Recruiting is a continuous process. The Daily needs a large, diverse and constantly evolving staff to cover campus well. Editors should work to prevent a desk from becoming understaffed, which can tax existing members unfairly or leave gaps in coverage that are a disservice to our community.
KNOW WHAT YOU NEED: Each desk editor should have a clear idea how many staffers they need. It is wise to have a few more people on your desk than you might immediately need, in the event an opening occurs.
USE PAID SPOTS JUDICIOUSLY: If someone isn’t ready to be paid, hire them as an intern and monitor their progress carefully, give them regular feedback and, when they’re ready, promote them into a paid position. Regularly evaluate paid staffers, especially, to ensure they’re earning their spot. Remember that every position on payroll is a weapon in the fight against mediocrity. Use them accordingly.
WAYS WE CAN FIND TALENT: Repush the job candidate form on social media, in mass mail and ask run house ads in our publications soliciting candidates. We can participate in Gaylord’s beginning-of-semester interest fair. We should also regularly be considering people you meet in classes who possess the hallmarks of successful staffers, network with leaders of student journalism organizations (SPJ, NABJ, NAJA, NAHJ, AWSM, etc.) on campus.
FOLLOW UP: Track the incoming applications and make sure every applicant gets a response. Even if we have no openings now, we may in the future.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION: Part of the mission of Student Media and The Daily is to provide news and information to the OU community about the OU community. Doing that well requires editors to understand OU’s diversity so they can produce coverage that serves everyone.
NEWSROOM DIVERSITY: Covering a diverse campus is hard, especially if everyone in the newsroom looks alike, thinks alike and has the same experiences. That leaves a news organization not reflecting its community, and leaving it blind to what is news for large portions of its audience and potential audience. Accordingly, it is every editors’ job to recruit broadly and build a staff that is diverse.
NEWSROOM INCLUSION: Editors are responsible for creating and maintaining a workplace that is welcoming to students from all cultures, lifestyles, sexual orientations, etc. Helping staffers be their complete selves, bringing their lived experiences to the shared work we do as a team, enriches all of what we do from internal conversations to finished work published for our community.
CAMPUS DIVERSITY: Editors must know their audience. One tool to start to understand ours is the OU Factbook, which shows the gender, ethnic, country-of-origin diversity for students, faculty and staff.