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By
JIM LANG
It's
that time of year again. Publications advisers everywhere
are selecting leaders for their staffs. Choosing the
right person - the best leader - can result in an
extraordinary year. Selecting the wrong person can
result in a year of missed deadlines, low staff morale,
intense headaches, and a great deal of regret.
For me, this decision has
been especially intriguing as I have selected my newspaper
editor-in-chief for next year. I recently had five
applicants for the job, all page editors who desperately
wanted the job and who possessed unique qualities
and strengths. In making my final choice for editor,
I considered naming co-editors-in-chief, an increasingly
popular choice among advisers and journalism teachers.
In truth, I have named co-editors-in-chief
several times before, with varying degrees of success.
However, last school year, I actually had co-editors
for my newspaper and yearbook staffs and found both
pairs to be among the most effective leaders in my
ten years of advising and teaching.
Former Floyd Central yearbook
co-editor Amanda Robert, now a communications major
at St.Louis University, said sharing her position
worked well because she worked with her best friend.
"Sharing the position
made everything run so much smoother," Robert
said. "I had constant support, was able to discuss
and analyze decisions, and was able to share all of
the responsibilities with another dedicated and hardworking
person."
Robert's co-editor, Lindsay
Hack, is currently a journalism major at Ball State
University. Hack agreed that her situation worked
well because she and Robert were good friends before
becoming editors.
"The best part of being co-editor was being able
to share responsibility with someone I trust,"
Hack said. "Amanda and I worked really well together
and it was great having someone to divide the unpleasant
tasks and share the fun ones."
Indiana advisers who have
utilized co-editors in the past say that having two
leaders can work well when the editors' personalities
and skills compliment each other. Judy Neilan, yearbook
adviser at Pioneer Junior-Senior High School, said
she has used co-editors successfully in the past when
dividing responsibilities according to their individual
strengths.
"If one (editor) was better
at writing, he or she would be in charge of doing
most of the writing for opening, closing, and division
pages. If the other felt better about design, that
person would work with the staff on designing the
pages."
Elizabeth Granger, newspaper
adviser at Lawrence Central High School, currently
names a single editor-in-chief, but has used co-editors-in-chief
in the past when specific students wanted to share
the workload. "I really think it depends on the
staff and those individual students," she said.
"Sometimes I have good kids who I think could
make good editors alone - but they don't want the
responsibility alone."
But Terry Nelson, newspaper
and yearbook adviser at Muncie Central High School,
warns that selecting co-editors, or even tri-editors,
often does not work out as planned.
"You kind of hope one
(editor) compensates for the other's weaknesses and
vice versa, but one always rises to the top, in my
opinion, while the other nurses his or her wounds
of feeling unimportant," Nelson said. "I
feel as an adviser I have chosen co-editors in the
past because I didn't have the guts to choose one,
or I didn't want to hurt the other."
This desire to protect students'
feelings may be a reason that some advisers select
co-editors to manage publications, according to Tony
Willis, newspaper adviser at Carmel High School.
"I believe part of the
reason at summer workshops I am seeing more of this
sharing of positions is because advisers are reluctant
to make a decision and put one person in charge,"
Willis said. "While it is admirable not to want
to hurt a student's feelings, I believe this does
more harm than good in the long run. Advisers, I believe,
need to put the good of the entire publication ahead
of the self-esteem of one or two individuals."
Neilan emphasized that advisers who truly desire co-editors
should establish each person's specific responsibilities
ahead of time. "Outline the jobs they are to
do and usually it will work well," she said.
"I have used co-editors four times in the past
12 years. Only when the two knew exactly what they
were to do did it work out."
Establishing these clear job
responsibilities is essential for success on any staff,
according to Susie Coleman, newspaper and yearbook
adviser at Greenfield Central High School.
Coleman said she prefers selecting an editor-in-chief
and a managing editor instead of co-editors, adding
that the two students write specific job descriptions
at the beginning of the school year and attend a summer
workshop together.
"This helps establish
guidelines for both," Coleman said. "I also
try to involve both students in all decision-making
... there are only a few times I go to the editor
only. They both know in times of true conflict or
controversy that the editor has the final say, with
input from the managing editor."
It's this belief that one
person needs to be in charge that prompts Willis to
usually select a single editor-in-chief. "One
person needs to represent the staff by interviewing
the principal as her beat report, making final decisions
about content, meeting with a disgruntled source,
and filling other such roles. Naming co-editors, or
even worse, tri-editors, makes this difficult if not
impossible."
Regardless of how advisers
and student leaders organize their staffs, Robert
said scholastic journalism can be an invaluable learning
experience when all staff members work together.
"They need to learn how
to deal with differences of opinion, while still producing
the best quality of work with minimum conflict. In
high school, there is not a lot of teaching students
how to do that. Journalism staffs would be the perfect
setting for allowing students to work together and
share responsibilities to achieve common goals."
And ultimately, choosing the
leader or leaders that best facilitate that collective
focus and commitment to quality on a staff is what
we all search for each year when selecting our editors.
For me, this meant selecting a single editor-in-chief,
assisted by a managing editor, for next year's newspaper
staff. I am excited about my selection and am relieved
that the decision-making process is finally over ...
until next year.
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