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3:33 am
May 1, 2009 |
laurenmichell
| | San Luis Obispo, Calif. | | | Member | posts 21 |
| | Post edited 7:34 am – May 1, 2009 by laurenmichell
I tweeted this earlier, but I didn't get the exact feedback I was looking for. Right now I'm in the process of drafting an application for a future online editor of the Mustang Daily. Although I'm not graduating yet, I want to make that eventual transition as seamless as possible by training all summer, then overseeing the position in the fall. I plan to market this application beyond the journalism department. I'm going to send it to every department head at Cal Poly. I've tried to include every possible criterion necessary, from copy editing to live blogging. But you all know best. What am I missing? Here's the link to the live form. You don't have to answer these questions, but a few things I've been thinking about: - Beyond tehnical skills, what personality/character traits should I look for in an online editor?
- Is it better to hire someone with good tech skills, and teach them the writing/editing? Or require good writing/editing and teach them the tech skills? (I'm thinking the former)
- I don't have any spot on that application for a resume because, ideally, my online editor will have an online portfolio with all the info. Is that an impractical expectation?
- Should the online editor be familiar with problems facing the jour industry, or is that something I can bring to light for them if I think they have the skills to make it better (e.g. I doubt a computer science major would really care about the state of the industry, but he may have innovative ideas)?
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12:13 am
May 2, 2009 |
Daniel Bachhuber
| | | | | Admin | posts 102 |
| | Good questions. If I were hiring an Online Editor, I'd be looking for a few key things. First, whether they have a website, and if so does that website look well-maintained and regularly updated. Ideally you'll be finding someone who already has a pretty decent knowledge of the web and what's going on; having a website is one of these indicators. Along these lines, you should have them link to their resume instead of submitting it. This would be a test to see whether they have a resume on their website, or a profile on LinkedIn. Two, I think you really have to decide what you want out of the Online Editor. If I were in your shoes, I'd be looking for someone with PHP and HTML/CSS experience to hammer on your website and continue to add features and functionality. You should focus the rest of your efforts then on getting the rest of your staff to contribute to content. It might be that you change the title from "Online Editor" to "Lead Developer" or something similar. Three, I think they should have some sense of what's going on in the industry but they don't necessarily have to be on top of everything. Last, but not least, you should have them pitch three concrete projects they'd like to work on during their stint (and then hold them to this). Hope that helps! | |
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12:25 am
May 2, 2009 |
Andrew Spittle
| | Walla Walla, WA | | | Moderator | posts 49 |
| | I agree with a lot of what Daniel said. Next year at the Whitman Pioneer we're adding another web position simply so that the roles of editor and developer are more well defined. The web editor will be attending story meetings and will be functioning in a similar fashion to a section editor. This position is not requiring web skills. Knowledge is a bonus, but not a requirement. We've then split all of the development and coding into a Webmaster position. Speaking from personal experience it's really not a good idea to roll web editing and development into one position. Even at a weekly paper it becomes quite tough to actually fit in the weekly editing and have any time left for real development. Just my two cents. Best of luck with the search! | Andrew – andrew@copress.org – CoPress Hosting Director – http://www.andrewspittle.net |
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10:43 am
May 2, 2009 |
MaxCutler
| | | | | Member | posts 10 |
| | I concur with what Andrew said. As a developer myself, I would probably not have joined my paper had I been asked to do editing roles as well. I work (in a Webmaster-like title) with the Online Editor to support his/her editorial initiatives, but also pursue things for the Business side as well. In my mind, the Online Editor should be someone with editorial and multimedia experience, who can direct editorial initiatives and help produce good multimedia content for the website. It's my job as the developer to build out any infrastructure and code to support the Online Editor's plans. Of course, that process is a give-and-take one, but it certainly helps to have that division of responsibilities. As such, I'm not sure that I'd necessarily require the Online Editor to have his/her own website, but at the very least I would make sure that he/she has good experience producing video or audio or Flash content and has a good vision for how we can use our paper's website to push our content and editorial creativeness. |
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12:15 am
July 23, 2009 |
William P. Davis
| | Veazie, Maine | | | Admin | posts 65 |
| | Post edited 4:16 am – July 23, 2009 by William P. Davis
To be honest, I'm far less interested in a Web developer than an online editor. We've been having problems finding someone to do both, so I talked to the other editors, and they've all agreed to take on the role of posting content to the site — something I think is best anyway. The section editors know their content best, can much easier link to previous articles, etc. Therefore the Web editor will become the Web developer, and will be given the task of rolling out a new function or revamping an old one. We're moving to a Web-first workflow next year anyway, so I think cutting the online editor out is a good move. Also, we have two assistant photo editors, one of whom handles multimedia. | |
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