The Kirkwood Call, Online
Kirkwood High School
Each year, the National Scholastic Press Association recognizes excellence in student media with scholastic journalism’s preeminent award, the Pacemaker. Pacemakers are awarded in each category of publication — online, newspaper, yearbook, magazine and broadcast.
Teams of media professionals judge entries based on the following criteria: coverage and content, quality of writing and reporting, leadership, design, photography and graphics.
NSPA contacted Mitch Eden, adviser of 2016 Online Pacemaker recipient The Kirkwood Call for a Q&A. The Kirkwood Call is the newsmagazine of Kirkwood High School in Kirkwood, Missouri. The Kirkwood Call also won Pacemakers in 2014 and 2015 for their print publication. Read NSPA’s previous Q&A with Eden here.
NSPA also heard from Meredith Wright, the Kirkwood Call’s editor-in-chief.
NSPA: Tell us a little about the editors and staff of your Pacemaker-winning publication.
Mitch Eden, adviser: A staff of 80, The Call is led by a strong group of student editors and an editorial board which make collective decisions to move things forward. Three-week cycles of a print newsmagazine and a website updated daily ensures everyone is busy and working.
NSPA: What were the goals going into last year and how did you ensure those goals were met?
ME: We post original content to the website daily, so the editing team has a comprehensive process to set the staff up for success. From pitching ideas and angles to editing and revising content to posting to make sure stories feature digital components, they collaborate to produce unique content.
Meredith Wright, editor-in-chief: Our goals are always to report accurately and ethically. We aim to share stories with our audience that we feel are important. We encourage our staffers to practice their First Amendment freedoms because we feel that is the most important part of being a student journalist. As a staff, our goal is to report as thoroughly as a professional journalist would.
Last year, I was the in-depth editor for staff and I made it a personal goal to investigate and find stories that I knew were relevant to our readers, both high school students and the greater community. Some examples of these stories included in-depths about race, the special school district, divorce and sex. We ensure our staffers write ethically by educating them about the rights and rules that come with journalism. Education is the key to helping students develop into responsible, accurate journalists.
NSPA: How did the staff ensure the quality of the publication?
ME: Extensive and thorough editing of content by the editors includes coaching, guiding and revising until pieces are good enough for the web and magazine. Mini-lessons on AP style, law and ethics, photography, etc. also serve as training and refreshers. We also show exemplars constantly for inspiration and modeling opportunities.
NSPA: Is there any one issue, story or package that stood out during the year?
ME: I appreciated the staff’s coverage of the district’s failed tax initiative. Updates, briefs (both social media and web) and a column covering a Twitter feud and the eventual resignation of the school board president was all handled with professionalism and timeliness.
NSPA: Tell us about a moment you will remember most about this staff.
MW: There were so many moments where I remember sitting and interviewing, writing or designing and thinking, “Wow, I am actually reporting like a real journalist and I am experiencing the power of the First Amendment.”
There were also several moments when I would sit and talk with my editors and really appreciate their passion for journalism and their perseverance for getting the facts right. They are the reason for my love of journalism and the reason we earned a Pacemaker.
NSPA: What was one of the toughest moments you faced last year? The most rewarding?
MW: The toughest moment I faced last year was writing the race spread. I wanted to bring awareness to the achievement gap within our school. The problem was that I didn’t want to write a features story because I felt like my own opinion would be very difficult to eliminate. Instead, I decided to interview multiple students, teachers and an administrator to understand the differing opinions surrounding the issue.
It was difficult because I had to interview so many people and make sure all opinions were shown. I displayed their quotes in a Q and A format to let their quotes stand on their own. The most rewarding experience was probably witnessing younger staffers grow through the direction of the editors. Our newsmagazine is student-run and it is really cool to see young staffers immerse themselves in their stories and become better writers as a result.
NSPA: What does the Pacemaker mean to you and your staff?
ME: It’s great to be recognized, but it is not why we do what we do. It simple means we are in the conversation of being a pretty darn good website. That’s neat.
MW: The Pacemaker means we did our job correctly and accurately. It also means we met our goals of reporting ethically and consistently as well as educating our staffers about their rights and rules.
