Modern-Day
Story Tellers
Dennis Cripe, IHSPA director
Franklin College
The concept of team collaboration is not new. The trick, however,
is in making the idea work. Since 1994, the IHSPA editor's
leadership workshop has siezed upon the "maestro"
concept as a means to teach high school journalism students
how to arrive at the best way to tell their stories.
In
the old model of story planning, the writer often would work
on a story without any involvement by photographers or designers.
Much like the Henry Ford assembly line, a writer would complete
the story, a headline would be added and maybe down the line,
a photo are graphic would finish the package.
The
maestro concept is really a management technique that pulls
together the visual aspects of the story-telling process as
the story is being reported. That means photographers and
designers work closely with the writer so that the focus of
the story also guides the content of headlines, photos, graphics
and sidebar features. The team shares the responsibility of
answering the readers questions "before" the story
package is finished. The result, hopefully, is a story that
combines the best of words and visuals to tell the story in
the most compelling way.
In
the 10 years the IHSPA has been teaching the maestro process,
students who have never worked together before discover (surprisingly)
that they are able to coordinate an entire broadsheet page
complete with a fully reported story, photos and sidebars
all in one day. The pressure is great to find a story, break
it down into its best visual and verbal components, and then
reassemble it into an interesting package. Students find that
working together makes it possible not only to meet their
deadlines, but to put together a story package that often
has greater impact and "page presence" than anything
they've produced before.
Though
the concept has been around a while, the need for students
to rely on each other, to communicate in terms that appeal
to and meet the needs of readers, and to solve problems together
never will go out of style. The IHSPA editor's workshop combines
these leadership skills with solid fundamental journalism
to create a unique and lasting summer workshop experience.
Want
to know more about the "nuts and bolts" of the maestro
concept? Click below on a Powerpoint presentation produced
by Kim Green, adviser at Columbus North High School.
See
Kim Green's Maestro Powerpoint Presentation Here.
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