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EDITING, LEADERSHIP AND TEAM BUILDING
My road to being a leader has been a rocky one at times, but through the help of those around me, I have made significant improvement. If nothing else, I want to be a leader who has made an impact of the lives of her staff members through being genuine and honest and available.
STAFFERS SAY...
When I was on her staff sophomore year, Molly was a fantastic editor. She always had a plan and I felt very comfortable asking for edits. Even now, I see how hard Molly works with her staff.
-- Audrey St Onge,
Business Manager
Molly is an extremely proficient leader who balances high expectations with a caring attitude. Throughout her time as Editor-in-Chief, Molly has always looked out for her staffers and guided them with exceptional leadership.
-- Wyatt Meyer,
Lead Copy Editor
I have been on iliad's Editorial Board for three years and in that time Molly has consistently been a resource I have relied on. She has been beneficial in helping me solve conflict and learning how to navigate the world of journalism. Molly is not only a great friend, but a great leader and I could not be more appreciative to have her in my corner.
-- Cate DeMaria, iliad Literary Art Magazine Managing Editor
Molly has to be one of the nicest, funniest, and most patient people I know. She dedicates her time to helping her staff, and I know I can always count on her. She’s the heart of the ODYSSEY Media Group, and I know we’ll all be sad to see her leave.
-- Adah Hamman,
News Staffer
EDITING
FINDING MY WAY BACK
My sophomore year as a new editor, I focused hours of my time on learning how to properly edit, and through lots of mentorship and practice, editing because one of my strongest assets. However, once I became Editor-in-Chief my junior year, editing fell to the back burner as I juggled design and staff management, and I felt more disconnected from the magazine as a result.
This year, I was determined to get back to my love of editing and really dig into stories to ensure they were being completed with fidelity. For Issue 3, the magazine that the ODYSSEY is currently working on at the time of submitting this portfolio, I worked with my adviser and Lead Copy Editor Wyatt Meyer, to print out each copy of the stories and edit them.
We all sat together at a table, each reading the pieces, providing feedback and addressing the concerns that we had with them, before calling the writers in to walk them through what we had seen and how we thought they could improve. This proved to be the most effective editing method for me, as it allowed us to all put eyes on each of the stories and get on the same page. After editing, I felt much more invigorated and motivated to help finish the issue strong and I feel a lot more confident about this magazine having been such a major part of the editing process.
MY EDITING PROCESS
1.
2.
READ TWICE!
BROADER STORY
My first step in my editing process is always to read the piece through twice before jumping in an editing. By doing this, I have a better idea of the piece as a whole.
I then go in and make edits on the broader story as a whole - what news values are present? Do they have the 5W's and 1H? Does this structure work for this story?
3.
4.
QUOTES + TRANSITIONS
COPY EDITS
Then, I go in and make sure each quote and transition works effectively for the piece. Are there attributions for each quote? Are the transitions setting up the quote or just repeating the quote?
Finally, I make small copy edits for grammar, AP Style and punctuation, focusing more on the word choice and less on the message and tone of the story. I make sure the writer has all the required elements they need, and then it's done!
GUIDING THE PROCESS
As a section editor my sophomore year, I was able to be a lot more hands-on with the editing process, as my team was only four people. Now, as EIC managing a staff of around 30 people, that task is much more difficult. Instead, I delegate the task of editing to others, before it gets to me for final edits.
SECTION EDITORS
Edit in the rough draft stage
CABINET MEMBERS
Edit in the middle draft stage
ME (EIC)
Edit in the final draft stage - final eyes on stories
LINNENTOWN LANE EDITS
Page 1
Page 2
Page 4
Page 1
1/4
This year, our News Editor Isabella Westrich was working on a story about the renaming of one of the streets in Athens, that was being named for one of the historic Black neighborhoods that was demolished to make way for UGA dorms.
She was struggling with subjectivity and how to organize the story, so I sat down and edited the story to help her reorganize. I helped her rewrite some transitions, made sure all of the necessary info was in the story, and helped push it over the finish line for completion. Click on the slider to the left to read through some of my edits!
EDITING ON THE FLY
As EIC, I am often in many of the group chats that we have for the various staffs in our program, including the group chat for our social media team.
Most of the conversations that occur in this chat are providing edits on scenes or content for social media, and many of them get edited right there in the group chat itself. Because of this, I've done a lot of editing on the fly - helping get the captions together as quickly as possible to post.
LEADERSHIP
MY PHILOSOPHY
Being a young leader last year taught me that it is important to be open and vulnerable with your staff, and that a good leader isn’t afraid to lean on others for help. I have always been someone who has had a hard time reaching out to others, and in the past, I much preferred to sit alone and do all of the work myself. I wanted to put together the magazine on my own, without any help, because I thought that if I asked for assistance and opened up about my struggles, I was being weak and I wasn’t a strong leader.
As I moved through the past two years however, I learned that asking for help is one of the most important things that I can do, and I consistently encourage my Editorial Board and staff to do the same. At weekly meetings, I make sure to prioritize check-ins with the EdBoard and ask how I can help them, or what they need from each other to foster a positive, open environment, and I have definitely seen a shift in empathy among the staff because of it.
ADVISER STATEMENT:
"As a junior EIC this year (only the third time in the program’s 20 years), Molly has had her work cut out for her. She learned to manage a staff of 25 when just last spring she was in charge of only 3-4. Her editing and design duties have skyrocketed, as she oversees the production of a 44-page magazine. She works to produce a column, conferences with writers and visual staffers, and takes on a great deal of the design of the publication. Additionally, he’s presented at two conferences, engaged in fundraising, and has refined her leadership style."
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-- David A. Ragsdale, CJE
LEADERSHIP AWARDS
Last year, me and 12 of my colleagues were awarded with the NSPA Leadership Award in Student Journalism. This award meant a lot to me, because at the time, I was going through a rough patch and I didn't feel confident in my leadership abilities.
Receiving this award helped boost my confidence, and I was grateful to be chosen.
Last year, I also won third place Best of Show for Editorial Leadership, which felt so incredible. I submitted my application with the help of my colleague Maya, and I didn't think much of it, but hearing that I won the third place award meant the world.
I am very proud of both of these awards, and I am incredibly thankful that I was recognized.
NHSJC LEADERSHIP PRE-CONVENTION
Both at last year's and this year's NSPA conferences, I attended and "Building a successful staff culture," presented by Carrie Faust and Annie Gorenstein for my pre-con class, and I absolutely loved it.
It was so interesting to hear them talk about their leadership philosophies and how we as leaders need to build our staff up and go with them. From this session, I also learned how to work with others based on their personality types, and how to differentiate based on the preson you are working with.
CSPA SUMMER WORKSHOP
The summer before my junior year, I attended "Editorial Leadership: Session One" led by Logan Aimone during the week of June 27-July 1. This session was unlike any other leadership session I'd been to because we were encouraged to speak to one another and worked almost exclusively in groups.
I got to meet some incredible young leaders from across the country, and I felt my confidence in myself and my work begin to grow. A few of my other colleagues were in the same session, and at the end of the week, we were able to come together and create a step-by-step action plan of how we wanted to lead in that coming year.
EMAILS TO ADMIN
One of my biggest responsibilities as EIC is being in communication with our administration consistently. Whether it's scheduling a press conference, announcing any awards we received, or requesting time to distribute magazines, I try to communicate with members of our administration frequently.
I have developed a pretty strong relationship with a few of them, and I have appreciated their help in my endeavors throughout my career.
EDBOARD MEETINGS
Every Friday, members of the Editorial Board meet together to discuss various issues, deadlines, concerns, and to give an update about how the staff is doing. I am often in charge of these meetings, so my job is to set the agenda and set aside time to allow my peers to share their thoughts and concerns each week.
These meetings are crucial to running our program smoothly and they provide a space to vent frustrations and have honest conversations about how we are feeling. Click on the image to see an example of an agenda from one of our meetings.
LEADERSHIP SEMINARS
Every month, members of the Editorial Board for both the ODYSSEY and the iliad gather together for a leadership seminar. During these sessions, we learn how to be better editors and what we need to improve upon.
It is also a time where I can get to know my fellow editors and connect with those that I don't work with on a regular basis. This year, I helped my adviser plan and organize the first seminar, where we reviewed our staff contracts, discussed what we believed being an editor includes, and how to properly edit stories.
EDITOR'S SYNTHESIS
At the end of each year, every editor assembles their Editor's Synthesis - a guide on how to lead, edit, guide, and handle responsibility for the next person taking their place.
I have done two of these syntheses so far, one for being Viewpoints Editor and one for being EIC. I put a lot of time and effort into assembling these, and at the end of this year, I hope to add even more to my EIC synthesis.
PRESENTING ON LEADERSHIP
At both the SIPA 2023 and Spring 2023 GSPA Workshop this past year, my colleague Maya Clement and I presented on the ins-and-outs of student leadership, and how we have learned to manage our positions.
We talked about how to properly communicate with your staff and editors, how to stay organized, where to go for guidance, and much more. Our SIPA presentation didn't end up going as planned, as we presented on the last day and only had a few people in attendance, but we had a lot of people in our GSPA session and even had a few come up and ask us questions afterwards.
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I am very proud of how Maya and I presented, I hope to do so again in the future!
SUMMER WORKSHOP PLANNING
Both this past summer and the summer before my junior year, I worked with my adviser and Leadership Team, from both the ODYSSEY and our sister publication, the iliad Literary-Art Magazine, to plan our summer workshop. The summer workshop is a crucial time for our publication, as it allows us to meet before the beginning of the year to get to know each other and gauge the abilities of incoming students.
This year, I met exclusively with the iliad Editor-in-Chief, Olivia Hendershot, to plan each day of the workshop and the Editor's Retreat that occurred the day before. We worked to figure out which activities would be the most enriching, but also the most fun for the staff, how we could work to get different staffers to interact with each other throughout the week, other fun team building opportunities, and what the plans for breakfast and lunch would be for the week.
JIMMY TOW PRESS CONFERENCE
Every year in the ODYSSEY's Journalism One program, our adviser works to create a fake press conference with "community member" Larry Tow, to help teach new students how to interview and what proper press conference protocol includes. They learn how to dress professionally, introduce themselves when standing, how to treat sources, and how to find the right angle for a news story.
Our adviser dresses up in a funny costume and asks one of the J1 Facilitators or seniors in the program to play his son, Jimmy, that dramatically bursts through the door and interrupts the press conference. This year, I was chosen to play Jimmy, so I also dressed up and hid in our back room until it was time to jump out. The kids were surprised, and I had a great time getting to play such an eccentric character. It was truly a full-circle moment for me, because the Larry Tow presser was one of my favorite memories from my freshman year in the program. I loved being able to teach the J1 kids how to conduct a real press conference, while also showing them the fun, lighter side of our ODYSSEY family.
20TH ANNIVERSARY SPEECH
In 2023, the ODYSSEY Media Group celebrated its 20th anniversary, which was a huge milestone for the program. As the current EIC, I was tasked with planning, co-hosting, and introducing the speakers and guests at the event, which was a massive task. I gave a speech at the beginning of the banquet to welcome and thank our adviser, parents, admin and guests for all of their support of the OMG, and though I was shaking from nervousness, I am proud of myself for getting up there and pushing myself outside of my comfort zone.
At the event, I was able to meet and networking with previous EICs in the program - my "great grandparents" as my adviser called them - and I loved being able to hear their thoughts and cultivate advice from them. I walked away from the event feeling honored that I was able to be a part of it and excited for the 30th anniversary, when I could come back and pass on my knowledge to the next generation.
Click on the image to read my speech!
TEAMBUILDING
CHECK-INS/APPRECIATION
One way that I encourage staff bonding and boost morale among staffers is through the use of "Why You're Awesome!" notes.
These may seem very simple, but they mean a lot to my staff and they increase productivity. I try to give these out during/after a difficult cycle or when someone is having a rough day to remind them why I appreciate them.
CYCLE CELEBRATIONS
Last year, I worked extensively with our Business Manager Audrey St. Onge to plan and execute Cycle Celebrations after each magazine cycle to boost morale and congratulate the staff for all of ther hard work. We got food, made certificates, and had a slideshow to reveal who won each award.
We also made paper plate awards, meticulously cutting out paper and designing fun awards for Best Story, Best Editor, Best Photo, Best Multimedia, and so much more.
The staff really appreciated the recognition, and Audrey and I had a great time getting to work together to show our love for the team!
SOPHOMORE SATURDAY
My sophomore year, my colleague Maya and I were mentored by two seniors and Cabinet members in the program. We would often go to coffee shops on Saturday, hence the title, and they led Maya and I in discussions on how to lead a staff, in-depth editing, and what to do in stressful situations.
This was also a great time to bond and deepen connections with the seniors before they headed off to college, and it taught me a lot about the importance of building deeper relationships with staff members.
WEEKEND WORKDAYS
In order to complete our newsmagazines and finish things in a timely manner, we will often have weekend workdays from 8:30 - 3:30. We eat breakfast and lunch together, complete work and conduct interviews, and spend break time outside in the fresh air.
Often during our workdays, I am tasked with checking in with staffers one-on-one and making sure that they are completing their work.
CREATIVE WRITING PROJECT
Every year around the holidays, members of the ODYSSEY Media Group take a break from journalistic writing and create works of poetry, short stories, songs, and more. We then share those pieces out to the class during our Secret Holiday Gift Giver celebration.
This is always such a fun event and it helps everyone to come together as a staff. It also helped me to trust my colleagues because I was sharing work that was very personal to me. Click on the photo to view my Creative Writing Project.
UGA CONCESSION STAND
Each football season, the ODYSSEY volunteers at one of the UGA Sanford Stadium concession stands. We make pretzels and popcorn, serve drinks, cook hotdogs, and work the register to raise money for our program.
It's a lot of hard work, and everyone's feet hurt like crazy when it's done, but it is one of the most fun experiences and it has really bonded us as a staff. We always try to go out to eat afterwards if we can, which has culminated in a lot of late night McDonald's runs, still in our gear from the game.
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