For the last couple of years, Colleen has been an important contributing writing for Her Campus UNH. You may be familiar with some of her work: An Open Letter To The Haters of Liberal Arts Majors, Why Everyone Should Spend Time Abroad, and 16 Signs That You’ve Found Your Best Friend For Life. On behave of Her Campus UNH, we would like to congratulate Colleen for being named as the Executive Editor for The New Hampshire. Read on to learn more about her roles, responsibilities, and goals as the Executive Editor.
The Basics
Hometown: Easton, MA
Grade: Junior
Major: English/Journalism, minor in Sociology
Dream job: Being paid to travel the world, but my realistic dream is to be in charge of something important one day.
Involvement on campus: NH executive editor, business manager of the NH Notables A cappella group, contributing writer for Her Campus UNH!
Her UNH Favorites:
Hoco or Philly? Hoco, especially on Scampi night.
Homecoming or Cinco? I have to choose?! I guess if I had to, I’d say Cinco. I’m all about the spring in Durham.
Dimond or Paul? Neither! I do everything in the newsroom in the MUB!
DHOP, Dominos, or Papa Johns? DHOP 100%
Football or Hockey? Both.
Hut or Coffee Craving? Unpopular opinion, but I am a Hut girl all the way. Except I call it Shack.
How did you get involved with the New Hampshire?
“So I was required to contribute one story for my Engl 621 class last year as a part of my final grade. When Allie Bellucci, the former executive editor, came into my class saying they were hiring last spring, I decided to send in my application just for fun. I guess you could say the rest is history!”
Describe A Day In TNH office?
“Every single day is a different adventure. Because of news changes so drastically so fast, no day is the same. On a production night, we typically get there late afternoon and are editing stories, making pages and finalizing things until usually 2 a.m., and that’s on a good night! It is constantly crazy in the newsroom. Our ad staff works during the days to get the ads together for the paper and the editorial staff comes in later to begin to edit. We allow all staff, not just editorial, to sit in the newsroom and hang out, help out and do homework, so there are always people running around. Typically, it’s overwhelming but in the best way possible. “
What has it been like being the Executive Editor?
“Being exec is certainly not for the faint of heart, but to me, it’s a dream come true. I have only been exec for about three issues now, and every single one there has been some sort of last minute problem that I needed to solve so that the paper could be out by the deadline. Though crazy, I love the chaos and thrive in that kind of environment. Exec is a lot of responsibility, so I can’t express how thankful I am that the staff elected me and trusted me with this role. Working at TNH has made me realize that I would like to be in charge of something someday, so even with the chaos, this role is a dream for me. “
As the Executive Editor, what are your main responsibilities?
“I oversee the entire operation of The New Hampshire. I advise on ethical dilemmas at the paper and make the final call on what can and cannot be published. I am in charge of hiring, delegating staff meetings, heading the staff and working with the ad department, news department, editorial department and business side of things to make sure that everything works together and the paper will come out correctly. I also am in charge of the design of the paper, so I create the layout of each issue and decide which stories and ads go where. Each issue I also make the front and jump pages, as well as write the editorial. So every time you pick up a newspaper, I made the call on how it would look. That being said, I do not do everything alone and should recognize that the entire staff works together to make it possible. Even if I decide what should go on which page, the editors make the pages themselves and create their own layout of each page. Even if I have a say in what goes on the paper, the content editor creates the pitches, the writers tell the stories, the news and sports editors edit the pieces, the ad staff makes the ads, the managing editor creates the pages and newsletter, etc. Even if I do a lot, other positions do just as much. “
What’s the process like producing each issue of TNH?
“Every Monday, the content editor and sports editors pass out pitches for the week. Stories are passed in on Wednesday or Sunday (our production nights). The first process of a story getting to print is the content editor, news editor, managing editor and myself edit it in a document on the computer. Then design editors, the managing editor or I will put it on the page once it has two signatures. The pages are then printed and circle around the newsroom. Once three people look at that, the pages are given back to the person who made them, corrections are made and they are then put in a PDF file. Every editor has to look over all of the PDFs, and once that is done, I send it to our printers and the managing editor creates the online Issuu. It’s a long but necessary process. “
What are you some goals that you want to achieve at TNH?
“I lucked out because I get to be executive editor next year in this new but exciting digital first transition period where we will now publish online almost every day and then publish one 24 page paper every Thursday. Because of this, my goal is to really make TNH the best digital first publication it can possibly be and make sure to use this new platform to its full potential. I also have the goal of not getting out at 7 a.m. from production night for the Homecoming issue like the editors did last year! Mostly, I just want TNH to be the best it can be. That’s my main goal.”