The Blaze Copy Editor | 2025 WI Student Journalist of the Year
Commitment to Diversity
From the very beginning, diversity has been instilled in the DNA of our publication and handed down every year from each graduating class. We learn it from each other, we learn it from the people we interview, and we learn it from the world around us. It is important for our staff to work on finding those stories that haven't been told and getting to speak with the people or groups that often get overlooked.
Coverage Planner
At the beginning of every deadline, our EIC, Juliana Mora and our adviser Mrs. Corbett instruct the staff to fill out a coverage planner if they're designing a spread. This helps us if we need to back track information or double check names and grades.
This table helps our staff make sure they've interviewed boys and girls from each grade. This helps us with our Coverage Tracker.
Coverage Tracker
Our adviser, Mrs. Corbett, created what she calls a "Coverage Tracker." It went from being an assignment in her Master's Program to a way for us to keep track of who's already been used in the book. Over the past two years, its proven itself handy when it comes to organization and documenting.
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First and last names are removed for privacy.
If a person has no X's under the columns, they are considered part of our 'Get List.'
If a person has X's under every column, they are considered part of our 'Black List,' which means they can no longer be featured in the book.
Diversity in Our Spreads
Personality Profiles are created based off of nomination from the entire student body. We do this in order to make sure our students all have an equal opportunity at being selected for a feature. This not only diversifies our book, but also gives us chances to meet and coordinate with people who otherwise might have flown beneath our radar. It's so important to me to make friends with the people I interview. It makes the entire process so much easier and it also helps make the interviewee more comfortable, so they'll give more genuine answers.
Markus is a freshman who was nominated because of his passion for creating art.
Aubry is a sophomore who was nominated because of how she balances her overwhelming schedule.
Omar is a junior who was nominated for how well he preforms his Aztec dance.
David is a senior who was nominated for the amount of clubs he's in.
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Side note: Due to technical difficulties, his last name can be seen upside down on the middle right of the page. This is not how it appears on the submitted spread.
A Strong Example of Diversity in My Work
While working on this spread, deciding who we wanted to feature was a little bit of a struggle. When I look in the halls, I see lots of hoodies and pajama pants. I knew that I wanted the people on this spread to stand out. I wanted them to appear confident and comfortable in what they were wearing, and I wanted their outfits to speak to their personality. After a little research, I finally found the people I was searching for. I found people from different grades and backgrounds who liked to flaunt their style around school.
