Web and Social Media
Sports Coverage
As a basketball player, I understand that one the best ways to communicate sports information is through social media. Immediate coverage of game, tournament, or match scores is what viewers are most interested in. When I became Print Sports Editor in 2021, I capitalized on this trend by pushing myself and other reporters to do live game coverage on Instagram stories or on Twitter in tandem with an article. I used Sign-Up Genius to assign coverage and presented a Sports Coverage Bootcamp to promote coverage to the class.
WSS Coverage
As journalism continues to lose value in our society, I believe that strengthening the connection with our audience is crucial. At WSS, I like to use social media to bring students along for some of WSS’s traditions. This past year, I had the opportunity to attend NSPA’s National Convention in St. Louis and did daily recaps to bring the audience along.
Multimedia
When publishing an article on the website, it is important to use multimedia to increase engagement and readability. Sometimes, using multimedia is the best way to grasp readers on Social Media as well.
Article Forms
Like thousands of other high school publications, WSS uses SNO to publish our online articles. In a digital world, our online articles reach thousands of viewers, and it is important to try and diversify what our readers are seeing. With the guidance of online WSS’s EIC, Camille, I use the website to experiment with different article forms.
Beat Coverage
Assigning beats is one of the best ways to ensure that all aspects of the West community are lifted through WSS. Due to the pandemic, we reduced our focus on beat coverage because of a lack of clubs and sports, however, this year, editors made it a priority to have thorough and well-thought-out coverage. To do this, we had news and sports editors assign staffers to beats of their interest and have mandated one beat coverage assignment per cycle. Although this increased the expectations of staffers, it taught the importance of staying timely and diversifying sources.
