We started the Consensus with the first issue in September of last year. Previously, a simple opinion column, either by a staff member or from the McClatchy-Tribune, would fill this space. It was really no different from what you see to the right.
The staff felt the opinion page needed a little something different, so we decided to create the Consensus. The idea is and was simple–the staff debates something and comes to an agreement.
That’s easy enough, right? It truly isn’t. The entire Clarion staff is a diverse bunch. We don’t often agree on what should go on the front page!
However, what made it challenging also made it fun. Journalists strive to be many things. Entertaining, informative, ethical… but they’d also like to open your eyes to another ideas.
Let you see the forest in spite of the trees.
The debates weren’t often harsh. We found as the year went on we agreed more and more, but disagreements in a newsroom isn’t, well, news. It’s what we do.
And, not every topic we discuss is life or death. But we tried to be timely, honest and Sinclair-centric.
We felt it was important to keep the topics as Sinclair-centric as possible. Why should the Sinclair student newspaper have nothing about Sinclair on it?
So, when students flooded Sinclair’s facebook page to complain about snow days (or a lack there of) we jumped on it. When something spreads through Sinclair, we want to cover it, and not just as a news story. We want to give our takes!
It was a struggle at first to understand the ‘we’ of that. The Consensus has no byline. It is a group effort. We all pitch in. Sometimes one person does the writing, sometimes we team up. If one person feels strongly, they take the lead.
The name is not a misnomer. This is a consensus.
So, as the phrase goes, we’re looking back at all of that to look forward a bit.
For two of the staff members at the Clarion, this is the last paper they will be working on.
Alex Linton, the design manager, has been working on the paper since fall of 2009.
Adam Adkins, the editor, started last May.
It’s been a long ride, and sometimes the end seemed forever away. But, it’s here.
Thanks for reading.