Claire Desmarais, news and managing editor, here! Last weekend, I attended the Midwinter National College Journalism Convention in La Jolla, California. This conference comprised of other student journalists from colleges like California State University, Chico, California Lutheran University, and others from various Midwest and Eastern universities.
At this conference, I attended a variety of sessions showcasing different experiences from students, and many advisors and students gave presentations on skills that I can utilize in The Beacon newsroom.
From Gunfire to Wildfire
Editors from California State Lutheran gave a presentation about their experience covering the Borderline Bar and Grill shooting, and then the next day covering the Woolsey Fire that erupted near campus. These two tragedies at once forced student journalists to take their skills to a new level to report on these horrendous events, but they also had to deal with their own grief in the midst of these tragedies.
The student editors had to assemble late at night while the Borderline shooting was still going on, head to the scene of the crime, listen to statements, and reach out to those at the hospital who were affected by the shooting. They had to show courage and work on this story even when they were checking in on their own friends who may have been at the Bar during the time. But it wasn’t even that long after the frist tragedy that the Woolsey Fire ignited. The editing team was spread across nearby towns as each evacuated, and lost power and wifi so they utilized social media for updates on what was happening.
These students had to show courage and also maintain composure even when they were dealing with stories that caused a lot of pain for the reporters and the community around them. They were so brave to be able to share their information with students while they were also grieving.
Creating Culture in Your Newsroom
Another session talked about how to create a culture in your newsroom. I found this incredibly helpful because as editor-in-chief next year, I really want to create a culture in the newsroom that is a positive environment.
Here are some tips from this event:
- hold team lunches
- play icebreakers
- celebrate birthdays
- celebrate holidays
- play, sing, dance, laugh
- ask about everyone’s days
By taking the time to really get to know your team, you can form better relationships and have a better work environment. Other suggestions about creating a positive culture included understanding the best techniques on how to lead.
These included:
- set the tone
- negative attitude can affect everyone in the room
- legacy dependent on behavior
- acknowledge when you’re wrong and apologize
By utilizing and making sure you’re in line with these ideas, your newsroom culture can remain positive. Another aspect is understanding that every staff member is going through their own things, and to be respectful fo what they are going through. We all are trying to do our best and and we all face hard times so let’s be there for each other.
Trauma Reporting
This session focused on how to cover events that are tragedies in the communities that may be difficult to speak with people. It’s really important to be an empathetic reporter so you can truly listen to people’s stories. If you are on the scene of a tragedy, make sure to respect people and their boundaries. Not everyone will want to talk with you. But a lot of people, if you give them time, want to talk about their story. They want to be asked.
Other tips included that people in emotional distraught often say things that it may not be ethical to write about because they are not in the right state of mind. Having the skills to understand when the right time and place to ask questions is can really affect how information is gathered for a story.
Overall, this conference gave me great tips on how to incorporate new techniques in the newsroom and how to further my own skills and those of other staffers. I’m looking forward to sharing all my great info with the staff!
Claire Desmarais
UP Beacon staff blog 
