Columns:: Thriving under pressure

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Columns::September 17, 2001

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Photo of Samira Jafari, Red and Black editor-in-chief

Samira Jafari started at the Red and Black as a stringer during her freshman year and worked her way up to be editor-in-chief this semester. She spends 45–50 hours a week at the Red and Black offices. Photo by Peter Frey

Thriving under pressure

By Beth Roberts
beth@uga.edu

Samira Jafari, a junior from Duluth, is editor-in-chief this semester at the Red and Black, UGA’s independent student newspaper. She’s a double major in newspapers and criminal justice. She talked to Columns about her responsibilities, her high-pressure days and her enthusiasm.

Columns: How did you get started at the Red and Black? Did you have high school newspaper experience?

Jafari: In high school I worked for the yearbook--I wrote, and then I was the student-life editor. But I’ve worked at the Red and Black since my first day as a freshman here. I started as a stringer. I knew I should start early to figure out if that was what I wanted to do, and this is a pretty good trial-and-error place. You see what kind of pressure a daily newspaper can put on you--and I loved it. I love the pressure, the thrill of putting out something every day to inform people.

Columns: You’re editor for one semester, right? How many classes are you taking this semester?

Jafari: We apply for positions every semester, so everyone can have a chance. I’m taking five classes and 14 hours. It’s hard work but I like all my classes.

Columns: How many hours a week do you put in here?

Jafari: The managing editor and I put in about 45 to 50 hours a week. It’s a full-time job. And that goes for most people. As a reporter I was putting in 40 to 45 hours a week on top of classes. But you adjust to it, because that’s your lifestyle--I don’t know anything else in college except working at the Red and Black and going to school. If I didn’t work here I don’t know what I’d do with myself.

Columns: What is the role of a student newspaper?

Jafari: I can tell you what we think our mission is: to provide news and variety and sports information to the University of Georgia community. We do put an emphasis on students. Faculty, visitors, staff--everyone can appreciate our news content, but we really do want to inform the student community. We think that’s our main mission--to find topics that they’d be interested in, or to take national topics or state topics that affect their lives.

Columns: Compared to a network news show, can you do a better job for that audience?

Jafari: I think we definitely have an advantage. It’s hard for someone who’s not on your wavelength to know what your struggles are, what your concerns are, what your problems are. We’re required to be students before we can work here. Now because I’m a student, I know what students are going through. We’re not isolated, we’re right in there with them.
And that helps us pick out content that would be pertinent to students--and that’s our ultimate goal. That’s what we try to keep in the back of our heads--the one question you have to ask yourself as a reporter and as an editor is how this affects students. If you can put that in your article, you’ve done your job for that day.
I don’t think a big media outlet can do that, because they have to cover a different kind of audience--a big general one. I think students need that too--I watch broadcast news, I read metro papers, USA Today, New York Times, the Atlanta Journal. I need all that kind of information, but I need my Red and Black too, telling me what’s going on at UGA.

Columns: How do you decide what stories will get covered?

Jafari: We have a budget meeting every day at 5:30. All the desk editors and copy editors come. The desk editors essentially represent the reporters and their ideas. The photo editor comes. It’s all about communication--you can’t put out a decent paper every day if you don’t have that kind of communication.
Basically we decide what priority each story has, and everyone pitches what they have to offer. We decide whether we need to run wire. If the Associated Press has something that’s pertinent to UGA that we didn’t get, we’ll run that.

Columns: What have you learned so far this year?

Jafari: There are a lot of ethical decisions to be made every day: what’s the ethical yet thought-provoking approach. You have to think of your job as a newspaper--to inform, to look out for your readers. At the same time, what bridges are we burning? You have to weigh these things. I encountered that as a reporter several times.
As an editor, it’s difficult because you make the final call. And it happens a lot, because we’re a daily and this is a big school and a happening town, and there’s always something going on. It can be quite the burden.
Most of our writers are brand new--we had very few returning from last year because most of them graduated. So it’s been exciting to be able to teach new writers how to go out there and get a story. You remember when you were nervous and scared and intimidated, thinking, wow, so much time, so much effort put into everything. And now you just want to show other people it’s really worth all that time, effort, and strain. It’s great, because you see other people growing--it’s a really good experience.

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Columns is produced by the UGA News Service, a unit of UGA Public Affairs.
Beth Roberts: Columns editor, Juliett Dinkins: Columns managing editor,
Janet Beckley: Columns art director. Peter Frey: Columns photo editor

Questions or comments should be directed to columns@uga.edu