An essential skill for every editor in chief is knowing how to effectively manage.
Without this skill, one faces an uphill climb.
As for myself, I’d like to think that I’m a fairly effective manager. That’s a good thing because there are a multitude of things that I have to supervise on a daily basis, with this week providing a lot of examples of this.
Now, I know what you’re probably thinking: What does the editor in chief have to manage during spring break, especially with no newspapers having been printed this week? Well, there was a lot more to manage than one would think.
The biggest task on my plate this week was coordinating coverage of the UH men’s basketball team’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1992. I’ve been on the move since the Cougars’ win over UTEP in the Conference USA tournament championship game last Saturday. My phone has been ringing non-stop. Emails have flooded my inbox. A lot of sleep has been lost.
Last weekend, I had to make sure that stories were posted on the Web site about the Cougars’ victory over UTEP and whom they would face in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. On Sunday, I had to consult with various editors to figure out which writer we were going to send to cover the Cougars’ first-round game against Maryland in Spokane, Wash. Then I had to submit credential requests and try to arrange for transportation for my writer.
I next had to arrange for the Maryland student newspaper, The Diamondback, to lend us some of their photos, as we could not send a photographer to Spokane. Later, I sat down with The Daily Cougar’s print production mangager, Matt Dulin, to work on devising boxscores and other pieces of content that we plan to run in Monday’s paper.
And once our attempts to secure adequate transportation to Spokane fell through, I had to revise our coverage plan to make up for us not being able to send any writers. On Friday, I had to coordinate our Web coverage of the Cougars’ 89-77 loss to Maryland and revise the foundation for Monday’s coverage.
By the way, did I mention that I was also working to set up an SGA runoff debate, handling payroll for my employees and devising new layouts for our sports section during this time?
Yeah, that was the other stuff that kept me on the move during the spring break.
This kind of hassle would drive some people crazy and make them think twice about taking on that kind of responsibility. But it’s all routine for editors. We’re always going to have a lot of things to juggle at once. That’s why being able to manage is crucial. Otherwise, we’d simply crash and burn and take the newspaper with us.
Dealing with the craziness is easily the biggest challenge I face each day.
But I love a good challenge, so I march on.
Take Care and God Bless!!!
Ronnie Turner
