But it doesn't help when only about 1/4th of the class cares about the finished product. Today we finished layout on this year's first paper, but it took a while. We have newspaper 4 days a week, for 50 minutes, and that's the end of the day. But it wasn't anywhere near done, so Lucy, our teacher/editor (i go to a hippie school, so we call our teachers by 1st names) requested for after-school help. But only myself, and my good friend and fellow tech nerd, Jimmy Xander took up the call. Good thing too, because we were so much more productive in the hour and a half we spent than in the 50 minutes in class.
There's a funny dynamic between me and Jimmy. We work well together. We have similar layout aesthetics, and are tech geeks. But we sometimes are on opposite ends of some heated arguments about the direction of the paper. Take the front page story debate this week. There is usually a disagreement in deciding what will be the front page story. But this week, it was particularly testy. Myself, Lucy, and about 1/2 the class wanted a story about extensive RIPTA (Rhode Island's buses) cuts. But the other 1/2 wanted a profile of the new chemistry teacher, Alex. I know, right. The RIPTA story that affects the daily lives of students, and is causing a major backlash in the state. This is a big story. But the other side's argument for Alex: he's cute.
Let me expand on that. Their argument, including Jimmy, was that a big photo of a cute guy will get more people to pick up the paper. And that's where the real schism is in the paper. Wo we want to make kick ass stories, or get a huge readership.
This came up between me and Jimmy again this afternoon after everyone else left. Here's the dialogue when I had to cut some of my kick ass election recap story:
Will: I just feel bad. This is such a great story.
Jimmy: I'm sure it is a good story. But it doesn't matter if nobody reads it.
Will: I don't give a crap if they read it. I know I wrote a great story.
And that's the "2 party system" of Newspaper One. A good, respectable paper with a small but dedicated readership, or watered down stories with a large readership. I guess we all just need to compromise.
BTW, RIPTA did go on the front page, along with the photo I took for it. But I did cut some of my election recap. :(
