Hi readers! Welcome back! Here’s what it’s like to be a news reporter for The Amherst Student, the college newspaper!
The Amherst Student was established in 1858, making it one of the oldest student newspapers in the country. The Amherst Student is thought by some to be the oldest independent weekly college publication in the country…wow!
I have been writing for the news section of The Amherst Student since my first semester at the college. I was introduced to The Amherst Student by going to the annual club fair that the college puts on, during the beginning of the fall semester. The club fair is a great opportunity as a first-year student to see what clubs are available, and sign up for some introductory meeting to begin to get involved with the various clubs.
I remember going to the introductory meeting for The Amherst Student, and being blown away by how many different sections of the newspaper there are, as I wasn’t aware how big of a production the newspaper was. For example, the newspaper is made up of the sections of news, opinion, features, arts and living, sports, and even podcasts and puzzles. There are so many ways to be a part of the newspaper!
I was drawn to the news section because it gave me an opportunity to know more about what was happening on campus, and I was able to attend events and interview individuals for the various articles I was writing. Learning how to write in a news reporting format was difficult to adjust to at first, but the editors were very helpful and nice during the editing process up to the day of publication.
For a typical week as a writer of the news section, I would receive an email on Sunday from the editors that stated who would be writing for the upcoming week. If my name was on the list, then I would attend the weekly news meeting on Monday nights to hear what the story ideas of the week are. At the meeting, we always go around and ask a question of the week, which we all answer, and then the editors pitch the story ideas for the week to us. After that, the writers for the week are placed into a random order to have first pick for the story they want to write.
For example, this past week, I reported on an event on campus, where a panel of professors were speaking. I attended the event, and took notes for the article, and then after the article was over, I went up to different students that attended the event to interview them. Later in the week I begin to write the article and turn it in on Sunday night to the editors. Once they begin to edit, I continue to add and cut from the writing of the article based on their comments. It is always so rewarding to see the article in print on Wednesday morning.
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions about Amherst, or would like to talk further, email me at cjaeger27@amherst.edu