April 3, 2015

I just got chosen as one of next year's managing editors for Silver Chips Online. This position is a

little different than being a section editor – instead of only dealing with sports stories or news stories; I'll

be editing everything from OP/EDs to features. The managing editors are the last stop before the writers

send their finished stories to the Editors-in-Chief (EiCs), so it's our job to catch every mistake possible

and make sure that everything looks appropriate. Being a managing editor also means that rather than

writing two stories every cycle, like the staff writers and other section editors, I'll only be writing one.

The amount of stories I'm constantly editing will keep me busy enough.

We also had a meeting with the publication's teacher advisor, Ms. Edwards, and the entire

administrative team (the EiCs and managing editors). In addition to editing every story that gets posted on

the site and writing our own, the managing editors are also the designated emotional point men for the

publication. Whereas the EiCs are supposed to be distant and vaguely authoritative (which never really

works out), the managing editors are in charge of making sure everybody's happy and the paper's running

smoothly. That means running a staff meeting every quarter to check in and answer any questions about

Silver Chips Online.

It's a lot of responsibility, but I'm looking forward to it. I'm not surprised that I got the

position, but I am proud that I was chosen (last year's seniors chose our editing positions, and I know I

wasn't the only one who wanted to be managing editor). At the beginning of my junior year on staff, I was

one of four people perceived as a 'weak writer' and assigned a personal mentor. I considered myself a

rather strong writer at the time, so it came as somewhat of a shock to me. My assigned mentor was just as

confused as I was with why I was singled out, and provided only as much help as he thought I needed –

which is to say, none. Now, a year later, I'm not only one of the staff members with the most stories

published but I'm also a part of the managing team.

Nick Shereikis

April 22, 2015

Each year, the rising juniors are assigned a couple of practice stories to get used to Silver Chips

Online's writing style and the editing process. The assignments are as much for the editors as they are for

the writers though, and today I got my first taste of what being a managing editor is going to be like. It

was a fake news story about a Georgetown professor finding a human skeleton in Takoma Park, and I had

no idea how to approach it.

At this point, we haven't yet sent the new staff writers the Silver Chips Online manifesto, which

means that it's hard to edit stories' formatting. The publication has very specific rules on certain

formatting things (quotation marks have to be straight instead of curly or else it'll mess up the site, there

needs to be an extra space in between paragraphs, etc…), but those are all in the manifesto. This meant

that while editing, I had to be extra patient despite the strangely grating formatting errors.

And then there's the writing itself. It's strange – this particular fake news story was actually very

well written, but the mistakes that were evident were basic grammar and phrasing issues. While working

on it, I learned that I need to read each article extremely closely. Even a misplaced period or spelling

mistake can disrupt the clarity or meaning of the sentence – and even if it doesn't, it's never good for our

reputation to publish stories full of minute errors.

One thing I was surprised at, though, is how long it took me to edit this story. Obviously it's new

to me and I was taking my time with it to get it right, but it took me upwards of half an hour to read and

edit just 600 words. It actually makes me more appreciative and grateful of last years' managing editors

(even the one who stopped doing his work and was eventually demoted to staff writer). It's a lot of

responsibility, both to the publication (making it look good and professional) and to the writer – even

while editing grammar and syntax to make the article flow and look as good as possible, it's important not

to change the author's voice or intention. Like everything in life, this job is going to require finding a

balance.

Nick Shereikis

April 26, 2015

Today I edited an entirely different kind of story: a teacher feature. Features are trickier to write

than news stories, since they're more about drawing out emotions and causing the audience to feel a

certain way; telling a story. Teacher features especially, since it's important to accurately portray the

teacher and her life (and keep it in a good light).

When I wrote my own teacher feature in junior year, I had trouble. The teacher I was assigned to

was always busy, and it became nigh on impossible to schedule an interview at a time that worked for

both of us. I eventually did speak to her though – a couple weeks after my story was due – and was then

faced with another problem: she just wasn't very interesting. My questions were probably not the best

considering this was my first interview as a staff writer, but she was also giving me nothing to work with.

I left dissatisfied and managed to cobble together a story, but it wasn't very good and never got posted.

Flash forward to today. This teacher feature was much better than anything I'd seen before, and I

wasn't sure how to edit it. In the end I provided some minor corrections on sentence phrasing, and left it at

that. I also commented with a Mark Twain quote that I thought fit the article very well: "Substitute

"damn" every time you're inclined to write "very," your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as

it should be."

This article was a lesson in, if not humility, restraint. Just because I'm an editor on the

administrative team doesn't mean I need to find things to fix – if the story is good, it's good. I shouldn't

waste my (and others') time going power-crazy and marking up stories when they don't need it.

I made almost no edits on this story. It was fine, and I needed to stop denying that. I shouldn't feel

like a slacker or like I'm not doing my job, because the truth of the matter is that you should give the story

nothing more than it truly needs.

Nick Shereikis

May 5, 2015

Remember what I wrote about needing to use restraint when editing stories? Well, I found out

today that there's a flipside to that.

I received an email today that grated on me. Instead of being polite, the staff writer in question

sent me a blank email with 'teacher feature' as the subject (with her story attached). I immediately went to

our advisor and asked her for advice, and she told me to send it back if I found it rude. I replied to the

staff writer asking her to be more courteous – and she was, although barely. This was my first experience

dealing with a rude writer, and the impression she made on me was still in the back of my mind when I

edited her story.

I may have gone slightly overboard. I've printed out my edits to use as an artifact, so you can see

what I mean. On the other hand, though, the teacher feature was one of the worst stories I've ever seen.

Apart from formatting issues, almost every sentence was unnecessarily awkwardly phrased. I ended up

re-writing almost the entire article.

On top of that, the article was written like a news piece rather than a feature. There was no

cohesive structure to the story, and in the 551 word article – which is also 200 words short for a feature,

by the way – she only quoted the teacher once. In a feature story profiling a Blair teacher, the only direct

quote was the very last sentence of the piece. It just wasn't good writing.

I wanted to make sure I hadn't abused my power, so I showed the writing to a couple other editors

(and the EiCs). While they were at first taken aback by the sheer amount of edits on the piece, when they

read the story they quickly agreed with me. That article plus the rude email I received left me with a very

bad impression of the writer, and I'm not looking forward to editing more of her pieces. It looks like this

year on Silver Chips Online might be an exercise in patience.

Nick Shereikis

June 7, 2015

In addition to editing staff writers' work, I'm also in charge of editing my peers' articles. Today I

looked at a news story written by the other managing editor, concerning changes to Partnership for

Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) testing.

Editing another senior's work is different than editing a junior's piece. There's more pressure to be

on top of everything, and less room for error. Whereas when I edit a junior's article I feel like I have more

leeway to change phrasing and work with the article, when editing a senior's story I'm more inclined to

lay off a little and let the writer's voice shine through. It's just a grade thing. I trust a person with a year's

writing experience more to know how to tell a fluid story than someone who's just joined staff.

There's also an issue arising. I'm not sure what exactly is going on, but the other managing editor

is letting her work slip. Twice now I've had to tell her about stories sitting in the managing email

account's inbox (I generally tell her if they go unedited for three days). It's an issue for a number of

reasons: it's disrespectful to the writer whose story it is, it slows down our site and we can't publish

anything, and it creates more work for me.

I don't want to say anything to Ms. Edwards yet. If it gets out of control then I'll go to her and ask

for advice, but otherwise I can work it out with the other managing editor. When we enter grades for the

summer work, I can also always mark her down for miscommunication if I need to.

When we were chosen as this year's managing editors, I think everyone expected her to do most

of the work and me to slack off. Why I got that feeling, I'm not sure, but the exact opposite is happening. I

know how to take care of it (I consider myself a leader, and I definitely have the experience for it between

soccer and Sugar Free Kids), but it's frustrating to have to check the email and organize everything. This

job is supposed to mean that we share responsibility for the stories and publication, but so far I'm the only

one on top of everything. If this continues after school starts, it's going to be a very long senior year.

Nick Shereikis

June 19, 2015

I just found out that the staff writer who sent me that rude email quit Silver Chips Online. I'm not

sure if it's because of how I edited her paper, how I called her out for being impolite, or if she just realized

that she's not up to the job, but whatever the reason I'm glad she's gone. Is that a bad thing? It might sound

mean-spirited or rude, but I was not looking forward to reading and editing her writing all year. It was

also going to be awkward in class when we had to deal with each other.

I also edited another news story today on the Gazette being shut down. I actually didn't know that

this was happening until I read the article earlier, which made me realize another perk of being managing

editor – in addition to helping people develop their voice and fix their writing, I also have a constant

source of news to tell me what's going on in the community. Everything that Silver Chips Online covers is

going to be important either nationally, internationally, or in our local community – so editing stories is a

great way to get my news.

The article itself looked fine. The writer used a good mix of quotes and links to other sources, but

he also did something else that I've always had trouble with – he tied it back into Blair. Our biggest

concern as a paper is the local community, so even when we're covering a national or international event

it's important to get student and teacher reactions to make it relevant. Even for OP/EDs and other stories

besides news, it's always a good idea to get the community's thoughts and ideas. This article was the first

one I've seen that transitioned seamlessly from a regional event to an in-school reaction.

The other managing editor is still MIA. It's getting to be a problem now. I shouldn't have to spend

this much of my time checking in on her and the email. Normally I'd just let it go and let her take the hit,

but in this case it effects the entire publication. I still don't want to make too much of a big deal out of it.

If it hasn't gotten better at all by the end of the summer, I'll say something.

Nick Shereikis

July 8, 2015

I just got back in the U.S. four days ago from a two-week trip to France, and things are backed

up. While the other managing editor covered some of my stories for me while I was away, she also left

some of the ones meant for me – and, as always, there are articles that she needs to edit that haven’t been

looked at. I just edited an article on the legalization of same-sex marriage in the U.S., as well as finished

one of my own stories on my generation's reluctance to commit to anything.

The news story was decent. I'm learning something new from every story I edit, and this time it

was about opening and closing stories. The body of the article on gender equality was completely solid –

in fact, I only made two minor edits. The opening paragraph was also fine, giving the details of the vote

and process. The last paragraph, however, left something to be desired. It was only one sentence,

including a quote from President Obama (and while the quote was very nice, it wasn't really a powerful

statement or very important to the rest of the article). It just seemed kind of abrupt and sudden.

When anyone is reading a piece of literature, the ending thought or statement is huge. It's what

the reader comes away with, how the audience evaluates the piece. In journalism, we're taught to use the

inverted pyramid structure – that is, most important things belong at the beginning of an article and the

least important at the end. While this is entirely valid and appropriate, it does not mean that the article

should meander and trail off weakly at the end. This can give the wrong impression and make you sound

less confident in your writing abilities.

Editing this piece was a lesson in seeing the bigger picture. Even though he had all the details in

the article and the formatting was correct, he let the article fade slowly into the background (and not in a

good way). The ultimate goal of any piece is to engage the audience and make people want to read on,

and if your writing slowly deteriorates there's more of a chance that people will stop reading halfway.

After all, you've already provided the important information using the inverted pyramid structure –

readers have no reason to continue unless you keep the article engaging and your writing entertaining.

Nick Shereikis

July 29, 2015

I edited a story meant for the other managing editor. It'd been sitting in the inbox for days, and the

other editor was on a service trip without internet service. It was a kind of unorthodox move on my part;

normally if an editor is out of town you just skip them and send your article straight to the next person, bu

I wanted to edit it.

Each EiC has their own staff that reports to them. In other words, I'm consistently editing half the

class' stories. In editing a story meant for the other managing editor, however, I was looking at a piece of

writing from a person I'd never spoken with who had an entirely unique voice. I was again faced with

balancing my edits, finding the line between fixing syntax and making the piece flow and disrupting the

writer's voice and style. I made probably the second most edits on this article that I've made so far (it's

also attached as an artifact for this Advanced Exhibition), and most of that was rephrasing things or

asking questions in the comments. More than anything else, this article was just unclear. There were parts

where I honestly couldn't tell what the writer was trying to say, and that confused me to no end. The

article also had some arguments that weren't backed up by anything. It was an OP/ED on Uber, the ride-

sharing service, and how it's better than calling a taxi. But some of the ideas in the article had no support.

For example, take the phrase "Uber deserves a chance to succeed, and allowing the government to

regulate it would take away that chance." While this is a valid opinion, the writer did not give any reasons

to support her perspective (instead she talks about why Uber is popular). Besides which, aren't taxi

services regulated by the government? And aren't they fairly successful? My initial bemusement quickly

turned into exasperation as the article got increasingly vague and confusing.

We never talked about it, but when we split up the junior staff I was assigned the better writers.

And so far it's working out extremely well – I generally have less patience when editing than the other

managing editor, so it's good that I got writers who won't need a huge amount of help.

Nick Shereikis

September 17, 2015

I edited three separate stories today. One was a news story on the renovations to Blair bathrooms,

one was a news story on Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) eliminating final exams, and one

was a feature on Blazers' reactions to school start times getting pushed back 20 minutes.

The thing that I'm most impressed by is how quickly I edited these. Granted, these were already

fairly well written stories and I didn't have to do much. At the same time, though, I've learned how to be

much more time-efficient with my editing. When I edited my first story at the beginning of the year, it

took me half an hour even though the article was only 600 words. Today, however, I edited three times

that amount in roughly the same amount of time.

I just realized this is my first entry since the school year started. Everything's been going pretty

well so far. It's weird not having the seniors from last year in the class, and seeing the new faces is kind of

disconcerting as well. Photo staff hasn't taken on anybody new, which could be an issue for next year

when we all graduate, and the junior staff writers aren't as many as last year. One member of photo staff

has already been kicked off for being unproductive, as has a senior who was supposed to be this year's

entertainment editor. We've also had three juniors who got accepted drop the class already, so that hasn't

helped with numbers. I don't think this will be an issue, but it might hurt us just in terms of covering

sports games happening simultaneously. It's also interesting to see the distribution of new writers –

whereas most of the senior editors are Communication Arts Program (CAP) kids, most of the incoming

writers are Magnet students. I can't name anybody on the staff not in either of those programs off the top

of my head, which is interesting because one of our EiCs last year was in a regular academy.

Nick Shereikis

October 5, 2015

We just had our first meeting between the junior staff and the managing editors. I think it was

productive in that we were able to answer questions about the editing process and assuage any concerns

(including talking to one writer who was assigned five stories all due at the same time, which should just

never happen), but it also highlighted another issue with the managing team. The other managing editor

talked the entire time and kind of steamrolled over the meeting – even when I did have something to say,

she cut me off. Besides which, she also scheduled and planned the entire meeting without telling me

about it until minutes before. She said that she just tends to talk when she gets nervous and apologized for

not letting me speak, but I've known her for almost seven years now and it's not just a nervous tick. She's

beginning to really frustrate me.

I'm also in the middle of editing an OP/ED on the reception the U.S. gave the Chinese president

when he visited. It's a solid piece, and it has something that I haven't really noticed in anything else I've

edited so far – passion. I believe every word the writer is saying just because you can tell she believes it.

It's passionate, powerful, intelligent writing, and I'm enjoying reading it. My only advice so far on this

piece is to monitor yourself: it's ok to believe in something and present your point of view, but it shouldn't

be so emotional that it turns people off. You can defend your opinion, but you also need to be able to hear

the other side of the issue with an open mind.

I'm finding it hard to edit because I keep thinking about the meeting we just had. Nothing is more

grating to me than someone who can't be concise, and not only does my managing partner love to hear

herself talk but she won't let me get a word in edgewise – even after I helped her manage her stories and

everything over the summer. I may talk to her, but I'm not sure it'll help – she recognizes what she's

doing, she just can't – or won't – stop. Maybe I'll go to Ms. Edwards.

Nick Shereikis

October 9, 2015

I just entered grades for the first time. I only get to give people a letter grade on the quality of

their story, and then they get other grades from the EiCs on communication and timeliness, among other

things. It's tricky grading – I have to go with my gut feeling, but I also don't want to alienate myself from

everyone else on staff. For example, I never received one of the senior writers' stories. When I went to her

to ask her why I hadn't seen it, she told me she decided to skip sending it to managing and give it straight

to the EiCs. When I was asked about her story afterwards, I talked about it with Ms. Edwards and ended

up giving her a zero – I can't grade what I never edited.

I have an 89.3 in the class right now too. I got marked down for communication with my EiC,

which is valid. I took five days off over a long weekend to do college visits in Boston, so I missed a

bunch of stories and forget to tell my EiC until the day after I left. There's still half the quarter left though,

there's no final exam for the class, and semester grades follow trends, so I'm not too worried about it.

It's interesting getting edits from my friends and peers. When I got edits back last year, I didn't

really think about it too much – I made the indicated changes and moved on. Now, however, I'm more

inclined to disagree with edits or ignore ideas that I think are bad. It may not be the right thing to do, but

when you're being edited by your peers it's easier to disregard their comments (since they have no more

experience or authority than you do), and I'm still figuring out how to deal with it.

I've only had two stories due so far this cycle. My feature on our school mascot is done and just

hasn't been posted yet, and my humor story on D.C. sports is still being edited by my EiC. It's strange

only being assigned one article every cycle, but it also means there's more of an incentive to make it

perfect/do well on it.

Nick Shereikis

October 10, 2015

I'm having an issue with my EiC. I got my edits back on my humor piece about D.C. sports

teams, and I seriously disagree with a lot of the edits. It seems like more than anything we just have

separate writing styles that don't gel very well. The editing process is almost entirely subjective by its

very nature, but a lot of the things marked as 'awkward' or that were removed in my piece were more

stylistic choices than errors.

I sent an email to my EiC politely explaining this, and got a very snappy email back. According

to my EiC, the rule of Silver Chips Online is apparently to take all the edits of your editor unless there is a

serious issue. The EiC went on to say that "the fact of the matter is, the EiCs are in charge of what finally

goes up on the site. I still have to power to edit your story how I see fit (and likely will). Yes, editing is

often subjective and our styles may not agree, but that's just the way of the paper."

Before anything else, this is the most frustrating email I've ever recieved. I'm not sure if it's abuse

of power, but it's certainly a step towards a dictatorial leadership style. Besides which, it's just wrong. As

the other EiC said when I asked him his issue, each piece of writing is the property of the staff member

who created it. As the writer of my story, I get final say in what is says or sounds like – unless there's a

major problem with something I've written, it is not the EiC's job to override me.

I don't even know how to reply to this. Normally I'll give in if it's not a big issue, but I refuse to

have my writing distorted and manipulated against my wishes all year. This paper is not a dictatorship, it's

a democracy, and nobody has the power to override anyone else. If there's an issue with a piece of

writing, you need to talk to each other and work it out – not aggressively assert your dominance and 'final

say' in the matter.

Nick Shereikis

Artifacts

managing editor of Silver Chips Online

Nick Shereikis

CAP Advanced Exhibition #2