LEADERSHIP & TEAM BUILDING
As someone who strives to lead others with passion and confidence, it’s important that I not only use the knowledge and experience I have to help guide others but also continue to seek opportunities to grow as a whole team. By looking beyond my own work to address the needs of other staff members, I can ensure that being a part of the journalism program is a memorable learning experience in many ways.
As Editor-in-Chief
I am constantly working with people when it comes to my role as the editor-in-chief. It’s crucial that those relationships--whether it’s with other editors, staff writers, the publication advisor, or the student body--are created and maintained to ensure a welcoming environment where people can make their voices heard.
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One of the main ways I like to ensure that what The Vision covers reflects and accurately depicts the MSMS community is to have a diverse staff--people who can offer new perspectives and ideas. I encourage current staff members to think more broadly when coming up with their pitches and non-staffers to reach out when things are happening. When we have eyes across campus, it allows us to share everyone's stories.
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Although we have a developed process of editing and offering assistance through Google Docs and the occasional email, casually checking in on people can be a way of letting them know it’s okay to approach you with anything. Often times, the newest writers are the most timid and shy when it comes to asking for help, so as senior editors, we need to help them make that step.
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Additionally, I also serve as the bridge between my staff, editorial board, and publication advisor. When an issue or question arises, it is usually brought up to a fellow editor who will solve it or redirect it to me, or it is taken directly to me where I can help find a solution or speak with my publication advisor about it.
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While I become a go-to for any problems, people also come to me to praise the work that The Vision produces. This does not necessarily reflect my personal work, but it certainly shows what incredible things we can do when we become a team and lean on each other rather than isolating ourselves in our own niche. The Vision has taught me that quality work truly is impossible without a quality team.
Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference
If spending seven days in Washington, D.C. at the Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference taught me anything, it’s that surrounding yourself with people who are just as passionate as you are about something can do more than just share ideas. It builds supportive relationships and creates strong connections across the country–quite literally.
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This annual program, created by USA Today founder Al Neuharth and hosted by the Freedom Forum Institute at the Newseum, aims to encourage student journalists entering the 12th grade to pursue a journalism career or major in the future. Each scholar receives an all-expenses paid trip to Washington and a $1,000 scholarship to the college of their choice.
I met 50 other student journalists, each representing their home state and the District of Columbia and known as Free Spirits. I still find it so incredible. Although not everyone plans to pursue careers in the journalism field, everyone had a passion for storytelling and pursuing the truth through the media. Before this trip, I could list every person I knew with this passion on one hand. Obviously, I couldn’t say the same now.
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About a year and a half ago, I started to feel that journalism was a path I could pursue, but I faced a lot of criticism and skepticism for it. This conference brought together others like me–a community I never thought I would have–and solidified that this is not an unrealistic goal.
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On the final day of the conference, all 51 students are recognized and presented with a medal by Jan Neuharth, who is the daughter of Al Neuharth and serves as the chair and chief executive officer of the Freedom Forum Institute.
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Three of the conference days are dedicated to learning about the role of journalism and the first amendment in each of the three branches of government. The students visited the U.S. Capitol Building when learning about the legislative branch.
Coming into the conference, I feared I wouldn’t be as prepared or as knowledgeable or as good a writer as the next person, but after meeting each person and learning about their backgrounds, I easily felt like I belonged. We embraced each others’ unique experiences and gave insight on how to improve each of our own publications.
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But it wasn’t only my peers who inspired me. Each day, we heard from panels to discuss a wide variety of topics: incorporating digital media in the newsroom, preparing for a journalism career, fighting fake news, strengthening college internships, protecting our First Amendment rights and so much more. Each speaker offered new perspective and insight in their respective areas.
While most of the time the speakers came to us, there were several opportunities in which we ventured out. These visits included the NBC News studio, where we watched a live recording of “Meet the Press” and met Chuck Todd, the anchor; the E. Barrett Pettyman United States Courthouse, where I was chosen to defend a case in front of U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth; the “USA Today” headquarters, where we met with several editors and toured their newsroom; and the United States Capitol, where we toured the House and Senate press galleries. Each of these experiences was unique to itself, but perhaps physically being in each place is what makes me most excited to enter the field. Being hands-on and seeing it for myself shows me just how important the world of journalism and protecting the First Amendment is.
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Almost every speaker told us Free Spirits that the future of journalism is in our hands, that the face of journalism is changing, and our generation will decide its path. It sounds like a lot of pressure, but those words have stuck with me since and have inspired me, in the words of Al Neuharth, to continue to dream, dare and do.
Photojournalist J. Scott Applewhite advises that as a high schooler looking to become a photojournalist, one should keep shooting and learning. Applewhite was among many writers, photographers, activists and more who came to speak to the Free Spirits.
Free Spirits are given makeshift virtual reality goggles to experiment with their phones during Val Hoeppner's digital media session. Hoeppner is the CEO of her own media consulting company where she travels across the country training journalists on how to incorporate the use of media in the newsroom.
Ole Miss Invitational Journalism Workshop for High School Students
The summer between my junior and senior year, I was selected among students from across the state to participate in the Invitational Journalism Workshop for High School Students hosted by the University of Mississippi (better known as Ole Miss). Although this was a small program, I knew that Ole Miss had a great journalism program, and the opportunity to learn from not only those professors but also established journalists form across the country was not one to pass up. I wanted to make the most of my summer and learn as much as I can before returning to MSMS in the fall to help lead the new Vision staff.
As a result, I spent six days total in Oxford, MS expanding my knowledge on everything from effectively conducting an interview to framing photos just right to beautifully capture a subject. Speakers like Alysia Burton Steele--photographer, picture editor on a Pulitzer Prize-winning team, and author of Delta Jewels: In Search of My Grandmother's Wisdom--taught me how any conversation can lead a meaningful story and that if you want to hear a story, sometimes simply taking initiative and asking will lead you there. Ms. Steel completely changed my understanding of feature writing, and she is one of many examples I always refer back to when teaching new writers about this style of writing.