NEWSPAPER
NEWSPAPER REFLECTION
I definitely think I improved my work in the newspaper this year. I really enjoyed being co-editor with Shelby, and getting to figure out what articles would go on each page and making editorial decisions. Being an editor brought new challenges, but I never felt too stressed, and working with Shelby and Mrs. Briggs, I was able to find solutions.
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I reached a slump in the middle of the semester with my articles; I ran out of motivation and encountered a bit of junior-itis. I fell back on my stock articles often, and defaulted to uninteresting, bland articles (like quizzes and reviews, which are fun, but not the work I’m proudest of). However, I think I finished the semester strong. I wrote a profile on a group of AFHS upperclassmen who organized a 5k, and had a really comprehensive interview with them. I have a group of two more AFHS, student-focused articles in the works.
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Also, thanks to an article I wrote on the upcoming 2020 presidential candidates, I discovered a new passion of mine: politics-focused articles, op-eds especially. I’m excited to write more of those next semester, but I would love to find a way to make those types of articles connect to the student body more. I’m interested in exploring the possibility of interviewing two students with opposing viewpoints on an issue and laying out their opinions next to each other on a spread, as Mrs. Briggs suggested.
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Being an editor also helped me improve my layout skills. I enjoy doing layout now more than before, and have been in charge of layout for a couple of issues. I think my proudest moment was with the most recent issue that I layed-out, which was our highest grade for layout so far! I was very proud of us.
Photography is one thing I need to work on. I did have some great shots—my picture of Beto O’Rourke in a dynamic pose at a rally, with a crowd surrounding him, is definitely my favorite—but for many articles, I defaulted to objects or books for the picture. I would like to work more on generating interesting, people-focused pictures for my articles for next semester. If I continue to reach my goal of making my articles more focused on students and AFHS, that should not be too much of a problem.
