Meela Dudley is a sophomore Creative and Professional Writing major, with a minor in Global Systems. She is also the current publisher of The Tartan. She took some time to answer my questions about her position, a writing conference in Hollywood, and how you can get involved with the newspaper.
HC: How did you become publisher of The Tartan?
I was one of those lucky individuals who went into college knowing exactly what I wanted to do in life. I am also lucky, that after two years of major-related classes and work experience, I hadn’t changed those goals. That being said, I entered Carnegie Mellon with preconceived notions of the steps that I needed to take early on, in order to get where I wanted to eventually be. I knew I was interested in being involved in the university’s paper, so at the very first information session during my Freshman Orientation I marched up to Amanda, the Editor-in-Chief at the time, and said something along the lines of “I want an executive editorial position here at The Tartan. How can I do that?” I sent in a sample of my work and applied for a position as the assistant Pillbox editor – Pillbox being the Arts and Community insert and largest section of the Tartan. I got the job, a semester later was elected to be the actual Pillbox Editor. I spent a year doing that as well as taking up leadership opportunities within the editorial staff when I could, and when my term was over I found myself running for Publisher, which is, along with Editor-in-Chief, one of the two main leadership positions at the paper. Turns out I won the election.
HC: Tell me about the conference you attended over Spring Break. Where was it? What was its focus, and what did you do?
Over spring break I organized for four members of the Tartan’s Editorial Staff, including myself, to attend the ACP (Associated Collegiate Press) Conference in Hollywood, CA. As a paper, we like to try to send someone to the conference, which changes locations, each year. This was actually my second time representing Carnegie Mellon at the ACP Conference, as me and two other staff members had the privilege of attending last year’s conference in Phoenix, AZ as well.
At ACP, newspaper staffs from colleges all over the U.S. and abroad gather to attend guest lectures, information workshops, and give and receive journalistic critique. This is super useful for our staff because as students of Carnegie Mellon, a stereotypically technical and, I would argue, experimental school, we tend to have a vastly different perspective on journalism and the functions and purpose of collegiate newspapers. Having our content, layout, website, etc. critiqued by schools that may have journalism departments or a more heavily acknowledged humanities community is extremely beneficial. Both years now I have returned from the conference inspired and motivated to instigate changes, share perspectives, and improve quality within The Tartan.
HC: How can people get involved with The Tartan?
There are several ways in which one can get involved in The Tartan.
Whether you’re interested in writing, taking photos, creating art, info-graphics, or multi-media, working on newspaper layout, systems, copy-staff, or business or advertising staffs, The Tartan is always looking for more participation. Simply send an email (all addresses can be found on our website) to the editor or manager of the section or staff you would like to get involved with.
If you’re curious on how the paper works, feel free to stop by one of our Monday All Staff Meetings or our all-Sunday productions. The Tartan office is located on the third floor of the UC and there is almost always someone there, hanging out and eager to talk to you.