HELP! --> PROJECT: School Newspaper

[kLaZoManiaC]

Hi guys!

just a few days ago we met our english prof for the first time since classes resumed after the Christmas break. she announced the requirements for the course, which included our making of a 6-column school newspaper for our finals. we will be working in groups of ten members each.

according to her the school paper we will be working on must be comprised of not less than 8 pages and must include news, features, editorial, literary, entertainment and sports sections. articles may be hypothetical or factual. news and other features must only cover events that took and will place from this month until a week before the deadline.

deadline is on March 15, 2002.

so, guys, how shall we prepare for it? can you give us some pointers on how we could make the best out of the efforts we will be putting to work on this project?

THANKS A LOT! your help shall be much appreciated!
:) :D

[virgo14]

are you in high school or college? either way, why don't you approach the editorial board of your school newspaper and ask some tips from them? or maybe just observe what they do, so that you have an idea on how to go about it. :)

i'd suggest working on the features and the literature sections first, because they usually require a little more traditional research (ie. books, internet, interviews). decide on a theme for features and literature and come up with several topics related to that theme. then, start writing. i can't quite remember the requirement for the length but keep in mind that you are gonna be re-printing these on column format, so don't make it too long. unless you wanna be editing all night to make it fit in the allotted page, that is. :laugh: and by the way, what do you mean the articles can be "hypothetical"? :|

for the entertainment section, i guess you can have a photo-spread covering school events that took place during the specified time period, diba?

by the way, don't forget to create a time-table so that you can at least finish the features and literature sections before you start working on the news, sports, and editorial sections.

news articles don't need to follow a theme, they just have to be about things that affect your the rest of your school's population, things they need to know regarding policy and administrative changes, that sort of thing. basta, any noteworth event! of course the sports page covers news about your varsity teams. be careful on choosing the topics, though, coz these news items are time sensitive, and has to be up-to-the-minute. you need to interview lots of people for this and always remember to verify your facts. use even smaller words and shorter sentences for these sections; remember, you are simply delivering facts, so there's no need for flowery adjectives and all that.

lastly, the editorial section is pretty much about the stand you (as a group) take on a controversial issue. again, it doesn't have to be too long. check out the editorial section in any newspaper. oh, and you have to have an editorial cartoon as well, to go with the editorial piece itself. and it has to be related to each other. for the columns naman, kanya-kanya na kayo on what to write about. but again, focus on issues that relate to the students and faculty members.

hope this helps! good luck. :)

[Gollum]

1. if there's one thing i could tell you, all your work won't amount to squat if you don't have a great lay-out artist. choose him/ her well. the face of your paper can make or break you.
kahit na napakaganda pa man ng mga articles sa newspaper mo, kung sobrang pangit ng lay-out (cluttered, magulo), all your efforts are for naught. hindi babasahin ang diyaryong masakit sa mata.

2. it is also essential to determine who are the people you are trying to reach out to. are they students? are they parents? are they old geezers hanging out in welfare homes? you can't just put anything and everything in your paper. you may lose potential readers just with the type of stories you carry. halimbawa, if you are aiming for an intelligent set of readers, you don't carry tabloidish stories like "nene, dinonselya ni lolo." but if you are aiming for that sort of audience, then by all mean keep them stories coming.

3. make sure your editor-in-chief or your managing editor keeps an eye on everything. para lang ma-sure that everyone is pulling his/ her own weight.

4. so before you start doing the paper, convene first your staff for an editorial/ story conference. pag-usapan nyo yung gusto ninyong mangyari, ano itatawag ninyo sa paper niyo etc. also, brainstorm for specific topics you may want to assign to your staff na isulat nila, especially sa mga features ninyo. make sure they do their assignments. keep tabs on them, otherwise, walang matatapos hangga't hindi pa march 15.

5. hmmm... ano pa ba? isip muna ako.

goodluck sa project nyo. :D:D

[WhItEFox]

I had been with that kind of school project before because of my course. ANyway, the kind of newspaper that we had was a 14-page, 12 by 17 community newspaper that includes ads (yes, they paid for the space) with a circulation of 1,000 copies distributed in the town that we covered. Since, in your case, it is a campus-based newspaper, I dont think you would undergo the grueling process of finding a printing press for the paper and convincing advertisers to shell out cash for it.

So, ok. what I did first with my group was to FORM THE EDITORIAL BOARD. From the EIC, down to the staff. Decide who among yourselves is responsible and capable enough to carry the designated positions and which one deserves to be in the technical positions-- know-how in the field of journalism (READ: can edit and write) and managerial positions. People holding the topmost positions -EIC, Assoc, ME, must also possess patience and flexibility but must be very strict when it comes to deadlines.
;)
Then DISCUSS what are the articles that have to be prioritized BEWARE: At this point, most of the staffers are excited and tend to have an overflow of ideas ( that some of it are too unrealistic to meet the deadline).

HAVE a TIMETABLE/CALENDAR so that the staff will know when it is due to the section eds for editing, eds to the higher ups. Make sure you allot enough time for revising, in case the article needs a major overhaul. :ahh:

Have a SKILLED, VERY PROFICIENT Layout artist ( Expert or semi-expert on ADOBE Pagemaker and Photoshop). I know some of the projects who screwed up because of the layout artist's lack of skill (or imagination) in executing a reader-friendly pages. It is a must that you know the basics inPAGE DESIGNING (yes, there are rules for it). An excellent written article will not be appreciated if it is layouted poorly in the page. Decide what typos are u going to use (Times New ROman for News). Avoid too much eye candy unless your readers are kids. If none of the members in the group are skilled enough to handle this, then find or hire somebody to do this for you. Yes, you have to pay him/her thousand bucks but i tell you, its worth it.

And please, KNOW THE BASIC NEWSWRITING skills. Your paper will be judged first on its frontpage. Make sure, you wont encounter major grammatical errors.

Practice TEAMWORK. Remember, its a group project, even if you are the EIC, the people that you will be working with are still your classmates, not your slaves and you are not paying them. Respect and support each other's decisions. Good luck. If you have more questions, feel free to PM me. :sunnysmile:

[double_helix]

Best tips I can give you:
1. Use Adobe Pagemaker for the lay-out. Duh!
2. Avoid elongated articles. This is a definite no-no. Although my editor seems to always forget. The dumbass! :mad:
3. Keep it simple. The usual mistake rookies do is try to fancy it up. If you we're making a mag. It'll probably do you good. But not when you're making a paper. :)

[Little_Totoy]

Originally posted by Gollum
1. if there's one thing i could tell you, all your work won't amount to squat if you don't have a great lay-out artist. choose him/ her well. the face of your paper can make or break you.
kahit na napakaganda pa man ng mga articles sa newspaper mo, kung sobrang pangit ng lay-out (cluttered, magulo), all your efforts are for naught. hindi babasahin ang diyaryong masakit sa mata.


tama yan.....we were once asked to prepare a magazine for a project and we thought lay-outing would be very very easy............and let me tell you its a nightmare.........