Art by Jackie Lopez
Editor’s Note: PGM staff members decide on the topic of a Staff Ed together. The staff as a whole provides opinions and content included in this Staff Ed to provide thoughts and shed light on solutions for happenings at Pepperdine.
Every day, the Graphic staff works hard to put out content that relies on facts, entails thorough reporting and aims to provide answers to your questions. We strive to be transparent — and the process that goes into the production of our content is a side of Pepperdine Graphic Media you may not know much about.
Pepperdine Graphic Media consists of the Graphic and Currents Magazine, which are separate entities with different staffs. We are a student-run organization that is editorially independent, we fully pitch and produce our content.
When print editions come out, once a month, staff spend Tuesday and Wednesday nights in the newsroom from 5 p.m., until midnight (and often later). When we do not produce print, we still spend time together in what we call “production.” During that time, we make sure we have a consistent flow of quality content online, and our leadership team holds each team member accountable for fulfilling their position.
In addition to the four main sections — News, Life and Arts, Sports and Perspectives there is also a digital team, a social media team, a copy editing team, an art team, a photo team and a podcast team. In addition, we have Diversity, Equity and Inclusion editors as well as managing and executive editors checking our content.
We also require in-person interviews, unless under special circumstances, such as an illness or differing locations — and aim to get to know our sources and tell their stories in a meaningful way.
Each section has its own lineup of staff that an article goes through before it is published. Before it is published, typically goes like this: A writer submits a draft, the main section editor looks first, and then the copy editor checks for grammar and spelling mistakes; then, the article comes to the managing editor — who oversees all sections — and finally, the story is sent to the advisers of PGM before a digital editor uploads it to the website.
After the lineup listed above suggests edits, the story continues to go back to the writer to make changes before being sent through the editors again. This process can take several hours daily and can last around a week — or more for longer stories — sometimes going back to the writer for edits dozens of times.
Our art and photo teams enter at this point in the process so we can have visuals to pair with our stories. We want to not only tell our readers about our reporting but to show them as well.
Our reporting and editing process contributes to our mission for accuracy and thoughtful reporting. If readers see anything that is inaccurate, we welcome feedback at any time as well as Letters to the Editor.
Once we have printed our published stories in our newspaper, our staff brings stacks of papers to stands around campus, in places such as Starbucks, the TCC, the TAC, the CCB, Waves Café and more. Our website will have the most up-to-date content at all times.
In addition, we have a QR code the community can scan in order to send us any ideas, story pitches or ways we can improve.
PGM is excited to welcome the new year with several returning members and several new members, and we all commit to giving our community quality, truthful, accurate and timely news.
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Follow the Graphic on Twitter: @PeppGraphic
Email the Graphic: peppgraphicmedia@gmail.com
