Sunday, June 10, 2007
Settling In To Chaos
Ever have that not so fresh feeling?No, I'm not talking about personal hygiene. I'm talking about not feeling like you're on point, organized and focused.
I've not really settled in to my new gig as managing editor of the campus paper's online site because it really hasn't sunk in yet. And I don't know at what point I will feel on course, organized and focused on my goal.
I've not heard from the faculty advisor, who I'm supposed to work with on a complete re- engineering of the online site. I'm not sure what my staff will look like, as many of the students who have turned in applications do not have online/new media skills. And on top of that, one of my hired assistant editors confessed to me that he might go to Europe in the fall instead, citing missing his girl from Finland (he studied abroad for an entire school year). This would leave me with one other assistant editor.
Needless to say, I'm feeling tremendous pressure. I don't have as large a support staff as the newspaper has. And since most folks prefer to work on the magazine staff, the online side of things often gets ignored. (Why? Most students come into the department thinking magazine writing means less work and longer deadlines. Oh boy, they in for a rude awakening!)
So, how will I do it? How will I find a new assistant, when most of the other qualified people have graduated and moved on to internships or jobs? How will I get the attention and interest of an at least capable multimedia staff? How effective would it be for me to train those who lack the skills during my summer, without any pay? And how will I move to a new place, pay bills, and leave to attend the NABJ convention for an entire week?
I wonder if an industry level managing editor ever goes through the same sort of feelings...
Labels: burnout, frustration, student press
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Honey, stress about things you have control over. When you find out who your staff is, train them. Train them well. You don't need a large staff, just a dedicated well-trained one.