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.
Entries are judged by teams of professionals based on the following criteria: coverage and content, quality of writing and reporting, leadership, design, photography and graphics.
NSPA contacted Mitch Eden, adviser of 2015 Newsmagazine Pacemaker recipient The Kirkwood Call, for a Q&A. The Kirkwood Call is the student-run newsmagazine of Kirkwood High School in Kirkwood, Mo. NSPA also heard from Meredith Wright, last year’s in-depth editor.
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 were those goals met?
Meredith Wright, in-depth editor: Our goals are always to report accurately and ethically. We aim to share stories with our audience that we feel are important.
As a staff, our goal is to report as thoroughly as a professional journalist would. Last year, 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.
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: The 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, photo, package, etc. that stood out during the year?
ME: I love the issue that tackled the district’s failed tax initiative. Clever, hard-hitting and fair, the staff was not scared to ask tough questions and deliver fair assessments of the school board and administrative performances.
NSPA: What was the most rewarding moment for you last year?
MW: 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 qualities will you remember the most about this Pacemaker-winning staff?
ME: The product is the product. It’s the process and the enjoyment of the students that I like to focus on. And both, this year, have been awesome. They have all grown through failure and have a drive that is hard to match at times. Their enthusiasm for journalism (and life) is infectious. It has been a wonderful year.
NSPA: What does the Pacemaker mean to you and your staff?
ME: It means someone else took the time to notice you did an excellent job. But that’s not why we do what we do. We do what we do for our audience.
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.