Journalism is rapidly changing as a result of Covid-19, limiting what used to be in-person interviews to phone calls or emails and replacing in-person events and gatherings with virtual ones.
Curious about how other community college papers in Oregon have shifted their operations during this historic time, The Torch editorial staff reached out to community colleges across the state.
Jonathan Villagomez, the Editor-in-Chief of The Clackamas Print at Clackamas Community College — the only newspaper to respond to our inquiry — expressed that his team, like The Torch, is relying on virtual meetings and phone calls, the most challenging part being the lack of in-person contact.
“The biggest hit we’ve had is not being able to see each other in person,” he shared. “We’re a really close team and have an absolute blast doing what we do. So, not being able to see each other has been tough on all of us.”
The Torch is not exempt and we’d like to give our readers some insight into that.
Here at the newspaper that brings “stories that matter” to the Lane Community College community, we’ve had to make some stirring changes to how we function.
We’ve had to say “good-bye” to our basement office in the Center Building and figure out how to work remotely from our homes, which has hit those of us with individual offices especially hard as that’s where our gear and motivation are most of the time.
Fortunately, on March 19, prior to the college’s nearly-complete shutdown, Editor-in-Chief David Galbreath and Copy Editor James Croxton met with the Art Director Selina Scott— an essential worker at Target — and were able to get onto campus to clean out our offices and refrigerator. Making the trip even more worthwhile, it was the last day that the Food Pantry was to be open and each of us definitely left with several bags.
In regards to the shutdown of LCC’s campus and having to vacate our offices, Croxton said “it’s tough not having my office. It was where I could go and work on Torch-related business, homework, or just listen to music and read a newspaper.” He added that this isn’t how he envisioned his last months at LCC and The Torch would be.
Capping it off, KEZI was on campus and The Torch’s-own Galbreath was interviewed regarding the shift to online learning.
Operationally, we have swapped our once-a-week in-person staff meeting for a virtual one on Zoom nearly every day since the quarantine was implemented. For that, we strategically set our time in the afternoon to accommodate our Staff Advisor and part-time off-duty underground beatboxer and breakdancer Dr. Charlie Deitz’s schedule as he also teaches at two universities.
Maintaining our day-to-day communication, we rely on email and texting through our phones. For our wider communication, we communicate on Slack and Discord. Adapting even more to the pandemic, The Torch created a specific page dedicated to local coronavirus coverage.
“Daily meetings have helped me stay sane during this time,” said News Director and reporter Kate Chilelli. “It can be so hard to stay motivated when you’re stuck in the house but staying connected definitely helps maintain a sense of comradery with the other Torchies.”
EIC Galbreath and Archivist Anna Sundholm maintain our website and ensure that it is updated regularly with local news and editorials relevant to the LCC community. Art Director Scott coordinates between Photojournalist Chance Raffield, Graphic Designer Heather Van Doorn and Illustrator Xavier Florez in making sure our articles have images.
“I look forward to our 2 p.m. Zoom meetings every day,” said Scott. “Even if there’s not much to report, checking in is nice. If I’m not at work cleaning around the clock, I’m doing my classes online, which is not my preferred form of learning but I’ll do it, for now.” Scott said that she remains optimistic, adding, “This will be over soon, The Torch will have new members, classes will be in-person, I’ll be able to go to work without a mask on, and there will be another headline other than Covid-19.”
While the fully-online term has not been without its challenges, spirits have remained high as The Torch remains committed to keeping the LCC community informed with coverage of both local and national news.
