A Day Observing the Frontline of Local Journalism.

I recently got the opportunity to have an “editor for the day” experience at my local newspaper the Evening Express in Aberdeen. This was a silent auction prize that was handed off to me but something I was looking forward to. I had a similar experience at STV a few years ago but that only consisted of a couple of hours whereas this was a full day. I had a rough outline of what to expect but I was also aware they could throw anything at me. I was picked up from the foyer and taken up to the main office where I was introduced to some of the people I would be working with for the day. What really surprised me about the ensuing day was how much journalism at the local level was a collaborative effort. In this social media rich age on a certain level with cameras on smartphones I expected individual journalists to be pounding the pavement for stories. There was a certain level of this discussed in the news conference I attended but having each individual department be working on on their own elements and aspects of the paper made it much more interesting for an outsider like myself. I was given a whistle-stop tour of all the departments and their role within the wider paper. As a keen WordPress user myself (as you might be able to tell) I particularly enjoyed seeing the papers online presence and it’s custom WordPress CMS. I got to see picture editors working on upcoming features promoting schools and competitions as well as the insane level of detail that is required to be a sub-editor which from what I could see was proof reading for a living. It was also very intriguing to see just how much was written on the fly and the amount of filler that was used in order to fulfil the required page count.
I had a really good day seeing how various elements and departments come together to form the kind of local journalism that many of us would take for granted but is nevertheless important to the community and its residents (sometimes much more so then the latest breaking national story.) If you are an aspiring journalist and get a similar opportunity for this kind of experience it’s something I would definitely recommend.