Waiting for K4

I think it's about time that I introduced you all to a little friend of the office. The so-called "work-flow software" does wonderful things for the paper. Basically, it creates an automatic routing system so articles are read by editors in the correct succession and that no two editors are changing the article at the same time. It also allows for our production associates to layout the pages as editors are reading them. Articles automatically update in the layout as editors retool them, meaning that both finish at about the same time. It's hard to imagine what our job would be like without it.

But K4 giveth and K4 taketh away, and when K4 goes down, it makes all our lives a living hell. K4 can go down of its own accord, without warning, and when it does, we are usually crippled until we can get it back. Also, because the articles are so intertwined with our network, anytime that the network goes down, K4 goes down with it. This has happened more frequently this semester than I can remember in the past--though it's possible that I'm just more aware of it now--and has meant far more long nights that we would otherwise have.

Now, normally, when K4 goes down, it comes back up within about twenty minutes. On bad nights, it can go down for forty or fifty.

Right now, we are approaching our second hour without K4.

There is a backup plan for cases like this, but it isn't pretty. Every editor goes through the story one by one, e-mailing between each other as we go and praying that nothing else goes wrong. Once all of the articles are finished being edited, we then have to paste them on the page and, because we haven't been retooling the story sizes all night long, usually results in an additional forty minutes of playing with margins and making things fit.

So as K4 sits down [and I pretend I don't have a presentation on my term paper in class tomorrow], let's look into the grab bag.

Anonymous asked: "How does the Spec go about training reporters?"

The answer is actually pretty simple. We take a two-pronged approach. The first is a series of five or six classes talking about the fundamentals of journalism and how Spectator functions.

The first is about Spec's organizational structure, where we tell them how their stories go from idea to paper.

The second is a basic overview of how to report where we cover such topics as how to take down a quote and how not to make up facts--sounds simple, actually quite difficult and something that takes some time to fully grasp. [Just took 25 minute break to start placing stories. They're still going but I'm no longer able to help in the process at all.]

Day three covers how to write, touching on the basic inverted pyramid as well as some thoughts on features.

After the third session, trainees are eligible to start reporting. The fourth session is always about the structure of Columbia and usually touches on controversies or big issues that are ongoing within our coverage area. The last one or two sessions tend to vary based on who the training editors are--we have done courses on diversity in the office and in our coverage, legal issues faced by reporters, how to write a good feature, mock interviews, etc. In the last week, we always have a party.

But training doesn't end with the last training session. For the first several stories that they write, new reporters are required to come into the office and line-edit the article with the associate who is on for the night. After some number of stories--usually at some point between six and ten--or at the end of the semester when many of the new writers take on beat, wee promote the trainees to staff writers. For those of you playing at home, you can tell the distinction by the "qualine" that appears under writers' names. "Columbia Daily Spectator" indicates that the person is still a trainee or contributor, while "Spectator Staff Writer" indicates a training graduate.

As for Spec's relationship with CSPA, there really isn't one. I just happened to be working there to get some case over spring break.

More answers from the grab bag next time. Back to layout.