Revealing newspaper secrets: what really goes on in the J-Room

Printers whirring, editors scribbling red corrections on layouts and students loading food onto their already overflowing plates are common sights during deadline night the Monday before an issue comes out. Students work to push their stories through editing and rush around the room, copy editing, putting finishing touches on graphics, and tracking progress on the masking tape “spreadsheet” on the whiteboard.

The next day, the finished layouts are uploaded as PDFs and sent to Folger Graphics, a commercial printer in Hayward, Calif. On Friday that week, the staff distributes copies to classrooms and mails copies to a list of roughly 500 subscribers who are members of the PTSO.

It’s safe to say that most readers look at the issue without thinking about the work put into each graphic, story and layout.

Headlines, for instance, have to capture the gist of the story, draw readers in and also fit the space allotted for them by the page designer. Stories must highlight key facts and mix them with input from sources. Ideally, stories also grab the reader’s attention and keep them entertained all the way to the last word.

Some readers may not realize that the Falcon is divided into two staffs of roughly 35: fourth and fifth period. Each one usually produces one issue per grading period, for a total of 12 in the year.

While six weeks may seem like a long time to produce one issue, there are hundreds of jobs that must be done to produce issues that average 24 pages. Staffers earn their grade depending on how much they’ve contributed to each issue.

Based on my almost two years on staff, here are some other little-known truths about being on The Falcon staff.

 

1. Getting assigned stories is like winning the lottery

At the beginning of each cycle, section editors present their story ideas to the staff, discussing possible angles and crowdsourcing for more suggestions. The entire staff is asked to vote on a package (similar stories that appear as a group under a certain theme) in sections like Lifestyles and Entertainment. The whole staff chimes in during this democratic process, but for some mysterious reason, the total number of votes never adds up the number of people in the class.

Most of the time reporters email section editors with their story requests and possible focus (each staff member even had his or her own Falcon email address ending with @saratogafalcon.org), but sometimes the editors have people sign up during discussions. Reporters, especially chickadees (the named given to first-year staff members), shoot their hands up and anxiously hope that they will get the the chance to earn  contributions.

Soon after, section editors update the issue Google spreadsheet with a list of stories, and reporters check to see what stories they were assigned and the deadlines for each. Reporters are tasked with interviewing sources, transcribing interviews (for many, the most despised task of journalism), writing and sending the rough draft of each story to section editors all within a little over a week. All of this editorial work is done in Google Drive. For a story to appear in print, it must be signed off by section editors, editors-in-chief and adviser Mike Tyler.

 

2. Three tests in one week? An essay and a Socratic seminar? That’s nothing compared to writing 5+ stories in a couple of days.

During the first week of production, the workload of newspaper may be comparable to AP classes, except without the grade bump. No, we don’t just sit around playing slither.io on the J-room iMacs, as outsiders might think.

Usually, LESI (Lifestyles, Entertainment, School Scope, and In-Depth) stories are due the Friday the week after discussion, and NOS (News, Opinion and Sports) stories are due early in the following week.

Homework in classes like math and chemistry competes with the push to get stories written before deadlines. But if the prospect of failing a STEM class is too large or the reporting proves difficult, writers can simply beg for mercy from section editors and ask for extensions. Usually they agree on a more reasonable time that preserves sanity and GPAs.

While many sources can be easily contacted through Facebook messenger or through email or interviewed during tutorial, lunch, or the newspaper period through callouts, other interviews require much more work. Students often interview members of the community, conduct research online or reach out to notable former Saratoga residents. For a recent issue, a reporter attempted to contact Saratoga High school alumnus Steven Spielberg and was put on hold for unreasonably long periods of time by several different people before finally giving up.

After interviewing comes the dreaded task of transcribing. With headphones in their ears, reporters attempt to type out their interviewee’s exact words, making frequent typos and rewinding several times to ensure that they did not miss anything. The difficulty of the task is amplified greatly if the interviewee speaks quickly or mumbles.

Finally, students start writing stories by coming up with a thematically appropriate, attention-grabbing lead, adding direct and indirect quotes as well as transitions while also interspersing the research they’ve done. Each section of the newspaper has a distinct tone of writing — for example, Lifestyles stories tend to be lighthearted while news stories take a more formal note, so writers have to adapt and alter their tone for each section.

 

3. Dummies aren’t just foolish people

As deadline night approaches, section editors draw dummies (layout plans) and give them to staff members who sign up to be layout artists on the whiteboard after standing in a long line and shoving through people pushing to grab markers. Layout artists then have to meticulously put in every photo, byline, story and other element on the page in InDesign, all while making sure that components are one pica  (.167 inch) apart.

Furthermore, each story has to reach the end of a rectangular text box, which may be accomplished by adding paragraph tabs or deleting fragments of sentences. Reporters must be careful while making these minor edits because deleting content carelessly could lead to grammatical errors. After the last word of each story, a little black diamond is placed to mark its end.

 

4. Deadline night: The panic sets in and students push through the last stretch.

On deadline night, the staff gathers in the J-Room (303) until 8:30 p.m. to finish last-minute edits and put together the final version of the newspaper. After a few hours of work, a much needed break is provided by parents, who bring in delicious food, including a themed main course (such as BBQ, Mexican or Chinese), fruit and dessert.

People rush around, talking and printing, while a few students sometimes slump on the couches in the front of the room to rest. Looking at an empty-looking copyediting chart, Tyler sometimes expresses doubts that the staff will manage to finish the issue, but miraculously, it seems to get done, right before the Tuesday at 5 p.m. final deadline.

On Thursday, 2,000 print newspapers arrive hot off the presses, but more work remains. Students complete self-evaluation forms where they document their work for grading purposes that day. Sometimes they’ll also label and rubberband the newspapers for bulk mailing. No matter what, either fifth or fourth period will distribute the papers to each classroom on Fridays.

Students get a two-day break that weekend until the issue cycle restarts the following Monday or Tuesday.