Fall 2005 PDF - Milton Academy

were what to get into at Milton. Many studentsadmired the people ahead of them:the style, dedication, awareness level andprominence of other editors in the Miltoncommunity. Sometimes the models hadeven greater stature. Noah Lawrence, Paperco-editor, aspires to the gravitas accordedWalter Lippmann’s comments, andadmires the trust Mr. Lippmann earnedfrom the public. All the students admirethe persuasive force of numerous op-edwriters from the New York Times, the L.A.Times and the Globe, as well as on the Web.“Arranging ideas”for the community“We have the potential to play the gadfly,like Socrates, ” says Noah, Milton Paper coeditor.“Loving it from the inside, youwant the School to be so perfect you endup criticizing it. Milton is a two-newspaperSchool; there are two response outlets.The Paper has to be responsible, but itshould urge creative, edgy conversation.Its editorials should unearth ideas peoplewould otherwise not think about. The editorsshould stake out a position on pricklyissues; you have to be very careful withthat and being careful takes energy. Ajournalist has to exist in a community,though. He’s working for something biggerthan himself. Journalism is a communityin conversation with itself. Becausethe Paper is weekly, it’s embedded in thefabric of the community.“We try to cover the facts, quickly,” Noahcontinues. When we do, it’s with the goalof starting the conversation about ‘whatshould happen next?’ When we reportedabout the end of ‘Dog Day’ (this Class Ispring tradition ended in 2005), we triedto ask, ‘Where do we go from here?’Because we’re a weekly, we can assignurgency to an issue, just by covering it.”“Because the Paper is the one thing thateveryone on campus reads,” Abby asserts,“it provides a common source of conversation.It does a good job of taking on theSchool, but we also tried to applaud theSchool when that was necessary. By beingbalanced, and serious, the Paper influencedthe School to take the steps to makesome changes.”Milton Measure co-editors from the Class of 2005 (left to right), Siobhan Atkins, Dan Corkum and Liz O’Neil.“The Measure, because it’s biweekly, hasthe time to think through issues. So we’reless about breaking news and more aboutreflection,” says Dan. When the headmonitor crisis happened last year, forinstance (a head monitor lost his positionin a disciplinary decision), the temptationwas to go the tabloid route—that wouldhave had more splash. We had to zoomout from the immediate, though, and findthe greater issue at stake. When things arewritten, they hang out there for two fullweeks,” he says. “We are responsible forsomething that is quite influential andlong-lasting.”“Our goal is not to personalize,” Siobhansays of the Measure. “It would have beeneasy this year to point blame for the lossof senior traditions, for instance. Evenwhen it’s hard to figure out the largerissue, we try to. We try not to point a fingerwithout suggesting a solution or adirection.” The Paper has done the samething this year.“The role of the Paper is to inform, toentertain, and to set the tone for discussions,”Charlie explains. “This is tough todo well,” Noah notes. “The fact that lots ofnews outlets pander to the people doesn’tlessen the importance of appealing to youraudience. It’s only a paper if people readit,” he adds. “The Paper is an institutionwith a great history,” says Charlie, “andfun, quirky traditions, but at this point inits trajectory it needed to raise its standardson reporting the news. The mark ofthis editorial board is in the news and editorials:we were more serious, more thorough,and we held ourselves and our staffmore accountable.”“We don’t feel that publishing the Measureis just another activity,” Liz says. “It’s consequential.I wrote, in Class III, an articleabout sexism I saw at that time amongcertain boys. I was held accountable forthat, and I still am, two years later. TheMeasure is an element of our culture, andwe cared about doing it right.”The hard parts of the jobCreating humorIs it the medium? Humor is an essentialingredient in a School newspaper; creatingit successfully is an intractably hard partof the job, claim the editors unanimously.Knowing what to laugh at, translating aconversational joke into parody or cartoon,achieving edginess along with balance,making people laugh without hurting anyone:these are challenges. They’re particularlydifficult when the “humor section”comes at the end of all the researching,writing, editing and layout. The humorsections are slipped in at the end, withurgency in the final minutes before printing,but in prime locations—so as toattract and entertain the audience.Training writers“Milton writers are some of the best you’llever find,” says Molly, “but while they’recomfortable with the five-point essay orshort story, news writing is a whole newgenre to them. There’s a real teachingrole.”25 Milton Magazine