Above The Fold
Direct Lines
Line of Succession
By Sandy Woodcdock
Key to the continued success of Voices, the 20-page weekly tabloid for teens published by the Reading (Pa.) Eagle, is the fact that the newspaper does have a succession plan. But it’s not a “person-specific plan,” Voices Editor Lisa Scheid says.
Scheid is the sixth editor in Voices’ 11 years of existence. The section has run essentially the same for all of those years, she says, noting that Voices has an established framework that allows its content to be driven by teens, not just a charismatic, passionate leader. The system allows new editors to grow into the position, she adds.
But Scheid’s full-time status as a youth editor is relatively rare.
When Features Editor Erin Orr joined the staff of The State Journal-Register in Springfield, Ill., she had just left a job as editor of The Modesto (Calif.) Bee’s Buzzz section. The teen section wasn’t her only job there; it actually was an added responsibility.
Orr recalls that she was about two months into the Modesto job when the section’s part-time editor left, so she asked to take it over. For the six-and-a-half years that Orr worked at the Bee, editing the section was always a part of her job, “but not my full-time job,” she says.
That’s not the case for Kelsea Gurski, whom Orr supervises at The State Journal-Register. “Here in Springfield, I oversee the youth editor,” Orr says. “And here, being the youth editor is Kelsea’s priority.”
Unlike Scheid and Gurski, Toni Guagenti spends only a portion of her time shepherding 757: Teens Cover the Code at The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk. “I wear three hats, so I’m divided,” she says. “It limits my ability to work with the kids to grow an audience. Sometimes we begin things, and then because of time limitations those efforts stall.”
Nevertheless, under Guagenti’s watch 757 has won numerous honors, most recently a World Young Reader Prize.
Both Orr and Guagenti say they believe the job of the youth editor, and thus the youth content and the program supporting it, would be better served if the position were structured to make the section the youth editor’s primary responsibility.
But while news organizations are very supportive of youth content programs, few support them to the extent that they commit full-time positions for the people who lead them.
So what steps can be taken by people whose jobs require them to fill multiple roles at their newspapers? How can they help ensure that the youth sections will survive after they move on?
Five things that youth editors can do to safeguard their sections are:
1. Create a weekly (or monthly, depending on the nature of the section) timeline. It should start with the generation of story and illustration ideas, and end with the design and publication of the section.
2. Work to position the section as an integral part of features coverage. This is a recognized readership development strategy aimed at young people 18 and under.
3. Write a detailed job description outlining the responsibilities of the youth editor.
4. Have clearly defined goals for the section.
5. Participate in contests and awards programs. These not only bring recognition to the section and the youth staff, but also to the newspaper itself.
NAA Foundation Director Sandy Woodcock can be reached at (571) 366-1008 or sandy.woodcock@naa.org.
