Brandon Thor Ballenger1040 NE 24th Ave. Apt #1Pompano Beach, FL 33062 Academic Information
English and Public Communication Cumulative GPA: 3.32 In-major GPA: 3.94 Senior
1. Describe any academic, professional, and/or extracurricular experiences that qualify you to lead the University Press.
The most relevant experience I have for leading the UP is that which I’ve gained in its chaotic newsroom. Since I joined the staff last September, I believe I’ve grown substantially in a number of ways useful for leadership. I’ve often been told that the most valuable experience I will acquire in the UP is unrelated to the specific tasks of any position – rather, that the insights into managing stress, time and people will serve me best. I’ve thus far found such statements true.I’ve learned to understand to some extent the habits and attitudes of the staff, and of some kinds of people I will inevitably work with in the future. I have the sense to approach different people in different ways, and to craft a response that fits a particular situation. I’ve obviously learned that people are going to frustrate me on a regular basis. I know how to respond to them in terms of legitimate reasons rather than with my emotion. (Not to accuse people of always responding to logic…)As a copy editor, I’ve become immune to the pathological laziness, vague thinking, and inattention to detail I can expect from many UP writers. I think it’s made me both more clear-headed and skeptical as a person; I’m better able to point out these deficiencies to others and to notice my own. Perhaps ironically, such desensitization also allows me to focus on more positive aspects of their writing, and to encourage growth. Without this experience, I imagine I would be unfairly critical of others and not sufficiently critical of myself. As copy desk chief and more recently (not to mention more poignantly) as managing editor, I’ve realized the importance of managing time. Nothing made this clearer than a “final proof” which ran until 2 a.m. because the art director and I were debating and nitpicking endlessly. When you reach a point where you giggle uncontrollably at track 7 of the random eclectic jazz CD someone left in the office, you should realize that you’re no longer improving the pages much and call it quits. After that night, the ability to quickly assess the relative value of choices and respond decisively has become essential to me, whether those choices involve revising stories further, delegating tasks to others, or persuading people that I’m right. I’ve learned that being right or having things my way isn’t always important in the grand scheme, that doing everything myself wears me down and is terribly inefficient, and that sometimes you just have to let go and move on to other things. Having also handled distribution, I have a better-than-average sense of our readership. I’ve developed a sincere concern for the quality of the paper and take it personally when we make dumb mistakes. I see a bigger picture that fuels my efforts and informs my judgment of our coverage. About two months ago, a girl came up to me as I was sitting in a golf cart just loaded with the new issue, writing down the number of copies about to go into the first bin. She saw the ad on the back cover and said, “Is that CityLink? Can I get a copy?” “No, it’s the UP,” I told her. She gave a disappointed “oh” and recoiled. “Do you want a copy anyway?” I asked. “No thanks. I’ve already got one,” she lied, in a mind-boggling display of stupidity. It was a new issue. It had not left my cart.Of course, there are ups and downs to any week. Outside of the UP, I recently helped organized a student rally aimed to inform the FAU community of impending and ongoing education budget cuts, including their potential impact on us. I was one of five speakers, all of whom wrote their own speeches for the event. Preparing and presenting in front of an audience of between two and three hundred, including reporters from CityLink, Sun-Sentinel, and Palm Beach Post – in addition to administration officials and legislative figures – has given me a new measure of confidence and self-respect; both qualities are valuable in any leadership role. I have also had an academic paper committee-reviewed and accepted for presentation at an honors conference hosted here at FAU and organized by our local Lambda Pi Eta (a nationally accredited communication honor society) chapter, of which I am vice-president. I’m also an officer in the FAU chapter of the American Democracy Project, which has sponsored and volunteered for a number of civic engagement events over the past year. All of this has been in addition to a full-time course load and my work at the UP. There, now the torture is over: all the subsequent questions have briefer responses.
2. Describe a major strength and a major weakness of the University Press this semester (Spring 2008). Cite specific examples to support your claims.
The greatest strength of the UP this semester has been, particularly in the latter half, the improvements in communication and self-expression. Where previously many decisions have gone unquestioned and people have been reluctant to voice opinions, I see – for example – a shy and quiet assistant art director who can now say “no” when people tell him to make design changes he disagrees with the merit of, who can now demand specific deadlines for copy on a special issue he is exclusively designing, who can now stand up and leave when he feels like he shouldn’t be obligated to stay. I’m proud to see that kind of change.The greatest weakness has been the dearth of committed writers, particularly in actual news writing; many of the senior writers have dedicated themselves to pet projects and are unwilling to submit other copy. One in particular told me, “we aren’t writing useless crap,” which I took to mean that anything that might not be clip-worthy wasn’t worth writing. I disagree with this attitude, but I’ve seen it lead to blogs disappearing and sub-par copy being run in print. Repeatedly strapped for copy, the paper is virtually at the mercy of whoever is willing to write. The writing culture has to change, whether through example, inspiration, competition, or punishment.
3. Describe the single most important goal you want to accomplish as editor, and detail exactly how you will do so.
I want to make sure our coverage of FAU puts to shame every other local paper’s.First, I will see to creating a staff manual that incorporates detailed job descriptions, a stylebook, policies on deadlines, meetings, training information and general organization. The overall structure should be transparent, easily understood, fair, consistent, and practical from the standpoint of everyone – writers, copyeditors, designers, photographers and videographers.Next, I establish a beat system that will no doubt be adapted to the interests of available writers. For certain, though, I want a crime beat and an SG beat to assure regular news coverage. Beyond that, I’m willing to be flexible, so long as there is a fair selection to choose from for new writers. Beat writers will become familiar with certain contacts and information and will be able to train new writers in their area of interest. The senior writer position for any beat should be a coveted, higher-paid position, one whose articles get priority placement in print and newer writers aspire to and compete for. Any well-organized beat will quickly establish a reputation that feeds the beat story ideas; people will come to those writers with information and ideas they want to see a respected writer handle.Until a beat becomes organized and established, frequent brainstorming and fishing may be necessary. Local coverage and past UP coverage will be considered, too. Both should be reflected upon regularly as a motivational and inventional tool: doing so will put our own efforts in perspective.Speaking of motivation, I believe success in my goal also depends on keeping a high-energy, dedicated staff. Some things I think will help with this include the occasional lunch meeting, bringing in knowledgeable and interesting professionals to speak, being sure to stress the improvements of both individual and collective staff, praising and rewarding particularly outstanding work with food or other bonuses, checking regularly with everyone to ensure they have everything necessary to do their jobs without unreasonable difficulties, and making sure that our goals are in synch. 4. What novel methods will you employ to ensure the University Press covers every FAU campus?
Recruitment for other campuses is always difficult; it’s well known that FAU is a commuter school and the satellite campuses are all significantly smaller than Boca’s. The assumption is that nothing important goes on outside of the primary campus and they’re not worth sending writers out to. That assumption will be difficult to break until we demonstrate to the contrary. While I doubt any methods I could detail are “novel,” there are some prospects I believe in.The current editor and I have already established the position of campus editor, which we presently intend – noting the recency of its inception – to be someone who manages and assigns event coverage on the Boca Raton campus. Ideally, over the summer, we will visit the other campuses and establish rapport with faculty and student representatives on each campus who can funnel information to our campus editor, who may ultimately require subeditors to manage the individual campuses. Such subeditors would become knowledgeable about their particular campus and might even develop a regional beat.
5. What original ideas do you have, and what specific resources will you commit, to covering FAU news – both breaking and investigative – in print and on the Web?
Breaking news should always have priority on the Web and investigative news in print. However, both deserve substantial resources. Each should promote the other; our bins should feature our Web address and our print should refer to complementary material on the Web. The Web should encourage readers to pick up the print for in-depth coverage and (not explicitly, but obviously) much more interesting design. There should be a map or list of all bin locations on all campuses featured prominently on the site.The Web should feature multimedia presentations – UPTV segments, photography slideshows, potentially Flash videos and so forth – illustrations, blogs, regularly updated polls and quizzes that tie into the content, potentially op-ed columns, or certainly issue-oriented stories and ones that are expected to elicit discussion. The site should be redesigned with ease of access in mind – the current search system is messy and nearly useless. Old issues should be grouped and easily located online. Each section could make use of a different CSS stylesheet or template – as the Best Bets page currently does – to give the reader an obvious, instant way to distinguish the type of article, the same way print does. I believe the Web site deserves its own copy editor; perhaps two once the amount of writing increases.Having previously explained the beat system I would implement, I have less to say about print and writing in general here, but I would make one point clear: since print eats up a disproportionate amount of our budget, we should be careful to utilize it to the fullest. Only polished articles should be printed. Speaking of specific resources, I feel that UPTV needs to be offered more in terms of equipment and training; presently, they are not really integrated into the structure of the newsroom. Despite the difference in medium, they still need editing, copyediting, and input from the staff. The Web editor and the copy editor designated for Web should handle that responsibility in addition to other Web content. Ultimately, I would also like for UPTV to have the knowledge and equipment to create mini-documentaries, or something equivalent to having a project issue as a clip. I would like to see them able to produce work at the same pace as the rest of the newsroom and able to contribute video segments that complement cover stories and can be referred from print. Beyond what I’ve stipulated, I don’t see a present need to allocate other resources to Web or print exclusively; I feel most of the staff should be involved with both in some capacity.
