Editing, Leadership & Team Building
Editing
As Social Media Coordinator and Sports Editor, I managed a staff of writers and served as the first editor to see their work. In this role, I gained extensive hands-on editing experience, reviewing stories for clarity, structure, accuracy and voice. Through consistent collaboration and revision, I developed a thoughtful editing style that balances journalistic standards with respect for each writer’s individual voice. This section reflects my ability to guide stories from draft to publication while supporting and strengthening my staff.
How do I edit?
1. Read through
Before I begin editing, whether it be adding a comma or big picture, I always read through the story. This helps me to understand the writer’s voice, spot overarching issues, and ensure my edits support the story’s overall clarity and impact.
2. Big picture
Once I’ve read through the story, my next step is addressing big picture elements like structure, flow and clarity throughout the story. Focusing on these first allows me to catch major issues early and shape the story's foundation before refining the smaller details.
3. Conference
After I make big picture edits I like to conference with the writer to ensure they understand edits I am making. This step is critical because big picture edits can sometimes be subjective and complicated. Collaborating with the writer and communicating ensures the writer’s voice still shines through and that the writer remains not overwhelmed.
4. Small picture
After big picture edits are finalized and aligned with the writer, I shift my focus to smaller details like AP style, grammar, punctuation and word choice. These edits polish the story, ensure professionalism and help the piece meet journalistic standards.
5. Short conference
My last step is a brief, focused conference with the writer to review final details and clarify any remaining medium-sized edits. This ensures everything is accurate, intentional and that the writer feels confident in the final version before it goes onto the next level.
Left: This was the very first story I ever edited. It was a critical review written by a Journalism I student. I was a little nervous but felt relatively confident since I had written reviews before. The original draft was fairly confusing, so many of my edits focused on major changes—clarifying ideas, improving word choice, and encouraging the writer to include more opinion. Because these edits were on the bigger side, I made sure to conference with the writer during an after-school work session. We walked through the edits together and cleaned up the review into a much stronger piece.
Right: This story was an enterprise piece by at-the-time Beat Editor Cooper Jones, a sophomore. Although the story was already very clean and in its final stages, I left edits focused on tightening quotes, adding impact and correcting a few grammar issues. Since the edits were relatively minor, a conference wasn’t necessary—I just checked in with Jones and made sure he didn’t have any questions about the changes.
Right: Throughout my time as social media coordinator I've edited all of my staffer, Isabel Blankenship’s, beats before they are submitted to our Beat Editor. Each piece, I followed a consistent process. Starting with big picture edits and then smaller picture edits. Blankenship has been receptive to feedback and all 8 out of 8 of her beats have been published. This reflects our effective editing collaboration.
Right: Although more of an informal editing style, in the moment peer editing is something I have done a lot off. Last year, a fellow staffer Angel Tejada was someone I did this with the most. For example, during Cycle 4, he had some edits on including more information and he was struggling to figure out what to add and how to word it. So, I closed my computer and worked through it with him. I gave suggestions while still keeping his work in his own words. This in the moment editing has happened lot's between us two on small and large scales. From this, I have improved my editing and conferencing skills greatly!
Leadership
Throughout my time in journalism, I have grown into a confident and intentional leader. Serving as an editor for the past two years pushed me to develop my own leadership style, one rooted in collaboration, accountability and trust. Whether guiding a staff through production, supporting individual writers or making decisions under deadline, I have learned how to lead with clarity while empowering others. This section highlights the leadership skills I’ve developed both on and off the page.
Holding an Editorial board position
During the 2024-25 school year, I served as the Social Media Coordinator for the ODYSSEY Media Group. This meant I held an editorial board position and had a staff under me that I was to lead. My duties in terms of leadership included setting a good example, making sure they stay on top of their work, making sure staffers feel comfortable asking me questions all while ensuring our social media presence is exceptional.
As Sports Editor, I hold a leadership position that extends beyond writing. I manage a staff of writers, help plan and edit layouts for the magazine and ensure our website maintains consistent and thorough coverage of each sport. In addition to writing my regular column and a story for each issue, I am responsible for making sure all other content and extras are completed on time. This role has strengthened my ability to balance creative work with accountability, collaboration and decision-making.
Presenting
During the 2024-25 Fall Georgia Scholastic Press Association conference, me and a peer Victoria Garland presented on social media. Our session covered how to use social media, what to use it for and how to create a brand. Presenting is something that provokes a lot of anxiety in me but given that I am confident in my social media skills, delivering this presentation to a huge audience went great.
After attending the national scholastic press association journalism conference in November, every attendee paired up and redelivered a session they found informative. Me and Olivia Hendershot worked together to give a session on photography basics and foundations. This was the first time I ever presented and although it was only to my classmates I am still really proud of myself for doing this.
Project Managment
One big project I took on leading when I was social media coordinator was candy booths. Candy booths are something we do to gain followers and boost our engagement. During lunch we give out a piece of candy for a follow and this method has proved insanely productive. To the right is the schedule I created and got approved by our school to run these candy booths.
After the social media table I ran
Before the social media table I ran
Like I mentioned above, these booths really do work. The first time I ever ran one was towards the end of my freshman year and to the left I have displayed the growth in followers we got in just one hour. Not only do we get follows from this but those followers then like, comment, share and interact with our posts increasing our engagement even more drastically.
As Sports Editor, I project managed our seasonal media days, which bring student-athletes and coaches together for interviews and photographs. I coordinated schedules by sport, organized a team of journalists and ensured each group arrived at designated times to maximize efficiency. I also helped set up the space and planned how the collected interviews and visuals would be used. This experience strengthened my organizational skills and reinforced the importance of preparation and clear communication in bigger newsroom projects.
As Sports Editor, I project managed our Classic City Championship football package. I coordinated and organized preview content for the band, cheer and football teams while ensuring each component worked with the overall package. In addition to planning written stories, I oversaw the inclusion of multimedia elements and real-time game coverage on the night of the event. This project required strong coordination, deadline management and communication skills to produce comprehensive coverage of one of the school’s most significant athletic events.
Reflecting on leadership
Each month, every editor is expected to attend a Leadership Seminar led by our adviser, David Ragsdale. These sessions allow us to reflect on how we have been as editors, learn from each other, learn from him and overall grow. During these seminars we often talk about how to manage staffs, effective communication techniques and methods for organization. Shown above are four of my Leadership Seminar note documents.
Team Building
Strong relationships are essential to keeping the OMG running effectively. Without trust and collaboration, both productivity and creativity suffer. Recognizing this, our staff prioritizes building meaningful connections that allow us to support one another, communicate openly and work better as a team. This section highlights the intentional ways we foster bonds that strengthen our program and our journalism.
Holiday Celebrations:
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A big part of the OMG program is our holiday celebrations! On valentines day we create foam hearts, during the winter holidays we have gift exchanges and also do a thanksgiving meal together! This allows a break from the intense work environment and time to get to know each other and bond with staff we don't interact with as frequently!
Journalism Conferences:
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As a program, we attend fall and spring GSPA, SIPA and staff that hold editorial positions attend NSPA! This year I went to both fall and spring GSPA and while there got to learn about journalism while also getting to talk with people in the program I haven't gotten to talk with before. I not only grew my knowledge but also my bonds with staff!
Collaborative Work:
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In the OMG we do lots of group work. From event/game coverages, TOP and shared stories collaborative work is huge! It's also a huge time to build bonds! For the CCHS vs CSHS football game, the team for coverage went together to CFA before and this gave us time to plan, get to know each other and enjoy the company!
Cycle Celebrations:
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At the end of our on-track magazine cycles, we hold a cycle celebration. Here we vote on in-house awards for things like best story, best photo, best layout, best package so much more. These give us a chance to celebrate each other and our hard work all while enjoying pizza, talking and laughing.
End of year banquet:
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The Creative Writing Project serves as a team-building activity where we step away from journalistic writing. By working in new groups and writing poems, short stories and other creative pieces, we build trust and strengthen connections across the program.
Creative writing project
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The end-of-year banquet brings our entire journalism program together to reflect on the work, growth and achievements of the year. Seniors deliver speeches and staff members are recognized with awards for their contributions throughout the year. This tradition reinforces the sense of community within the program.
