Introduction to RedEye

Introduction

Manual RedEye is an online multimedia news organization that provides the students and faculty of duPont Manual High School with current events and feature stories in a variety of categories. Since its creation, the site has included content focused on a countless number of topics and multimedia in a variety of different formats. RedEye is the main contributor to the Crimson Student Press Network social media accounts.

Manual RedEye

RedEye as a classroom

As the Manual RedEye staff meets primarily during school hours and uses the school district’s space and equipment, one of your priorities in this class is to continuously develop as a multimedia journalist. This often happens through staffer- or adviser-led seminars and lessons, or through your own curiosity, innovation and exploration. Furthermore, RedEye functions as a classroom in the sense that staff members must be graded. In the past, the adviser and editors have implemented a matrix-based system in which staff members keep track of the articles they publish - this is a simple way to fairly compensate staffers for the amount of work they complete. Here are links to the 2016-17 matrix and rubrics that RedEye uses to assign grades and assess content.

RedEye as a newsroom

Manual RedEye started out as a way for Journalism & Communication (or Communications Media Arts) students to experiment with multimedia storytelling. Now, after over 2,000 published articles and countless breaking stories, the small high school news website is highly regarded by the local media, and its audience spans much further than Manual’s walls. This evolution was due to the steps each year's Editors-in-Chief took to improve the systems under which the staff produces and edits content. The current system for the cycle of production is summarized here:

• Conceptualize story
• Discuss deadlines with Assignment Editor
• Collect materials (interviews, footage, notes)
• Assemble
• Revise (personally and with an editor)
• Format into Wordpress
• Fill out the necessary grading materials

Positions and Duties

In their first year (with some exceptions), journalism students join RedEye as entry-level staff members (or “staffers”). They do not have any leadership responsibilities, but share these responsibilities with everyone on staff:

• Follow journalism standards as taught in Journalism 1 & Journalism 2.
• Adhere to deadlines.
• Constantly generate new content.
• Produce quality work that will attract and retain audiences.
• Work well alone or in small groups.
• Accept and provide constructive feedback.
• Attend events outside of school to report on them as needed.
• Stay after school to work in the lab as needed.
• Report breaking news as needed.

Editor-in-Chief (1-2)

• Leads by example: produce high quality content to push the limits of the site and turns around content in a timely manner.
• Inspires and motivates staff with innovative ideas and outstanding effort.
• Carefully evaluates site according to CSPA and NSPA standards, striving for top placement in national competitions.
• Handles and oversees all aspects of production, from reviewing content for accuracy, clarity, and overall quality, to managing content on the website.
• Conducts staff meetings and keeps students and editors informed of deadlines and other systems.
• Holds students accountable for meeting deadlines/postings.
• Handles breaking news and other reporting assignments as needed.
• Must take the class Editorial Leadership.

Managing Editor

• Assists the EIC with any and all tasks.
• Updates a story-tracking spreadsheet and uses it to enforce deadlines.
• Produces and assists in producing timely and appealing content.
• Oversees Social Media Director (public perception of website) and Assignment Editors and helps staff meet all deadlines. Helps ensure the accuracy of content.
• Should take the class Editorial Leadership.

Multimedia Director

• Oversees all video, audio, and other multimedia content on site.
• Teaches multimedia skills as necessary to the staff. Works individually with less experienced students on their projects.
• Ensures the quality of the content.
• Searches for stories and assigns content as needed.
• Creates outstanding and innovative multimedia content.
• Ideal candidate will have had Broadcast and Photojournalism and be a second year staff member. Applicants with other qualifications will be considered.

Assignment Editor (2)

• Works with their assigned staffers to proofread/revise writing and ensure that assignments (stories, photo captions, infographics, etc.) are assigned, completed, and adhere to * * quality standards.
• Coordinates with the Managing Editor to assign, enforce and track deadlines.
• Oversees brainstorming of story assignments and helps find assignments for staffers who need them.
• Teaches copy skills as necessary to the staff.
• Produces high quality content to push the limits of the site.

Social Media Director

• Ensures frequent content on all CSPN social media (primarily Twitter and Instagram).
• Promotes RedEye content through theCSPN Twitter.
• Must maintain good public relations on all social media.
• Oversees any contests through the accounts.
• CAN INCLUDE responsibilities of an Ad Editor or Business and Marketing Manager: coordinate with advertisers, oversee site stats, etc.

Photo Editor

• Assigns photo shoots and photographs as necessary.
• Ensures that all necessary events are being photographed.
• Approves photo galleries and monitors completion and corrections.
• Is taking or has taken Photojournalism I.
• Teaches, mentors, critiques, and serves as technical adviser on photographic composition, camera operation, Photoshop, audio slideshows to photographers and other staff.
• Manages other photo content as needed.

Sports Editor

• Produces exceptional. multimedia-heavy coverage of sporting events and teaches these skills to staff members.
• Works with a team to Tweet to @theCSPNsports (at least 2-3 times weekly) important sports info, such as live game plays, score updates, upcoming events, ticket info, etc.
• Leads a small team in planning and creating sports features (articles, video, audio, etc.).
• Ensures that all major sporting events are being thoroughly covered and live-tweeted.

Design Editor

• Designs infographics for stories with content from staff writers.
• Designs web banners for breaking news, blogs, or special coverage.
• Explores new design possibilities for the site (logos, ears, ad designs, etc.).

Webmaster (1-2)

• Plans, controls, and maintains web design.
• Troubleshoots technical problems.
• Helps create/aides in creation of special projects requiring technical expertise.
• Works with designers to explore visual changes to the site (themes, layout, etc.)
• For more information on resources and guidelines for webmasters, click here or see the last link under RedEye’s wiki section.

Pitch Meetings

The primary way staff members receive story ideas (aside from finding it on their own) is through pitch meetings. These are required discussion times when each staff member must come prepared with ideas for stories that could be published on the site. These generally happen around once every three weeks, and the pitches that are generated are entered into Trello by the Managing Editor. Trello is where the staff will keep a full list of pitches and a grouping of resources for staff members to use at their disposal.

Deadlines

Each year the RedEye staff has implemented a deadline system as a way to keep staff members working and keep content relevant. In 2015, RedEye is building upon the traditional system and requiring that staff members and their Assignment Editors meet a “Submission deadline,” by which they turn in their story to their editor, and a “Publication deadline,” by which all the necessary revisions must be made and the story must be published. These deadlines are assigned by the Assignment Editor to the staffer, after the staffer conceptualizes a story. In this stage of the production process, the staffer works with their editor to fill out the initial information on their article’s rubric. This year’s staff uses this system to not only keep staffers working, but to gain control over the content flow - in previous years, the amount of new content on the front page was uncontrollable and depended simply on when staff members finished pieces. Now, because the staff knows when exactly articles will be published (as well as submitted), the editors can maintain a consistent flow of production and a more professional workflow.

Editing process

In RedEye, staff members collect and construct stories as they would in any journalism class or publication. Where it stands out is in its system for editing - after a staff member completes his or her piece of content, whether it’s an article, video, or other piece of multimedia, he or she will turn it into the appropriate editor. If it’s a sports piece, it will go through the Sports Editor; if it’s a video, it will go through the Multimedia Director; and if it’s an article or any other combination of multimedia, it will go through the staff member’s designated Assignment Editor. Articles or other multimedia content should be shared in Google Drive as well as in Wordpress, and videos should be shown in its working Premiere Pro file or over Vimeo.

After the editor has received the piece of content, he or she will review it, fix any minor mistakes, work with the staff member to fix any major mistakes, and fill out the assessment section of the rubric for that article.

Formatting: RedEye’s tools

It is the responsibility of the original author (not the editor) to format their story in Wordpress. However, since some editors prefer to edit stories in Google Drive rather than Wordpress, staff members should provide both of those options for their editor. For more information on this and the entire production process, see this document.

Assessment & Tracking

When the rubric is completed by the Assignment Editor (or another appropriate editor), he or she will give it to the original author. All staff members are responsible for keeping track of their articles’ rubrics throughout the six-week long grading period. At the end of the six weeks, each staff member will fill out a matrix documenting a summary of all the articles they published, and they will attach this to the stack of rubrics and turn it in.

Press Passes

Having a press pass is a privilege for staff members. You may use it only on official staff business and reporting; it does not double as a hall pass. Remember that when you are wearing the press pass, you represent RedEye and Manual as a whole.

Other responsibilities

Membership or positions with a J&C publication are never guaranteed for the entire length of the year. If the adviser feels the student is not fulfilling the role or is not a positive contributor, the adviser may choose to reassign positions during a staff review at the start of a new semester or at any time. If necessary, students may be switched to another J&C class or a study skills class.

Because RedEye staffers are often out in the building or in the community working on stories, they must exhibit professionalism at all times. This includes professional appearance, language, and behavior, as well as always carrying press passes when on assignment. Students who do not exhibit professionalism or who abuse press pass privileges can be dismissed from the staff. It is very important that RedEye staffers give a positive impression of their staff, their program, and their school.