There has been an unusual trend to use checklists in the journalism room lately.

Sarah speaking:

I knew when I saw Jill break out a design checklist/Excel document last week that she meant business. Jill went around last class in newspaper asking every single page designer what exactly was going to be on each and every page. Jill’s not the only one either. Last issue, our features editor, Kristina, created a checklist for her section and last month, our a&e editor, Austin, designed a winter months checklist to run on the FlipSide page. I myself have occasionally used a checklist to keep on top of website assignments, but now I am feeling out done by my fellow staff members. I don’t know if it would be productive, but maybe I could make a “Were you on Sarah’s good list today?” checklist. It might be fine to keep a running checklist of website promotion as well. Like every time a staff member slips mvnews.org casually into conversation, they get a very rewarding check next to their name. We’ll see. For the time being, I am very proud of everyone’s efforts, especially Jill’s to improve the paper’s design this month. If any one can do it, Jill can!

Jill speaking:

The title of this blog isn’t a lie; checklists and I have a very loving relationship. I can’t believe how many problems I have already been able to solve using my checklists, and we’re only two class periods into this issue. I like to see people using checklists, especially the section editors, because it helps to keep on top of things and eliminates the possibility of forgetting small stuff. Another bright side, they are relatively easy to make and well worth the half hour it takes to put them together. The only thing I hope to change is not spending the entire class period using my checklist and actually being able to work on my pages, which has yet to happen. I’m sure that as the issue goes on, the problems I encounter while checking people off (i.e. headline treatments that aren’t going to work, design questions, etc.) will become fewer because people will have their pages better figured out. Once we are out of the brainstorming stage, I believe my checklist will become less necessary.

Lesson of the week:

1. Checklists are a great way to stay organized.

Lesson 19 of being an editor-in-chief: Check.