Web and Social Media
The Process
Although my editorial experience on staff has been focused on our magazine, a lot of my responsibilities are directly related to our website. As a section editor, I am in charge of publishing all of my section's stories on the website. My responsibility regarding the web and social media only grew. Due to a lack of access to the resources necessary, we weren't able to publish a magazine ever since March 2020, when our school closed. Because of this, it quickly became clear that our website and social media accounts were going to be our main connection with students. To ensure efficiency and organization, we created a posting calendar that allowed section editors to keep track of our goal to publish at least one story each weekday.
This is a sample of our posting calendar from the month of March. This month was quite chaotic for our staff. There was a huge cloud of uncertainty about when and if we would be returning to campus. Students had a variety of concerns, ranging from standardized testing to sports and how to keep themselves busy during the quarantine. As a staff, we wanted to make sure that we were publishing a diverse range of content. To ensure we do that, we color-coded each story which helped us ensure that we had a good balance of coronavirus related and non-coronavirus related content.
Click on the image to enlarge it.
Breaking News
As one of the lead editors on staff, I help take charge when it comes to breaking news pieces. Since these articles are always timely, we post them only on the website and they usually don't make it to the magazine. Below are some example of breaking news stories that I have helped lead.
The coronavirus quickly became a significant topic of conversation toward the beginning of March, when my district began canceling field trips due to the virus. We had been covering COVID-19 since mid-February.
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During the end of second period on March 13, 2020, a student came in to my AP Language class with a memo from the principal, stating that LAUSD had decided to close schools district-wide for two weeks due to fear of the coronavirus spread. Moments later, our principal went on the intercom to announce that exact notice. Although this breaking news decision didn't come as a surprise to many of us, we still knew that it was our duty as a student publication to cover this story as quickly as possible. I began working with our then staff writer Valery Barrera at around 9:30 a.m. and she gathered the necessary interviews throughout the day.
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I helped edit the story throughout the day in between classes. With no multimedia element ready to accompany this story, I assigned another staff writer to create a photographic element during our journalism class. Due to efficient reporting and editing, we were able to publish this story in the afternoon on the same day, right when students were leaving school for the last time that year.
Click on the photo to be redirected to the finalized article!
Other Coronavirus-related breaking news stories
Click on each photo to be redirected to the article that I was the main editor for.
Black Lives Matter
As Black Lives Matter protests took over our streets this past summer 2020, it was clear that it was important for our staff to cover it. Since this occurred during a school break and a pandemic, this coverage would not make it on our magazine so we decided to take advantage of our virtual format. To make our content more interactive, we decided to include a timeline highlighting the entirety of the BLM movement. I assigned this digital timeline as well as a couple of other articles.
This is an email I sent our staff writers when I assigned the Black Lives Matter articles.
I received the first draft of the digital timeline and appreciated the breadth of information included. However, there were many grammatical issues, including misspellings of victims' names. In addition, there were certain major events in the movement that he left out or that he could explain in more detail. I also advised that he clarify how he explained certain acts of police brutality since certain points of the timeline were confusing. I also advised that he switched out a triggering photo he used of Eric Garner while he was being murdered.
I responded to Evan, who created the timeline, in an email, giving him some suggestions
Final Articles
Click the photo to be redirected to the finalized main BLM article.
Click here to be redirected to the final digital timeline.
In addition to a main article about the movement and a timeline, we as a staff also wanted to utilize our publication to highlight options to support the movement. To do this, one of our staff writers, Valery Barrera, compiled a list of ways for our students to support the Black Lives Matter movement from their homes. She included multiple places people can donate and sign petitions. She also added phone numbers to call and text in support of BLM victims and offered resources to help educate students on the movement.
Click the photo to be redirected to the listicle.
Website Design
As a magazine editor, I am in charge of posting stories for my section on our website. As Managing editor, I covered the Special Reports section of the magazine, which localizes larger investigative issues to our school. This often means creating infographics to accompany stories and convey information in a more visually appealing way. Below are website designs for two of the articles I posted.
"Students help fight climate crisis"
"Vaping outbreak worries students"
Click here to view the website page.
Social Media
Social media is an incredibly valuable tool for our publication to be able to reach out to students and spread the word about our published articles. We have especially relied on social media during distance learning as the only source of connection with students. Since I became Print Editor-in-Chief, we have been publishing our magazine online-only, and have used our Instagram page to highlight it when we do. Here are a few examples of this from our Instagram account.
The UTLA Strike
The LAUSD UTLA strike proved to be a unique opportunity for our publication to utilize social media to tell this story. Along with a few other staff writers, we were on the scene, experiencing this strike as it was occurring. As a staff, we used Instagram and Twitter to tell this story in the way that an article couldn't. Below is a comprehensive view of our social media coverage. You can also find these posts throughout my website.
To view some of my photography that was posted exclusively on our social media sites, click here
Utilizing my Social Platforms
I have used my own social media platforms throughout the past three years to document my time on staff and promote our publication. Below are some examples of this.
Click on video to turn sound on!
This is a compilation of videos I have taken throughout my years on staff and posted on my social media accounts.