Evelyn Kraber
WSS Online Editor-in-Chief
wsspaper.com
Personal narrative
“Would anyone be able to go downtown and cover the protest today?”
The notification came from the print photo editor on a morning in late September. I had seen the shaky video on Instagram the day before of a man being pushed to the ground in front of a restaurant by two plainclothes officers and dragged away. I went to this restaurant on occasion, and it was in the center of downtown Iowa City. As a journalist for the school's online newspaper, I had never covered a protest, but this felt too important to let uncertainty stop me from being there. This was happening in my community. It was a story I had to tell.
It was an emotional experience, being there. I listened to people talk about how someone they love was violently taken from them, having done nothing wrong. After the individual’s family spoke, local politicians encouraged the community to fight back, and the crowd came alive with invigorating calls for change.
When I interviewed a protester, I stood and nodded, my gaze attentive, trying not to show my opinions: a good journalist tries to keep their own bias out of their reporting. I could relate to this protester’s anger about the government’s seeming indifference. Journalism was something I had turned to in my freshman year, when my naivety about the goings-on of the world expired and I realized how many issues needed attention. I felt as though I had no control over bad things I saw happening around me, and I wanted to do something. So my sophomore year, I joined the online staff of the West Side Story as the assistant copy editor.
It wasn’t just about politics. I discovered that journalism could be a way that I could explore all different topics, no homework assignments necessary. Instead, I learned through conversation with my peers, teachers, and local experts.
Through WSS, I also became a part of West’s vibrant journalism community. The 70-member staff is divided across three publications: yearbook, print, and broadcast, which is the online staff. When I decided junior year that journalism was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, I did what any overachieving student journalist would do: joined all three. Now, I spend about half my school day in room 111.
The WSS staff encompasses students with a wide range of interests and talents, from art and design to photography to writing. Being an online journalist means that I get to collaborate with a variety of people with a plethora of talents. I also have been encouraged to learn a variety of new skills beyond traditional reporting, including video, podcasting, design, and photography.
Through my work with the WSS, I have been able to offer an impact on my community. I can’t always change what happens in government or in the world in general which can cause me to feel a sense of hopelessness. So I focus now on what I can do. I tell the stories of the people in my community who get caught in the middle of partisan politics. It’s hard sometimes, but the rush of purpose is something I can never give up. As I near the next chapter of my life, I hope to continue having this impact on my community through educating the people around me.
My years on staff
Sophomore year
WSS Online Assistant Copy Editor
Junior year
WSS Online Managing and Features Editor
Senior year
WSS Online Editor-in-Chief
Trojan Epic Managing Editor
I decided to join staff at the end of my freshman year, and applied to be the assistant copy editor in broadcast lab. As an assistant copy editor, I copy edited about half of what went up on the website and learned a lot about grammar and AP style.
I took on a lot more responsibility junior year. As managing editor, I was in charge of keeping everyone accountable and turning in assignments on time. I also graded draft days, comments, and published assignments which required me to look over every story in various stages of the publishing process. As features editor, I worked with reporters writing for my section and helped them as needed.
I joined all three lab classes this year, and took on an editorial role in two of them. As WSS Online EIC I am in charge of the staff, which includes a whole range of responsibility from assigning assignments to publishing them. As managing editor for the Trojan Epic, West's yearbook, I look over all drafts of pages to grade them. This helps me hold everyone accountable and take some work off the EICs by ensuring staffers meet deadlines.