Newspaper students work hard and play hard

Interview, write, revise. Interview, write, revise. Week after week, this process is repeated as it becomes a rhythm in the life of a student reporter. Yet, contrary to what one might believe, newspaper is much more than bi-monthly cycles of monotony.

Staff members are exposed to an accurate representation of journalism through the school’s two periods of advanced journalism. They have to follow standard journalistic procedure and are held accountable for their work.

Junior Kelly Liu, who is in her second year on staff and is one of two School Scope section editors, feels that it is the interaction between members of the newspaper staff that sets it apart from other classes.

“[Everyone is] dedicated to put a successful issue out for the public. Because that requires a ton of teamwork, we’re like family to each other. A lot of good times are shared in that journalism room,” Liu said.

Junior Akshara Sekar, a “chickadee” experiencing her first year on the newspaper, also enjoys the sense of freedom and independence most students get from being on staff.

“I think it’s a free environment, which is good considering that’s the nicest environment to write in,” Sekar said. “It’s much more lenient than other classes, but I think everyone respects each other enough not to take advantage of the flexibility in rules.”

Staff members do not have traditional homework to complete every night or tests to study for. Everything students do is in a determined effort to put out the best newspaper possible.
Of course, being on the Falcon is not all fun and games. Each of the two staffs are on a tight deadline, publishing an edition of the Falcon about once or twice a month.

The third-period staff is composed of 39 journalists and the fourth-period staff has 37, all of whom have specific jobs in the publishing process. Each staff member has a range of responsibilities from photographers to ad managers, copy editors to section editors, web managers to business managers, and many more.

Section editors are the main story idea contributors, but anyone on staff has the option to make a suggestion. Falcon writers strive to write stories that are both informative and relevant to students on campus.

“To educate my community of news so they can form their own opinions—that’s the beauty of newspaper,” Liu said.

Stories are assigned at the beginning of each of the two story cycles to reporters who express an interest in the topic.

Then reporters have to get background information and learn about their topic through interviews and research. It is a common occurrence for students to see Falcon staff running around campus to flag down interviewees.

When reporters have gathered their information, it is time to write. However, the process does not end after the story is written. The story is then transferred to the editing and revision process where it must go through the section editor, editor-in-chief, journalism adviser Mike Tyler and, finally, to copy editors before the story’s print or web edition.

After the story completes the editing process, Falcon students put together the fruits of their labor into the newspaper format on a night known fondly as Deadline Night, most well known for the feasts that parents deliver to students as they stay until 8 p.m. in the Journalism Room. Each page is once again checked numerous times to ensure minimal mistakes in both layout and writing.

When a newspaper issue is complete and printed, it is distributed on a Friday morning during fourth period. Fourth-period staff members form a makeshift assembly line to insert the issues’ advertisements before sending them out to the classes and mailing them home to parents.

Because of the unique nature of the newspaper class, students only have three grades entered in every semester, one per cycle or every six weeks. After publication and distribution, staff members fill out a self-evaluation and get a score out of 100 points.

Writing and working for the school newspaper takes a lot of time and commitment. To get a desired “A” grade, journalists must make a minimum of four contributions per cycle. Contributions include stories, photos and other jobs that need to be done.

However, many Falcon members believe that the tremendous effort expended is well worth the feeling of pride felt upon seeing one’s story appreciated by other students.

“I think the school has a lot of respect for the newspaper, and people care enough to read all the articles,” Sekar said. “It is really nice to see when the newspaper [distributors] walks in with the papers to every class and everyone’s faces are super excited to rip through them.”