Quill & Scroll Magazine

Create a Staff Manual: Full version

Kathy Zweibel
Past President
Chairperson CSPA Honors Committee
Columbia Scholastic Press Advisers Association

As many advisers continue to take on the responsibility of more than one publication and publication editors are usually involved in several activities in their schools, staff organization and the development of a comprehensive staff manual become critical. Advisers and editors need as many tools as possible to make their jobs easier. By working together they can put together a “how to” manual that will answer all staff questions and ensure a successful publication. The staff manual also helps staffers become more independent. It will be their most valuable resource.

For a staff manual to be complete, one needs to include the following items.

POLICIES

Content Policy

This is determined by your primary audience. For example a K-12 literary magazine’s content would be different from that of a high school only magazine. A private school yearbook or newspaper may face more limitation as to what can be covered. When generating a content policy, the editors and adviser need to ask these questions:

  • Is the Editorial Board the decision-making body of the publication which governs its day-to-day operation?
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  • Is the publication an accessible public forum?
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  • Is a prior review by the administration policy in effect?
Goals and objectives of the publication

Does the publication have a mission statement? Who are the primary audiences? Secondary audiences? How often will it be published? The staff needs to know why the publication exists and the goals it hopes to achieve.

Advertising

Does the publication sell ads? Make sure the staff knows the pricing and guidelines for ads. For example, in the yearbook, a set of parent guidelines for what is acceptable in a memory block; for the newspaper establish that the paper has the right to object any advertisement that does not meet the paper’s standards as specified in their editorial policy.

Letters to the editor

Make sure your letters to the editor policy is made clear. It could state that your newspaper will not print anything deemed libelous, obscene or in poor taste; that the paper reserves the right to postpone, edit or withhold from publication anything submitted which does not meet those specifications.

The publication should also include that the meaning of any submission will not be altered, but the editors reserve the right to correct spelling, grammar and punctuation if necessary. The editors and adviser will make the final decision on all material appearing in the newspaper.

Death policy  

Establish this policy before such a tragic event occurs. Decide under what circumstances the publication may not include the manner of death.

Two examples are:

  • The newspaper will acknowledge the death of a student or faculty member with a straight news story which contains a picture of the deceased (if available), the date of birth and the date of death, manner of death, if appropriate. The publication will also run a feature story on the deceased with a minimum of two appropriate candids (if available) and quotes from family and friends.  If there are siblings of the deceased in the school, an advance copy will be taken to the parents/guardians.   No heavy rule lines or religious symbols will be used.

  • The yearbook will acknowledge the death of a student or faculty member with a feature story which contains a picture of the deceased (if available) and one action candid (if available), the date of birth and the date of death, manner of death, if appropriate; quotes from family and friends. The story will emphasize the “good” memories.  If there are siblings of the deceased in the school, an advance copy will be taken to the parents/guardians.  No heavy rule lines or religious symbols will be used.

STAFF MANUAL NUTS AND BOLTS

Staff directory

Include staff names, staff position, homeroom, e-mail, phone number, cell phone, address, birthday. Set up an e-mail notification system.

Organizational chart

This is the “who’s the boss” of the staff. The purpose is so everyone understand the chain of command and how stories will move through the editing process.

Editors and staff job descriptions

It is important to delineate what the responsibilities are for each position on staff as well as for what the adviser is responsible. This ensures that all jobs are completed.

Submission deadlines

The editors and adviser need to sit down and do their page submission deadlines to the printer for the yearbook and literary magazine and their deadline schedule for each issue of the newspaper as well as the mini deadline schedule for separate page elements (advertising, standing columns, editorials, dated and non dated news/features, photo assignments etc.) The staff needs these dates so they can plan their work to make the deadlines. Consult a school calendar when setting these due dates to make sure they are not in conflict with any major school activities.

10 differenct captions and lead-in styles

This helps the writer use different lead-ins to avoid redundancy. The options are: proper noun, common noun, adverb, adjective, participle, gerund, infinitive, dependent clause, prepositional phrase, direct quotation. Provide an example of each for the writers.

Sample lead styles for news and feature stories

This also helps the writer avoid repetition of lead style. It serves as a memory jogger when a staffer has writer’s block about how to begin the story. A sample list of lead styles might included: analogy, narrative, descriptive, suspended interest, straight news lead, noun clause, concessive clause, causal cause, gerund phrase, infinitive phrase, contrast, anecdotal, description of an event or site, question, quote.

Leads checklist

Make a checklist for the writer to ask himself about his lead. This would range from spelling and grammar check to is the most important idea of the story contained in the lead?

Interview Guidelines

Include how to dress, what to take to the interview, sample questions. For the editors they need to prepare a source list and possible questions for each contact for the new staff member.

Beat system assignments

List every beat for your school community and who the contact would be. Include: every sports team head coach for each season, team captains, academic departments lead teachers, administrators, superintendent, school board president, athletic trainers, cafeteria director, janitorial supervisor, head of the grounds crew, all club advisers, band director, band front adviser, cheerleading coach, guidance director, vocational school rep, parent booster group reps, etc.

Divide the beats up among staff members, list due dates for handing in beat reports and provide a list of all the assignments in the manual. Staffers need to keep a folder on the assignment, including a demographic on key sources in the group, activity calendars, handouts, etc.

Sample headline styles

Include the various types of headline set-ups as well as guidelines for writing headlines.

Word List

Include a frequently confused and misused word list, frequently misspelled words, a list of transitional expressions to use, common misspelled student names.

Types of writing

Define what an editorial, column, news story, feature story should be. For columns explain the various types of columns. For example: review of the arts including drama, music (concerts, albums, videos); art (painting, sculpture, architecture, photography); film, media (TV, radio); publications, software, travel; personal reflection; social commentary; sports; world, political, legal commentary; humor, restaurant review, book review, editorial comment of a personal reaction to a news event.

Revision

Include the steps for peer editing and a self-editing process such as Roy Peter Clark’s Tools of Revision.

Ruberic

A story rubric will help the writers know what guidelines they need to follow. A sample rubric might include topics such as: lead, journalistic style, mechanics, story organization and transitions, fairness, editorializing, quotes, information provided.

Style guide

Include how the publication will handle attribution, minimum number of sources required for a story, specifying number of adult and student sources needed. Indicate guidelines for titles, number usage, abbreviations, capitalization and punctuation. Include the publication’s style for first time an adult is mentioned and the second time as well as for a student. For example an adult might be Mr. John Smith the first time and Mr. Smith, the second time, while a student would be Jane Jones, first time, and Jones, second time.

Page diagram

For yearbooks and lit mags include a copy of the publication’s ladder diagram. For the newspaper, show a page section breakdown for each issue.

Creation of a staff manual takes time but it is a valuable teaching tool. It becomes the chief reference source and helps the staff to maintain a publication’s consistency.