By the time this edition comes out, the elections for next year’s editorial board of The Blue and Grey will have happened. In the next few weeks, the transition of responsibilities from the current staff to the new one will start happening.
We at the newspaper have recently been talking a lot about recruitment ideas, such as contests, appealing to various departments, and even musical performances. I think that the enthusiasm and dedication of the writers and editors currently lined up for next year will pay off, and the newspaper will continue to improve and become a voice for the community at Hood.
Something that I think is very important, however, is being aware of the fundamentals of writing for and editing a newspaper. Having so few people sometimes results in lapses when it comes to the basics of reporting and writing. We tend to focus a lot of energy on brainstorming story ideas and trying to recruit new people, which is certainly necessary, but I’ve noticed that the fundamentals have been getting left behind in all the activity.
While I was writing for and editing the news section, I made plenty of very basic mistakes and some bizarre decisions. Part of it is learning from our mistakes, but it’s important for our staff not to lose sight of fundamental writing skills, the rules of writing news stories and AP style, what makes a good photograph, the importance of interviewing someone in person, etc.
With a small staff and the conveniences of technology, sometimes the desire to simply get something done supersedes the need to carefully edit and think about what we’re producing. I think that if we can balance our goal of becoming more of a student representation with a concern for high-quality writing, reporting, and editing, the future of our publication will be very bright.
Catherine Collins
Editor-in-Chief