Leadership
My leadership style has evolved over the past three years. My sophomore year, my co-editor suffered from severe senioritis, as my adviser put it. He did not pull his weight and I was often left to design one to three sports pages and edit all the sports stories on my own. In that year, I was a silent leader. I consistently put together my page before deadline and then helped copy edit other sections.
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Additionally, my sophomore year my first news story was requested for prior review. This was before Illinois New Voices Act, which limits administration's censorship of student journalists. The superintendent requested I make changes to my story, claiming inaccuracy, as well as asking me to remove quotes from the P.E. chairperson. I contemplated changing these as this was my first disagreement with administration. However, after reassurance from my adviser, JEA and SPLC, I decided not to make these changes. I responded to his email with the reminder that a student newspaper is not meant to make the district look good, but to report the truth, and that the quotes would be included.
My junior year, I became co-editor-in-chief of the Omega along with an experienced senior. In the beginning of the year, I often stood beside my co-editor as she presented the agenda and answered section questions. I created pages and edited them all at least twice all the way through before print. During deadlines, I helped sections before writing my own stories and often checked in with the overall progress of the paper. However, by the end of the year I caught up to be my co-editor's equal which, if you know her, is no easy feat. I fixed problems early and often. I stood my ground against procrastinating staff members and helped tackle tough issues such as developing policies for covering student deaths.
Junior year was the first year with new administrators which sadly made some things more difficult, along with several student deaths that saddened the community. With this difficulty came an exponential increase in communication. It was crucial that I relayed things my adviser and I talked about to the group so that everyone was on the same page. On a very sensitive topic, I led the staff in class discussions about how we wanted to cover the issue and relayed our thoughts back to our adviser.
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My co-EIC and I also presented a session at the JEA/NSPA convention in Indianapolis. con censorship and how to combat it. After the presentation, students from all over the country asked questions about their specific First Amendment issues. We began to really understand how serious this issue is across the country. We urged others to join the New Voices movement in their state.
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Additionally, junior year I was able to develop a style to my leadership. I often say that I think the best leader is one who teaches and inspires others to lead. Through frequent section meetings and aiding in beginning journalism classes, I have been able to help others lead their section or just become better overall leaders. I have definitely continued this mindset into my senior year.
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In between junior and senior year I had the opportunity to represent Illinois at the Al-Neuharth Free Spirit Conference in Washington D.C.. This trip with 50 other strangers taught me so much about leading in a more silent role when I'm usually the loudest. It taught me about how to put faith into other people and give them the confidence to move forward, while others gave me more confidence. Furthermore, it taught me how to be a more responsive leader. I was able to listen to so many great ideas from the nation's best scholastic journalists that my eyes were opened to how many great ideas I could be missing just from my own staff. I have used this lesson and now try to solve issues as a staff, not put the issue on my shoulders. This has resulted in faster and better solutions coming from a bigger number of brilliant minds.
This year I am confident in my role as editor-in-chief. I make the agendas for class and ask for pages after every deadline to edit for the next day. I lead the staff through legal issues and controversies in school. My co-EIC and I run a group chat to update the staff on scheduling and organize things that come up during the day, such as covering the recent walk out. I speak on behalf of the paper to teachers and administrators. I created and led a summer workshop for our staff.
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The diversity that I show in my stories I try to replicate in our overall coverage as well. I push our editors and writers to find sources that may not necessarily be known throughout the school or may be underrepresented. I ensure that the attention given to a sports story is also given to a story about the play. This emphasis has led us to a greater range of coverage and a more captivating paper.
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I continue to fight against a board policy that prohibits our rights as students and as journalists. We are crafting a video to inform the community ongoing First Amendment violations and looking into hiring a lawyer.
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Additionally, this year my co-EIC and I have cultivated a more supportive and fun staff. On the right is a picture of us dressed up as picas for Halloween. Below, are pictures from our staff Secret Santa and a tweet to support our news editor in her college auditions (with a shameless plug to the website, of course). We frequently think of things to do outside of school, like going to see movies or participating in March Madness. These efforts are so much more valuable than I originally thought as they have created a more cohesive staff relationship.
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My style of leadership is loud, but not often selfish. You will never see my co-EIC or I try to push our story over someone else's. We try to reward the best stories and the hardest work, and hope that others push us to be the best leaders we can be. I am so proud of the staff that I have had the privilege to lead this year.
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