The Best Coaches

A positive image does not usually come to mind when I think about coaches. I played sports, volleyball and soccer, for many years up until college. When I think about the coaches that I had on these teams, I think of men and women standing on the side line and yelling at me when I did something wrong; or pulling me out of the game because I’m not having a good day. The few coaches that have left positive impressions never really coached on game day. They would spend hours and hours during the week at practice working with each player and helping her correct any problems she was having before they happened.

This is why coaching writers also needs to happen early on.

If editors follow in the footsteps of who I consider to be great coaches, life in the newsroom will be much more relaxed. When stories are edited and reworded, they often lose meaning which is upsetting to the writer; however, if an editor steps in early in the process and gives constructive criticism, the writer will be able to come up with a great story and improve on her own without feeling like she has been insulted or forced to do something.

This past week in lab, we discussed coaching writers with Professor Follis. After going over main points from Roy Peter Clark and Don Fry’s book “Coaching Writers,” I followed up with the topic. Poynter Online has a great section where people can write in to an advice column about questions they have regarding journalism. I read a piece posted today titled “The Coaching Way,” which was a letter from a young editor at a small daily publication asking about how to properly coach writers. Although Chip, the columnist, had a long response, these were the four points he highlighted:

1. To make use of the knowledge and experience of the writer.
2. To give the writer primary responsibility for the story.
3. To provide an environment in which the writer can do the best possible job.
4. To train the writer, so that editing will be unnecessary.

After reflecting on my past athletic experiences, points two and four seem most relevant. As I said earlier, the best coaches do not look like they are coaching; the ones I remember and admire helped me before I had a major problem and made me feel like I was succeeding on my own. I feel like once editors master this philosophy, the newsroom will run more smoothly and writers will want to come to their editors for help and advice. And although it might take some work to really become a good coach, once editors are good coaches I think they will have cut out a significant part of their work load.

"Obama Wins"

It was incredible to see all of the different headlines and front pages the day after Barack Obama became the president elect of our country. I knew that his face would be on the cover of every American publication, but I was even more excited to see that he made it to the front of international papers as well; however, I can not say that I am that surprised. When I was abroad in Barcelona, Spain last semester, the first thing people would say to me when I told them I was from Chicago or America was “Barack Obama!”

At newseum.org, I found a few front pages that I really enjoyed, and a few that I really did not.

The Tribune from San Luis Obispo, Cali., had a great front page. It caught my attention because even though it featured Obama like the other papers, it was a little different. The picture is of his entire family, which I think is nice because I think seeing our next president with his loved ones shows how change really is coming our way. I also like the lay out and headline of the page. “American History” jumps out at me, rather than seeing another line that says “Obama Wins,” or “Change Has Come.” The lay out is also nice because it features Obama and his family as the center of attention, but also has stories underneath that follow up with the Congressional elections and the Democrat’s majority, which reminds readers that Obama winning was not the only news of the previous night.

The Gwinnett Daily Post from Lawrenceville, Ga., also had a front page I liked. The headline reads “Historic vote,” which shows the importance of Americans coming out and to vote for the first African-American president. The accompanying picture obviously shows that Obama won, so I think that it is nice the headline shows the story at another angle. I also like how the far left column gives the results of other national races, and then elections in Georgia to bring it back home, even on the front cover.

The front page of the San Francisco Examiner from San Francisco, Calif., was not as appealing. When I first saw it, I thought that there had been some kind of background error because the photo showed Obama speaking during daylight, and his acceptance speech was at night. However, when I blew the cover up, I could tell that the shot was not of Obama giving his acceptance speech, just him speaking on another random day. I just think that there had to have been a better shot to use, or some way to get a photographer out to get a shot of the new president.

Collaboration: Do's and Don'ts

Should j-schools be partnering more closely with other academic departments in order to impart to students a more current and relevant skill set and mindset?

I do agree with Gahran’s point about collaborating with other departments. If journalism schools are more closely paired with other academic groups, not only would journalism students have an easier time getting into the job market, but other departments could learn about the important standards of journalism and apply them to their businesses, schools, etc.

In my opinion, it makes the most sense for journalists to collaborate with the business department. At this point in time, business journalism is the fastest growing area of journalism, so it would benefit students early on to have a backround in how to copy edit business work. In addition, a lot of business people have trouble with applying writing skills in their work when necessary, so they too could learn better editing and writing skills from the get-go. At our university, I think that business students also have an advantage in the job search, through opportunities like the business career fair and Symplicity, a Web site that allows business students to easily apply for jobs online. Perhaps if our departments merged, journalism students too could find jobs more easily.

Although at this point in time I think joining with the business school is most important, I think that if all of the departments could collaborate with journalism, they would all benefit. Writing and editing is such an important skill to have, no matter what career path one chooses to pursue.

After reading the comments on Grahan’s article, it does seem like there is an issue of time at hand. However, perhaps the merge could be started at a slow pace, making it a requirement for all students to take an editing class, and all journalism students to take a business writing class. The merge may take time, but I think it could do wonders for the students at any University.