Victoria Christie

The Art of Journalism

Episode II

SO WHY JOURNALISM?

• It all dates back to 7^th Grade.

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• A.R.M.S. Program

• My true writing passion dates as far back as 4^th Grade though.

• When I first started my Senior Project, all I had in mind was one goal.

For me to get published by the time I turned 18 years old.

• Until I turned 18 though, I had only written creative fiction (fantasy is my favorite).
• It was time for me to try something different.
• My main question was, “Do I really want to become a creative writer, or do my skills belong somewhere else?”

That was when journalism came in.

• “Why not?” I asked myself, “I know I love to write, but do my writing skills belong somewhere else and not with stories? Journalism should answer my question. It’s not that much different from story writing, right?”
• Wrong!
• My essential question throughout my entire Senior Project was “How is creative writing different from journalism?”

Episode I

First Semester

SO WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED DURING EPISODE I OF MY SENIOR PROJECT?

• I had the great opportunity to write for my neighborhood magazine, the Chanticleer Courier!

DID I ENCOUNTER ANY OBSTACLES DURING MY JOURNEY?

• Of course!
• My main obstacle was communication.
• My second major obstacle was time management.
• And last but not least, my third obstacle – not my worse one, was brainstorming.

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At the end of first semester, what did I learn about myself with my Senior Project?

I AM NOT MEANT TO BE A JOURNALIST!

But!

That didn’t stop me from aiming for a Distinguished Project!

Episode II

Distinguished Piece

WHY DISTINGUISHED?

• Even though I learned I am not meant to be a journalist, I still wanted to try it.
• I had two different driving questions this time around.
• “How would one get published in a larger magazine company other than the Chanticleer Courier?”
• “Is there more to the Courier than what I learned first semester?”

Both of my questions were answered.

IN WHAT WAYS?

• An additional article
• Chanticleer Courier vs. the Greenville Journal
• Interview with the editor of the Greenville Journal
• The Chanticleer Courier is much more than just a neighborhood magazine!

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INTERVIEW WITH THE GREENVILLE JOURNAL (CHRIS HAIRE)

1. Q. What kind of writers write for the Greenville Journal?

A. Not everyone starts off as a journalist. A lot of the people in the Journal have training before they even consider writing for it.

2. What are the different types of articles that are written?

A. City government, community (fundraisers), cultural (arts), food articles (like recipes).

3. Q. What is the publishing process? How do you print the newspaper?

A. The writing is mostly done on the website. There is a dashboard in the Journal that shows what everybody is doing, and it can track people all over the world who are reading the same newspaper.

When the Journal is finished, we upload it as pdf files, and a company in Georgia prints it. Within 2 ½ days after uploading and sending it, we get the newspaper.

4. Q. What other things do you publish in the journal besides articles?

A. Mostly ads and sometimes recipes.

5. Q. What kind of people do you expect to write for the Journal?

A. Sometimes city leaders submit something, but we are mostly looking for professional writers. We’re looking for people who follow the news and like reading magazines and newspapers.

6. Q. Have any young or younger people written an article for the Journal?

A. We usually don’t have high school students, but we do have a lot of college kids who may be interested in journalism as a career. Most of these students try an internship.

7. Q. If I was interested in getting published in the Journal, what would I have to do?

A. You first would have to lay out your idea either through the website or e-mail. When we get it, you would have to send us some clips of stuff you’ve written in the past since you’d be a new writer. If we decide that your writing is eligible for the Journal, then you would write your article and send it to us.

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FUN FACTS ABOUT THE CHANTICLEER COURIER THAT I DIDN’T KNOW

1. The Chanticleer Courier is part of a larger magazine company called N2 Publishing that has been around for a little over eleven years. It is located in Wilmington, North Carolina.
2. Danny Wike started with them seven years ago.
3. N2 has over 850 magazines nationwide.
4. Danny Wike is an area director. An area director is a person from a group of managers who leads or supervises a particular area of a company, program, or project. There are 720 area directors now, and Mr. Wike was the 30th.
5. There is a 300% growth in the company every year.
6. Susan Douglas is the publication manager for the Courier, and she also writes for it. Mrs. Douglas, Mr. Wike, and one more person, Danyelle, put together the magazine.
7. Publishers like Mr. Wike and N2 Publishing are selective about who gets to write for the magazine because they want every article to be good.

CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN

NEW KNOWLEDGE

• I learned that it takes much more to get published in a larger magazine company than a smaller one.
• Peering into the future, it looks like I still have many years to go before I become a professional writer.
• If I could start my project over, then I would definitely aim for an internship at the Greenville Journal. The Courier was fun, and I definitely would like to continue to contribute to it every once in a while, but it’s always nice to try something different.

IN CONCLUSION

• This project has opened my mind for writing in the future.
• The new knowledge and skills I picked up throughout my Senior Project helped me discover that yes, writing is my true passion, and I definitely belong somewhere in the writing career field.

There is one person here today who made my project thrive that I would like to recognize.