Inside of Journalism

Are you interested in taking the Journalism elective next year? This article will tell you just what exactly happens on the inside of the Journalism rooms!

Journalism is a seventh-period elective where students have the opportunity to write their own articles about topics they are passionate about. They also work hard not only to make an entertaining online newspaper, but they also record a podcast and have a literary magazine as well. If someone comes into the room during the seventh period, they’ll likely see students with their eyes glued onto their Chromebooks, typing away.

Journalism is run by two teachers, one for each class. Our middle school teacher is Jessica Valera, and our high school teacher is Adrianne Warlick. Both the middle and high school classes work together to create articles for The Echo and the literary magazine. However, we do need to complete some classwork before we can start on the newspaper! We all did a 29-lesson news literacy program called Checkology. It was really helpful but quite long!

To create the Echo, we need lots of articles. The process is quite long, but everyone has a job to help out. First, students pitch article ideas. These then get approved, and the writers will choose which ones they want to write. Once the first draft is done, the article is out through the many rounds of editing and the process of revision. The first are the round one editors, who edit the general content of the article. The article is then sent back for revisions or sent to round two, the section editors, for readability. There are many sections and general editors, as they each edit the articles in their specific field, be it arts, school news, or anything in between. After, the article is sent to the copy editors, of which we have two – one for middle school sections, one for high school sections. They edit for AP Style, or Associated Press Style. This is the standard editing guidelines that many professional newspapers follow. It has so many rules that each co-copy editor has a 600+ page book on it. Finally, the article is passed through the high school and middle school co-executive editors, and the Jr. and Sr. Editors-in-Chief. It’s all of their jobs to really ask, “Is it good enough? Is this article worth publishing?” The articles are then ready to be published on this very website!

The literary magazine is packed with poems and artwork that shows emotions and creativity throughout these students. We also are starting to have our social media accounts ready, courtesy of the Social Media Managers. Our writers are superb, for both the literary magazine and The Echo.

Overall, Journalism is a perfect choice for people who have a big imagination, can really express themselves through their writing, and are interested in sharing information with the world. Although Journalism can be a bit stressful at times, it will force you to be able to adhere to not only strict deadlines, but also take constructive criticism about your work. I love Journalism, and hopefully this article gives you more insight on the Journalism elective and inspires you to apply next year!