Editing at the Planet

From winter of 2021 through winter of 2022, I worked as an editor at The Planet magazine, Western Washington University's environmental magazine. I began as a story editor before being hired as Editor-in-Chief for the fall and winter quarters of the 2021-2022 academic year. I gained experience working on an editing team in a newsroom, giving critiques and feedback to reporters and publishing a final, polished product for our readers to enjoy. Below are the issues I worked on, first as a story editor, then as an EiC. 

I worked on this issue as a story editor during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. Our meetings and interviews were conducted virtually, but the experience was no less rewarding. I helped a small group of reporters hone in on and craft their stories to be thorough and accurate. The stories I helped edit included "Mining for Answers" and "Voices for the Tongass". 

For my second quarter as a story editor, I worked with a larger group of reporters as they wrote their stories. We were still confined to Zoom meeting rooms and virtual editing sessions because of the pandemic, but the final stories were testaments to the reportrs' persistence. The stories I edited included "Water in the Court", "Returning a Relative", "Finding Success in Soil."

This issue was my first quarter as EiC, and we were back in the newsroom after a year and a half of virtual pandemic proceedings. We had a print magazine for the first time in as long, and the experience of producing a print magazine was not one I'll soon forget. I learned important lessons about time management, effective communication and what makes a good news story from an editors' perspective. 

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This issue was a finalist for the Society for Professional Journalists Regional Mark of Excellence award for "Best Student Magazine."

For my final quarter at The Planet, the editing team and I decided to tackle a theme that could encompass the many issues, ideas and problems reporters at The Planet can chose to cover during their time with the publication. As an EiC, I wanted to find a theme that could inspire specific stories, but that was broad enough to encourage bold, new ideas.