North Central’s System for Getting Content Online Daily

Screenshot of nchslive.com

One of the things many staffs are dealing with when they move to the Web is how to organize copy flow to get fresh content on the Web each day. Tom Gayda, at North Central High School in Indianapolis, has shared the system his staff of nchslive.com is doing to get new content online daily. Click through to read more about what Tom says about the system.

Here is a bit Tom wrote about his system:

This is the first official week we are following this system. In fact, this is the first year we are serious about the Web, so hopefully it works out well. I have attached what we came up with to organize the assignments. Basically, all 105 kids on staff have weekly assignments that change on a four week rotation. Some weeks they have two assignments, some weeks just one. The Web master kids will determine the best new content each week and then regularly update from there. So, there is always a bank of fresh content. (Breaking news is a separate entity, not included with these assignments). The info attached explains the grading, which is basically the incentive. You get more points if your stuff goes online…

These weekly assignments are the result of the kids coming up with entertaining ideas. Our site, NCHS Live, is meant to be more than just a news site, so I think the kids did a decent job picking some regular features that will bring kids to the site for “fun,” and then maybe they will stick around for the news, too.

You can download the North Central Assignment System here.

Aaron Manfull

Aaron is in his 26th year of advising student media. He is currently the Director of Student Media at Francis Howell North High School in St. Charles, Missouri. He is the Journalism Education Association Digital Media Chair and co-Director of Media Now. He is the 2023 JEA Teacher Inspiration Award Winner and is a former Dow Jones News Fund National Journalism Teacher of the Year. He is one of the authors of the textbook "Student Journalism and Media Literacy." You can find him on X and Instagram @manfull. He's a proud father. A transplanted Iowan. And an avid Hawkeye Fan.

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