A Labor of Love- A Newspaper Saved
Photos and Writing by Elise Detloff
For a lot of jobs, it’s just another day, another dollar. But that's not the way it is in the Daily Evergreen Newspaper Office at Washington State University. I chose the Daily Evergreen as the subject of my photo essay because I wanted to highlight the work that goes into producing the paper and why the Daily Evergreen team worked so hard to save it during a recent fund cut. While shooting this essay, I looked for candid shots of the reporters, photographers, and staff doing what they normally do when producing the paper. I took photos of meetings, interactions between workers, and unique elements in the office that give you a feel of the culture and community within the Murrow Hall basement. I was hoping for more shots of reporters in the field, but that happens throughout the day. The afternoon is compiling and designing time which is when I was able to visit. Keeping the photos varied and engaging throughout this essay was a little challenging as well, but I still feel that this essay still captures the level of work that goes into the Daily Evergreen. The captions and interviews with the staff add quite a bit of insight too.
The Daily Evergreen in a student-run newspaper produced through Washington State University’s Office of Student Media. Here, students can develop their writing, photography, graphic design, and reporting skills while getting paid. The Daily Evergreen prints new papers 5 days a week, keeping students up to date with the events and actions of WSU and Pullman, WA.
Layout editor and sports reporter Ryan Mosher (white shirt) joined the Daily Evergreen team on a whim, but now he feels ,"It's sort of addicting in a weird way. It's a good time, it's a satisfying feeling watching the paper come out."
Ryan Mosher and Dylan Greene, staff writers, brainstorm new ideas for the sports section of the paper with other writers offscreen.
Due to school-wide budget cuts, the Daily Evergreen was going to become the Weekly Evergreen. But through a massive outreach campaign, a bill was passed charging students a $5 fee that would go to keeping the Daily Evergreen running every day.
A staff meeting before every workday allows the reporters, photographers, and staff to bring together ideas, achievements, and announcements before getting down to the nitty gritty of production.
Being a journalist is no easy task. After the interviews and research is done, there's still the task of writing the article, editing the body copy, and making sure that EVERYTHING is error free. Sometimes it's a good idea to have these reminders written in an easy to see spot.
Teva Mayer is the managing editor meaning that she writes articles, manages other reporters, and edits stories, and organizes parts of the paper. Here she's labeling white boards as the pages of the next morning's paper, making a mockup to get a sense of the layout for the stories, ads, and images.
This portrait is of Anna Young, a copy editor who only planned to stay for one semester. "I like most of the people," she jokes. But she soon found herself staying for much longer. While taking this portrait, I asked, "Why did the Daily Evergreen have to push for a student fee?" "A lot of it's because we do a lot to keep the university truthful. [It] Covers what the university doesn't."
Adam Jackson, a photographer, skims through images of tennis players. "I joined [The Daily Evergreen] because I really love photography. It's a great source, very reputable, I love the dedicated work people do here." I asked about the new tagline, No PR. No BS. No Retreat and Jackson felt, "That's a good moniker. Daily Evergreen is pretty powerful, describes it well."
Mayer works on research for an article following the series of marijuana themed stories leading up to April 20th, or 4/20.