So this actually was not so much an article as it was a collection of briefs, but I’m pretty proud of the final product all the same.
Yesterday was a historic election, undoubtedly. The end result wasn’t necessarily what I hoped it would be, which is an especially painful point considering it was my first time getting to exercise my right to vote, but still. I’m proud that I got to perform my civic duty, and I stand by our Democracy’s tradition of peaceful transition. The fact that there are currently protests in the streets of Los Angeles akin to something we might otherwise see in countries like Egypt when military dictators come to power is honestly astounding to watch, in my opinion.
That’s all I’m going to say on the subject, however. I’m not looking to make enemies or incite anything with this post by any means.
Even though the last couple of days have been pretty glum and somber due to the end of this vitriolic year and a half of electioneering, something good did come out of it. I got to cover my very first presidential election as a part of a newspaper staff, and the coverage we came together with is pretty phenomenal if I say so myself.
We covered the election of President-elect Donald Trump, the local City Council, State Senate and Congress elections in Fullerton’s proximity and we covered the 17 ballot measures in California. To see the full edition, you can check it out here:
While the issue as a whole is a hugely successful undertaking, one that we spent tons of time on and came out on the other end with pretty solid results, I’m particularly proud of how we handled the propositions.
On front page and page 2, we had a graphic representing each of the 17 propositions on the ballot in California. Alongside those, we included whether or not the polls were leaning yes or no for that prop at the time we sent the paper to the printer.
To coincide with those graphics, I wrote a brief-length summary of each of the 17 propositions that we posted to the Daily Titan website. At about 100 words each, give or take a dozen, I wound up writing nearly 1,700 words in what was essentially voter guide coverage of the propositions.
Originally the plan was to mention the online supplement to the graphics in print as a way of improving traffic to our website online. However, our production went right to the deadline we’re restricted by, 2:30 a.m., and it wasn’t until the pages were turned into the printer that we discovered the supplement wasn’t mentioned in ink.
Sure, it sucks that my work didn’t get quite as much attention as it could have as a result, but we did advertise the summaries on social media so that the nearly 2,000 words did not go to waste. Thus is the life of a journalist.
If you want to check out the list of propositions I wrote up, check them out here. You can also check out the full list of things I’ve done for the Daily Titan to the right!
Hopefully things get a little less crazy and stressful now that the election is over and we have a bit of a quiet lame duck period to enjoy.
Work in Progress 