thursday, december 16, 2004
Newspaper blabber
Print is hard to get used to after years of writing on the web. Wikipedia has made me revise and add to anything that comes near my pencil. Blogging has made me think that I can publish anything without rules. Coexisting with adults has made me expect decent writing.
This is a bit of a problem. Working on our little independent newspaper, I assume that my writers (other students at my school) will accept edits like Wikipedia does - quietly, without protest, and instantly. I want to rewrite and reformat their work when I feel like it. I don’t like the physical constraints of deadlines, xeroxing costs, and the impossibility of permalinks and same-page updates. I tend to think of my writers as people writing for me because I can’t write everything…bad, bad thinking.
I publish anything/everything mixed up together. We have opinion-saturated news, pure editorials, partial nonsense, short fiction, and irrelevant drawings. Should I have a page for straight news, two pages for editorials, and a page for entertainment? I don’t believe in that. Things are arranged by aesthetics and predicted appeal. We have very little straight news; objectivity is boring because we’re all familiar with the subjects. Editorials often go on the front page.
Oh, and I have to deal with authority figures. The principal sends me nasty memos and refuses to be interviewed about anything. She promised to try to prevent the paper from being distributed. She often ignores district policies. She doesn’t know I have them memorized.
I love it all so much. Now I have to stop procrastinating. I promised them the third issue tomorrow!
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