Reflective Report - BAJ3

Week three has been the busiest week so far, with the print deadline fast approaching there has been a large rush in content flowing through the system. A lot of people feel that the content is stuck and isn't flowing, which it might not be in other sections, but I make sure to pass everything I possibly can through the system each day with the help of my subs. They haven't been at uni very much over the past few weeks and I have been left with the bulk of the work. I don't mind taking on the workload as I want to do it justice and if there are any problems then I am the one that the blame should fall on. For example the managing editor has picked up on a couple of sentences in longer features which don't make sense like in the ayahuasca piece, or Luke has picked up on a contraction that didn't exist - both of which passed me by. This has taught me to be more vigilant and really concentrate on the copy. The more I edit it the more intricately I feel my senses are tuned to the article and it gets easier to see what is wrong.

Ed Oliver and Astrid have both picked up on small changes or mistakes in their articles by letting me know on slack. This happened a couple of times with Ed's copy and I have learned not to interfere with his work too much as some writers are really on point with their portfolios and rightly want it to be the best quality it can be. I feel guilty for the errors as head of the subs but also hope that they would be picked up on by my subs. 

Subs do work from home when they can't come in for various reasons which is great, and means I can still have a virtual team even when I'm at uni. There have been instances where I've been the only one at uni for the week or a sub has turned up after the morning meeting. This means I have to re-explain all the things that were brought up over the last half an hour and they don't understand the consequences of not integrating into the team. I have take time to message them and ask where they are or communicate about copy over slack, this reinforces the team spirit and makes everyone's job easier.

Week two was still a time full of teething problems for most of us, getting properly into using the system and further understanding what the job roles ask of us. People interacted a lot and were happier to go up and talk to people face to face. On the other hand though due to absences some didn't know who was who or only knew each other by name. With time this will resolve itself and by the time we have a launch party I hope everyone will be in collaboration and feel at ease with greeting each other.

Teething problems still occurred with my team, I was faced with a bit of absence which ended up leaving me with most of the work. I'm happy to do the work and all of the articles flow through me anyway as chief sub-editor. I feel because I pay more attention to detail this means that the others feel there is less of a job for them to do. I chat and make jokes with the subs yet they know each other from previous years at LCC so their friendship is stronger. I find that they loose interest in the task if there's no content and find the work easy because they don't tend to reread articles or double check facts or punctuation. I have tried to involve them more by creating a sub-section on slack for sub editors and this has helped a little.

To improve my experience I have to keep a firm eye on what I'm editing and always reread things at least twice if not three times as this really does help me to pick up on tiny details that I've missed or ways to improve the structure or sentences. It is a constant learning experience and I want to stay in control of my own skills at this stage as well as other people's.

The launch of Artefact Magazine during this first week back at LCC has been a steep learning curve but a very collaborative and exciting venture. With the set up of the website and the communications servers like Slack and Bagpuss everything is slowly coming together. I don't feel this has been too stressful for anyone, and I feel the team is excited and taking on their roles seriously and efficiently. 

As chief sub-editor I am still waiting for content to be produced so that I can correct and go ahead with making sure every article is edited to perfection. This is a role I particularly connect with as I am very diligent when it comes to spelling, grammar and punctuation and take pride in good writing without chastising people for their mistakes.

It has been great so far organising the sub-editors and working as a team. I rewrote the style guide into one clear concise bullet point guideline sheet so that my team mates don't have to click on multiple links in order to help them correct drafts. I am feeling really excited and so far confident about my team's abilities and because there is such a fresh buzz of work and collaboration between journalists, photojournalists and editors I genuinely look forward to coming to university to work on Artefact.

This experience has so far taught me that so long as I remain organised and positive, resolve issues when they happen and stay proactive with my workload and time management that the magazine will run smoothly. I'm sure that in the next few weeks the real issues will arise, but for now I truly enjoy the experience.

I was worried that working with a hierarchy system with varying levels of power would lead to a lot more professional problems however all team members are working really hard and seem inspired by the roles they have to do.

When talking with Yeasin and Jasmine, my sub-editors, we have great communication and a lot of fun even though we didn't really talk to each other over the past two years. I want to guide them properly and keep them from being bored, but next week we will have much more to work with.