1. Start an above-the-fold gallery.  We already have a front-page gallery in the Skyline View newsroom. But while we know readers don’t see the whole page until they pick up the paper, designers and editors need to be reminded of this.  Ron Johnson, Indiana University’s media director, suggests putting up just what you see above the fold. What happens to that front-page layout when you only see the top?
2. Fire the bums. “Journoterrorist” Michael Koretzky doesn’t mess around. If you have a staff member who is missing deadlines, disrespecting people, and otherwise sucking the life out of the room, man up and fire him or her. Because if you don’t, he or she will bring down the rest of the staff. With the bad apple gone (and the example set), standards and expectations will be higher in the room.
3. Implement a two-graf deadline.  Our reporters sometimes don’t make their deadlines.  Often those missed deadlines really mean the reporter hasn’t even gotten started.  Maybe he doesn’t know who to contact.  Maybe she is not clear what angle the story should take.  Rather than offer reporters more time, suggests Koretzky, offer them less.  Make them turn in the first two grafs shortly after you assign the story.  Two grafs is less intimidating than the whole first draft, and editors will see what the problems are upfront, be it an incoherent lead, a lack of an angle, or procrastination. Whatever it is, the editor can help sooner rather than on deadline.
4. Run it big. We’ve always talked in the newsroom about the dominant art of the page being twice as big as the next piece of art.  However, sometimes staff gets a little gun shy about running photos big, mainly because our staff lacks photographers. (Hey, if you’re a photographer, come see us!) Ron Johnson’s answer to whether or not you should go big with photos that aren’t that good? Run ‘em big anyway and one of two things will happen:  Either your less skilled photogs are going to strive to get better or your publication is going to attract more skilled photographers who see that your publication gives ample space to images. That’s win either way.
5. Play, experiment, make mistakes (and then move on).   More than one speaker advised students to experiment with their design, story ideas, and the like, while in college.  Your job won’t allow the same freedom you have now to try new things, not just with how your publication looks, but with the kinds of stories you do. Politico’s Michelle Quinn, one of four keynote speakers over the weekend, likewise encouraged the audience to acknowledge when you’ve made a mistake and then move on.  Experiments and play have lead to new story-telling ideas, too:  Students heard from Hack/Hackers and Storify co-founder Burt Herman and animator/editorial cartoonist Mark Fiore, both of whom have taken traditional content to new places.
6. Make friends with white space. Have you checked out Ron Johnson’s Tumblr page yet? (See hyperlink above.)  You’ll know why at least one adviser may be dreaming about page design.  White space gives your eyes a break, but it also highlights what you want readers to look at.  And you know what?  You do not have to run in the print paper every story that gets filed.
7. Ask your readers.  More than one person talked about getting onto campus to ask students what they were thinking about, what was working on campus, and what they were struggling with.  Ask for two reasons:  First, you’ll get story ideas, and second, you’re more likely to produce stories that are actually going to get read.
8. Go mobile.  Now.  Iowa State’s Charlie Weaver emphasized that it’s not just digital first, but MOBILE first.  On what device are you reading this blog post yourself?  (If you’re reading this online, we’d still wager your mobile device is nearby.) We need a mobile app for The Skyline View.  Look for it soon!
9. Share ideas. Don’t steal things (specific page designs, quotes, etc.  Duh!).  But by all means, share with and be inspired by others. Look at good work.  Network with your fellow advisers or your fellow student journalists.  Together, you can solve a lot of the issues your publication faces.  
10. Tap the experts. In the session conducted by SFSU’s Rachele Kanigel, we talked about bringing in experts not just for workshops, but also for things like critiques of the paper after publication.  Or take your students on a tour of the local city paper.  (On tour of the SF Chronicle, our students were able to sit in on one heck of an editorial meeting the day after the Virgina Tech massacre.  Some of the students even ended up in the paper.) One other way to tap the experts? Go to conventions like this one.  Delicious!
    

If you’ve been on campus lately, you may have noticed that the newspaper racks are once again full.  The staff came out with its first print edition of the semester last week.  It’s a solid 12-pager, and the new staff met its deadline despite some hiccups in preparing the PDF for the printer’s.

What if you aren’t on campus? Sure, you could (and should!) check out The Skyline View.  You’ll be able to keep up with all the latest campus news, especially since the newspaper strives to have a digital-first approach.

But what if you are interested in seeing what those on campus have actually picked up?  What is actually on the stands?  No problem.  The website posts the PDF of  every print edition.

Want more TSV? Check out archives of the paper at Issuu.com/theskylineview.

The timing’s good for them to do so.  The staff will have the opportunity to attend two conferences this semester that are likely to help train them beyond the newsroom.  First, we’re lucky that the National College Journalism Convention is finally returning to San Francisco. Our students will get a chance to network with four-year college journalists.

But our “Superbowl” of conventions is the Journalism Association of Community Colleges State Convention which will be held in Sacramento this April.  Here, Skyline College journalists will be joined by over 550 community college journalists from California and beyond, with opportunities to compete in all sorts of journalism-related contests.

The students will be producing their first print issue of the semester, so look for it on the stands on Thursday.

While we aren’t required to have department mission statements, it just makes sense to do so.  Even the process of designing the statement is eminently worthwhile, because it really forces you to consider–out of all the many things you could be focusing on–what your most important goal is.  For the Skyline College Journalism Department, the mission statement is this:

“To empower the individual and society to better understand, evaluate, and create media, particularly as it pertains to the connection between responsible, credible journalism and its role in ensuring a viable and strong democracy.”

But we didn’t stop there.  After coming up with the department mission, it was time for the student newspaper to develop its own mission.  First, the staff worked in groups to consider what they did and what they felt the goal of having a student publication was.  Then, each group came up with a potential mission statement (most of which had a similar focus–a key sign that they were on the right track, since their visions seemed to have a lot of commonality).  Finally, they voted on the statement they most preferred.  Here it is:

“To report accurate, informative, and relevant news with honesty and professionalism to the Skyline College community and beyond.”

For the students:

One of the biggest benefits is that students are getting to learn WordPress, a more accessible CMS than the one College Publisher uses. While CP was great for many years, and certainly allowed the student newspaper to get a strong web presence, the last several years have been rough.  We had less support and more errors and difficulty using the CP system. Now the students enjoy posting things to their website again.  But more than that, the experience with WordPress means that what they are doing will translate more easily to the “real” world.  Having experience with WordPress will make these students more marketable.

For the journalism program:

In these economically tough times, saving money is important.  School Newspapers Online is simply cheaper than College Publisher.  The journalism program here will be saving real money each year.   Not only that, but the customer service is super responsive.

For the readers:

The site, while still be adjusted, offers readers a better, more intuitive experience, too.  And just wait until the students really utilize all the bells and whistles the site offers.  For example, they already uploaded a calendar that will reflect campus events. Lots more to come on this front.

So visit TSV online and come back frequently.  Things are only going to keep getting better.

But it sure did feel good to win, too.

In the on-the-spots, Chris Korp took first place for copy editing.  In the mail-in category, TSV won the following:

Online Journalism General Excellence
Newspaper General Excellence
Inside Page Layout–Second Place–Joe Barrack
Front Page Layout–Third Place–Joe Barrack
Inside Page Layout–Fourth Place–Daniel Beckman
Profile Feature Story–Honorable Mention–Joe Barrack
Editorial Writing–Honorable Mention–The Staff of The Skyline View
Sports Game Story–Honorable Mention–Joe Barrack
Sports Game Story–Honorable Mention–Rich Estrada
Sports Game Photo–Honorable Mention–Daniel Chee

Brenda Cancino now works for NBC Miami as the news video editor.

Describe your job. I am in charge of editing news packages, VO’s, VOSOT’s, NATSVO’s, pictures, and basically everything pre-taped on the news show. I work on the 11 a.m. daily show, which includes performances, interviews, entertainment, and even a cooking segment. On my evening shift, I work in the 5 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscast. All of my editing is for the local news station; therefore, my packages and VO’s don’t always make it online.
What skills are needed to do your job? To survive in my position, it’s vital to be calm, concentrated and detail orientated. Reporters turn in their footage and packages literally 2 minutes or in the beginning of the show. As an editor, you have to remain calm, concentrate on what you are doing to avoid mistakes, and pay attention to all little details. The last thing you want to do is to miss an error on air. And, of course, as if time isn’t enough pressure, ALWAYS expect the computer to crash!!!!

What do you like best about your job? My favorite part of my job is to be able to see my finished product on TV. Since I am doing TV news, video is extremely, if not the most important! I like how important my work is, and although not always credited, it feels good to know that without me, that video would not have made the air. I also like the fact that I can be as creative as I want to tell a story! After a looong semester of media aesthetics, I can now actually use it!

What tips would you give to students who hope to do a job like yours someday? My best job tip would be to always stay on your toes! If you are looking to score a job, you should always be ready to STEAL the position. It is true, getting a job in TV news is all about timing; therefore, you should always be ready in case that time comes. After four internships, I can truly say it’s very easy to get lazy and let time [go] by without taking advantage of your access to the station. But you have to show them you really want to be there. I know it’s hard because there is no pay involved, but it’s a way of paying dues!
Your resume must be a priority. Make sure you use keywords, like rundowns, scripts, VO, VOSOT, names of programs!

What advice do you have for Skyline College journalism students? As a former Skyline View staffer, I would recommend to start early! There is not time wasted if you are interning. That way you will find out what medium you want to go into. Also, the most important: Practice writing! It is a must. Attend JACC and try to do as many workshops and meet as many people as possible. Oh, and don’t forget to follow up!!!!! Last year I went to a convention and met several Telemundo producers. I didn’t think much of it. Little did I know, NBC owns Telemundo and we share the same building; now I run into him all the time, and he is willing to help me out!

• All people need some journalistic training in this era of social media, whether you post reviews on Yelp or upload video or photos to sites like YouTube.  Since we all are potential citizen journalists, we all need the training.
• You’ll increase your writing and communication skills.
• You’ll get UC and/or CSU transferable units.

The course that is the bread and butter of the program is Journalism 120:  Writing and Reporting for the Media.  Whether you are a journalism major or not, this course will teach you to write concisely and with accuracy.  You’ll learn such things as:

• How to interview someone so that they will talk to you.
• How to write captivating, informative leads that will get your stories read.
• The difference between writing for a newspaper and writing for broadcast.
• How to shape a news story, how to use quotes, and how to write balanced, fair articles.
• The difference between a news article, a feature article and an opinion piece.

You’ll also be introduced to social media and multimedia skills, skills that are a must-have for many careers, not just journalism.

Want more information?  Check out the course schedule at the Skyline College website.  We hope to see you soon!