Falcon staffers gain knowledge from Paly journalism conference

Eleven staff members of the Falcon were among the hundreds of student journalists hustling through the halls of Palo Alto High School’s massive journalism building on Sept 26. in the direction of  their respective presentations during the second annual J-Day conference.

The conference was sponsored by the Journalism Education Association of Northern California. The JEANC also held various competitions at the conference. The Falcon won the award for  “Best in the West” in the categories of tabloid-size newspaper and Online News Website.

The conference included 45-minute presentations that ranged from round table discussions for the editors-in-chief to tips and tricks on using Adobe Photoshop for staff members.

Presentations were delivered by primarily journalism advisers and veteran student journalists.

For example, one section of the conference was called “Covering the Valley Fire.” In this presentation, San Jose Mercury News Reporter Julia Prodis Sulek talked to students about the most effective ways to interview. She related the presentation to her own experience in covering the story of family who lost their home to fire.

Other sections covered different aspects of newspaper such as marketing and advertising. The presenters urged students to use social media as a medium to communicate and to report for effective stories.

Falcon editor-in-chief Gitika Nalwa found the editor-in-chief presentation, which was led by three of the four Falcon editors-in-chief, successful and interesting.

“There were kids from Gunn, Monta Vista, and Paly. I got to talk to the editor-in-chief of Monta Vista’s newspaper, El Estoque. Our newspapers [are really similar], but we can learn a lot from them in terms of website management,” Nalwa said.

Nalwa noted that the editor-in-chief round table was particularly successful as the students were able to provide advice from various perspectives.

“It's nice to talk to people with the same interests, people who really get the newspaper process and can offer tips and tricks to help us with issues we might have in our respective staffs,” Nalwa said.