Interested in writing about news? Sports? Politics? Music?
All majors, years and experience levels are encouraged to get involved with Flyer News. Students can email Online Editor-in-Chief Kaitlin Lewis at lewisk13@udayton.edu or Print Editor-in-Chief Lauren Durham durhaml1@udayton.edu for more information.
Want to be apart of the FN Staff?
Student writers start as an unpaid contributor to Flyer News. Staff positions are hired at the end of each school year for the following year. Staff members are chosen based off of candidates’ experience and dedication to Flyer News during their years at UD.
Descriptions
Editors-in-Chief (Print and Online)
The Print Editor is responsible for managing the Flyer News staff (Section Editors, Circulation Manager, Advertising Managers, etc.) and organizing news stories for our bi-weekly print issue. The Online Editor also manages the staff, but focuses on updating the website along with our social media platforms regularly. Although the co-editors have final say on issues and the finished product, all staff work together for both print and online production.
Together, the co-editors take responsibility for all facets of the newspaper, unanimously make all final editorial decisions and accept responsibility for any statements the paper may make. The co-editors must have a working knowledge of all aspects of the newspaper and must be able to provide suggestions to all departments. It is highly recommended, though not required, that the co-editors have taken the following courses: “Copy Editing,” “Law and the News Media,” “Media Writing,” and “Publication Design.”
The co-editors bear personal responsibility for each issue of the newspaper, but delegate work for each issue to the section editors and their writers. Ideally, the co-editors have formal training in journalistic standards and practices, as well as experience on the Flyer News staff. They are the primary policy makers and decision makers on the staff, and speak with the loudest voices regarding editorial stands taken by the newspaper. FN may publish no advertising or editorial material over the objection of the co-editors. The co-editors direct the activities of all staff and read each issue of the paper in its entirety while the issue is still in the production stage. The staff will rely on the co-editors not only for direction but also for advice, encouragement, merited praise, education and the resolution of personnel problems.
The co-editors have primary responsibility for determining the structure of each year’s staff and recruiting and appointing qualified students to fill staff positions. They may also, through appropriate procedures, remove staff members form their positions or alter their responsibilities. They also consult with the adviser on matters relating to the newspaper budget.
Other responsibilities include: chairing budget and editorial meetings, performing other administrative obligations, supervising writing quality control, overseeing the workings of all Flyer News departments, meeting regularly with the adviser, attending all staff development programs, controlling coverage and advertisements in Flyer News and keeping complete records of bills for all departments and all business transactions.
Advertising/ Business Managers
The advertising manager bears responsibility for generating and creating advertisements in Flyer News. This person, or salespeople under him/her, solicits advertising and maintains walk-in business. The advertising manager also ensures that a complete contract is on file for each advertiser and contacts each advertiser for copy when necessary. Besides advertising sales and record keeping, the advertising manager may also delegate design and typeset advertising to the art director according to deadline set by the co-editors. Because of the variety of responsibilities, they should have a background in business/marketing and some experience with graphic and design principles. The advertising manager and the co-editors are the only ones with authority to make arrangements with advertisers that deviate from the published rate card.
All invoicing for advertising in Flyer News is handled by the business manager. This person also keeps other necessary financial records for the newspaper, manages any petty cash fund and handles Flyer News accounts with the university’s business offices. The business manager should have appropriate experience and training in accounting and general business and advertising principles, and will provide recommendations for Flyer News budget items at the end of each academic year.
Section Editors (News, Arts & Entertainment, Opinions and Sports)
A series of subordinate editors coordinate specific sources of content found in the departments of Flyer News: News, Arts & Entertainment, Opinions, and Sports. While section editors report to superior editors, they have wide latitude in shaping the coverage found in their sections. Section editors recruit staff members; determine, assign, and edit stories; compile lists of sources; work closely with their writers, helping and training them; write stories themselves; help design pages; write headlines; assign graphics and media; and any other tasks assigned by co-editors. It is not too much to say that no matter how good, how knowledgeable the co-editors are, the day-to-day quality and credibility of the newspaper rests in the hands of the section editors. The co-editors set policy; the section editors fill the pages with copy. Most importantly, they are demanding teachers excited about the possibilities for their sections.
Director of Digital Media/Head Photographer
The role of the director of digital media is similar to that description of the section editors in many ways, e.g., staff recruitment and management, personally covering many stories, etc., but there is a major difference. While other departments usually stand on their own, the media/photography staff offers a significant service function to the other departments. There is no single photography or multi-media section as there is a sports section; the work of staff photographers/videographers is scattered throughout the entire paper and website. Therefore, very close coordination and cooperation is necessary between the director of digital media and other section editors in order to acquire timely, interesting and effective photography and online media such as sound clips, videos and GIFs. The director of digital media is more concerned with budgetary considerations than are other section editors, since they must price and purchase equipment for the newspaper.
Web Technician
The web-tech supervises the technical production of the newspaper and may coordinate computer layout, equipment repair and maintenance. They are also responsible for maintenance of the network and upkeep of all computer programs in use by Flyer News. In addition, this person is responsible for technical support—for example if the website or another technical system crashes, the web technician will respond to the situation. The web-tech is responsible for making each print edition of Flyer News available online, weekly Spotify playlists, and maintenance of electronic archives. They are knowledgeable with HTML/CSS and graphic design principles, and should be aware of emerging technologies in content management and distribution and be able to develop these tools for Flyer News.
Copy Editor
Copy editors are too often neither seen nor heard, but it is difficult to overestimate the value of a good one. The best copy editors are nit-picky, demanding and hard to please. They have an extremely strong command of English, a solid understanding of newspaper story style and structure, along with the AP Stylebook. They command a broad repertoire of knowledge, be insatiably curious and relentless in their pursuit of accuracy. They read every word that goes into the newspaper and craft each sentence into perfection. Copy editors do far more than merely check for spelling and typographical errors: they are quality control. They are satisfied with nothing less than stories that are perfect, not only to form, but also in content.
Circulation Manager
This person sees that each issue of Flyer News is delivered in a timely way to campus distribution and reports directly to the co-editors. A list of those sites will be provided to the circulation manager by co-editors each year.