CHRIS GLOFF
LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO
EDITING, LEADERSHIP & TEAM BUILDING
One of the things I truly enjoy about this profession is collaborating with my peers. However, editing others’ writing and providing constructive criticism is tricky. In my experience, newsrooms are like a family. As an anchor of our newscast, two of our responsibilities are editing copy produced by junior staffers and editing the actual newscast together. These screenshots represent two examples of how I served as a script editor with our junior staffers. In these examples, I'm working with them in editing copy for a show tease on iPhones being scratched by jeans and for a package on remnants of the Space Shuttle Challenger being discovered in the Atlantic Ocean.
This video excerpt is the final edit of the Space Shuttle Challenger package after assisting junior staffers in searching for footage while editing for air on our season 3, episode 3 broadcast. Writing copy to meet our style guide of 22-28 seconds per story was the first difficult task in the process of building a package. However, finding visuals to sync with the copy and editing them together to creatively communicate with the audience was a greater task as deadlines loomed. This package is a collaboration between two reporters and an editor.
While work is important, few things are more important than spending time with staff socializing and celebrating. Years ago, I came up with an idea to celebrate Thanksgiving with our staff via a potluck. Senior staffers now continue to organize holiday meals, breakfasts, gift exchanges, philanthropic work and opportunities to celebrate their success. As I said in my objective while quoting American filmmaker Ava DuVernay, "If your dream only includes you, it's too small."
