite the holiday, we still needed to put out a quality paper the following day. Marti understood this better than I did, but it just goes to show you that we’re not thinking about ourselves when we put this paper together — we’re thinking about you.
I hope you enjoy the section in the weeks ahead!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
The Other Kind of Late Night
I wish that I could say I stay up until midnight Sunday through Thursday because I have some extravagant lifestyle filled with long nights out with friends having an amazing time, making bad decisions and thoroughly enjoying my last year in college. However, that is not exactly the case.
I spend every Sunday through Thursday night in Bishop Hall at the Student Media Center designing the Daily Mississippian.
It's not the most glamorous job. It doesn't involve any flashy bylines or even my own mugshot. But to me, design is all about subtlety--the subtle changes from day to day that no one recognizes when they are there, but everyone recognizes when something is a little off.
Each day brings new challenges to overcome and new ideas to develop. But, hey, I guess that's just journalism.
And hopefully the next time you pick up a paper before your 11 a.m. class after a long night out, you will appreciate a little more all the long hours, stressful deadlines and hardwork that went into getting it into your hands.
I spend every Sunday through Thursday night in Bishop Hall at the Student Media Center designing the Daily Mississippian.
It's not the most glamorous job. It doesn't involve any flashy bylines or even my own mugshot. But to me, design is all about subtlety--the subtle changes from day to day that no one recognizes when they are there, but everyone recognizes when something is a little off.
Each day brings new challenges to overcome and new ideas to develop. But, hey, I guess that's just journalism.
And hopefully the next time you pick up a paper before your 11 a.m. class after a long night out, you will appreciate a little more all the long hours, stressful deadlines and hardwork that went into getting it into your hands.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Printing the Hard Stuff
It's always interesting to go to class and hear what people have to say about The Daily Mississippian when they don't know you work for it. As news editor, I take these opportunities to learn about what our readers like and don't like, and find ways to improve the publication.
But something particularly struck my interest in my English class today. Our professor had a student read aloud his paper on the topic of modern-day heroes. He took the stance that our society has less heroes and the media is partially to blame. As a local example, he used The DM and how the publication dealt with the Bradley Jameson incident as well as the three students killed in the ATO fire three years ago. The student felt The DM should have ignored the toxicology reports of the students. His reasoning was because it made the situation harder for the students' family and friends and that the information was uncalled for, tarnishing the images of the former students.
It was all I could do to keep my mouth closed.
The DM, like many other newspapers, holds its highest obligation to its readers. To do so, we must print any and all information we obtain about a story we are covering. Whether the information be good or bad, it is our duty to let our readers know what really happened.
Sometimes, this can be hard for our staff. In the Jameson case, we were first told no alcohol was involved - it was an open and shut case. We wrote a brief article on the accident, followed by a profile article about Jameson and how he was remembered by family and friends. Then came the toxicology report. Although some of us were saddened by it, we knew we had to publish it. If we didn't, we would be withholding information from our readers.
As usual, we were criticized for printing Jameson's blood alcohol content.
Just because we print this type of information doesn't mean we like to. It doesn't mean we are trying to sell papers (our paper is free anyway) or make things harder for the victim's family and friends. It just means we are trying to inform our readers the best we can so they can make informed decisions on their own.
But something particularly struck my interest in my English class today. Our professor had a student read aloud his paper on the topic of modern-day heroes. He took the stance that our society has less heroes and the media is partially to blame. As a local example, he used The DM and how the publication dealt with the Bradley Jameson incident as well as the three students killed in the ATO fire three years ago. The student felt The DM should have ignored the toxicology reports of the students. His reasoning was because it made the situation harder for the students' family and friends and that the information was uncalled for, tarnishing the images of the former students.
It was all I could do to keep my mouth closed.
The DM, like many other newspapers, holds its highest obligation to its readers. To do so, we must print any and all information we obtain about a story we are covering. Whether the information be good or bad, it is our duty to let our readers know what really happened.
Sometimes, this can be hard for our staff. In the Jameson case, we were first told no alcohol was involved - it was an open and shut case. We wrote a brief article on the accident, followed by a profile article about Jameson and how he was remembered by family and friends. Then came the toxicology report. Although some of us were saddened by it, we knew we had to publish it. If we didn't, we would be withholding information from our readers.
As usual, we were criticized for printing Jameson's blood alcohol content.
Just because we print this type of information doesn't mean we like to. It doesn't mean we are trying to sell papers (our paper is free anyway) or make things harder for the victim's family and friends. It just means we are trying to inform our readers the best we can so they can make informed decisions on their own.
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