The Fordham Ram
Volume 103
Staff & Columnist Applications
Deadline: Friday, Nov. 15, at 5 p.m. in McGinley B-52 or via email to theram@fordham.edu.
Late applications will not be accepted.
Volume 102 of The Fordham Ram will span the 2020 calendar year, beginning in the spring 2020 semester and continuing through the end of the Fall 2020 semester.
As a result, members of the Class of 2020 are ineligible for staff positions, as are any students electing to study abroad for either the spring 2020 or fall 2020 semesters. Seniors may, however, apply for positions as staff columnists, as these positions are held for the spring 2020 semester only. Underclassmen applying to be columnists may reapply for the second half of the volume. Columnists and staff writers are only required to commit to one semester, exempting them from the year-long commitment.
All editors will return to Rose Hill a week before the start of the Fall 2020 semester in order to produce The Fordham Ram’s Orientation Issue. The Fordham Ram’s executive staff will coordinate early move-in for all staff members. Staff members will write the articles for this issue over the summer. (Columnists and web editors are exempt from this commitment.)
Please review the following list of open positions and their respective responsibilities.
There are separate applications for New Editors, Returning Editors and Columnists, which are attached at the end of this packet. Copy editors and photographers do not need to submit applications and may sign up at the beginning of the spring 2020 semester.
Open Positions
Managing Editor
Editorial Director
Executive Editor
News Editor
Assistant News Editor*
Feature Editor
Opinion Editor
Assistant Opinion Editor*
Culture Editor
Assistant Culture Editor*
Sports Editor
Assistant Sports Editor*
Copy Chief*
Multimedia Director
Digital Producer*
Graphics/Illustration Editor
Visual Director
News Photo Editor
Opinion Photo Editor
Culture Photo Editor
Sports Photo Editor
Columnist/Staff Writer*
*Multiple Positions Available
Editor Responsibilities
Minimum requirements for all editors include a Sunday evening planning meeting, Monday section meetings and weekly production nights on Tuesdays from 5 p.m. until all responsibilities have been completed to a satisfactory level (for most section editors, this will be sometime between midnight and 2 a.m.). Editors should be able to work on Monday nights. Editors will be expected to hold regular writers’ meetings and communicate throughout the week with executive editors and writers.
Position Responsibilities (including, but not limited to):
Managing Editor
– Research story ideas for Sunday meetings.
– Maintain contact with section editors throughout the week.
– Assist with writing and editing articles. Editing responsibilities include completing initial content checks, assisting with copy editing and making copy corrections. Exact breakdown of these responsibilities will be determined at the discretion of the editor in chief.
– Attend meetings on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays for as long as necessary.
– Assist editorial board in discerning and writing a weekly staff editorial.
– Assist the editor in chief in conducting meetings and completing day-to-day responsibilities on an ad hoc basis.
– Work with the editor in chief and business editor in completing budget appeals and advertisement execution.
– Work with the editor in chief and senior former staffers on production of the Commencement Issue.
– Prior experience on Ram staff preferred.
News Editor:
– Research story ideas for Sunday meetings and come prepared to submit photo requests.
– Maintain contact with writers during the week.
– Make preliminary edits to articles before submitting them to copy, checking for both content and style and informing the writer and the executive staff of any major problems.
– Lay out the News section on Tuesday (and Monday, if possible) nights.
– As necessary, interview administrators and students and write articles on various events occurring on and off campus. Many of these stories may arise at the last minute and must be written under a tight deadline.
– Execute breaking news coverage when necessary, posting them on the website as well as the Ram’s social media pages.
Features Editor:
– Writes one feature story every two weeks.
– Pitch feature stories every Sunday night.
– Stops by production night on Tuesdays to assist news editor with any random tasks.
– Communicates with writers working on feature articles, enforcing deadlines and ensuring quality.
Assistant News Editor:
– Assist in the responsibilities for the News section as specified above. Exact breakdown of responsibilities will be worked out with the news editor upon acceptance onto the Ram staff.
– On a weekly basis, write News briefings, compose Fordham calendar of events, Security Briefs and weekly United Student Government briefing.
– Work with news editor to coordinate column assignments.
– Assist digital team with placing stories on website and social media.
Opinion Editor:
– Research story ideas for Sunday meetings and come prepared to submit photo requests and to work on layout maps with the layout editor.
– Maintain contact with writers during the week.
– Monitor email for letter to the editor submissions.
– Assist Web Team with placing stories on website.
– Assist Editorial board in discerning and writing a weekly staff editorial.
– Assist Web Team with placing stories on website.
– Make preliminary edits to articles before submitting them to copy, checking for style and informing the writer and the executive staff of any major problems.
– Ensure opinion articles uphold standards set in place by The Fordham Ram staff, including factual accuracy and carefully constructed arguments.
– Lay out the Opinion section on Tuesday (and Monday, if possible) nights.
Assistant Opinion Editor:
– Assist in the responsibilities for the Opinions section as specified above. Exact breakdown of responsibilities will be worked out with the opinions editor upon acceptance onto the Ram staff.
– Assist digital team with placing stories on website.
Editorial Director:
– Assist the editor in chief and the managing editor in devising the editorial vision for the paper, spearheading the research and writing of the weekly editorial for The Fordham Ram.
– Work collaboratively with the editorial board and executive editors late night on Tuesdays, assisting with copy editing as necessary.
Executive Editor:
– Edit all content on website weekly on Wednesday mornings.
– Communicate with editorial staff to resolve web-related issues.
– Prior executive copy editing experience preferred.
– Work collaboratively with the editorial board and executive editors late night on Tuesdays, assisting with copy editing as necessary.
Culture Editor:
– Research story ideas for Sunday meetings and come prepared to submit photo requests and to work on layout maps for your section each week.
– Maintain contact with writers during the week.
– Assist digital team with placing stories on website.
– Make preliminary edits to articles before submitting them to copy, checking for both content and style and informing the writer and the executive staff of any major problems.
– Lay out the Culture section on Tuesday (and Monday, if possible) nights.
– As necessary, interview students and administrators and write articles on various issues relating to members of the Fordham community.
– Correspond with professional contacts for screenings, book reviews, art gallery openings, etc.
Assistant Culture Editor:
– Assist in the responsibilities for the Culture section as specified above.
– Exact breakdown of responsibilities will be worked out with the culture editor upon acceptance onto the Ram staff.
– Assist digital team with placing stories on website.
Sports Editor:
– Research story ideas for Sunday meetings and come prepared to submit photo requests and to work on layout maps with the layout editor.
– Maintain contact with writers during the week.
– Make preliminary edits to articles before submitting them to copy, checking for both content and style and informing the writer and the executive staff of any major problems.
– Lay out the Sports section on Tuesday (and Monday, if possible) nights.
– As necessary, interview administrators, coaches, trainers and athletes and write articles on various sporting events occurring on and off campus. The sports editor is required to ensure that all Fordham varsity sporting events, both home and away, are covered each week.
– Establish a rotating schedule for the Overtime column with the assistant editor(s).
– Produce a Fall Sports preview for the Orientation issue and a Spring Sports preview at the start of the volume.
– Maintain and update The Fordham Ram’s Sports Twitter account with relevant and timely information.
– Assist digital team with placing stories on website.
Assistant Sports Editor:
– Assist in the responsibilities for the Sports section as specified above. Exact breakdown of responsibilities will be worked out with the sports editor upon acceptance onto the Ram staff.
– Compile and lay out scores, Players of the Week and notes.
– Assist digital team with placing stories on website.
Copy Chief:
– Read the Associated Press Stylebook and become familiar with AP Style as well as Ram conventions.
– Run the copy team. This includes monitoring attendance, recruiting/training new members and supervising copy shifts.
– Assist editorial board in discerning and writing a weekly staff editorial.
– Edit articles on Mondays and Tuesdays, remaining on Tuesdays until all sections have passed the final copy check.
– Assist section editors in troubleshooting content.
– Be available to edit breaking articles throughout the week, as well as the newsletter.
Visual Director:
– Oversee all visual elements of weekly production, including graphic design and layout elements
– Commission necessary pieces such as ad drawings or marketing campaigns
– Manage photo editors and ensure all sections are communicating effectively about what needs to be in each issue
– Must have a good eye for good images and bad ones
– Be on call to resolve visual related issues with production, podcast and website
News Photo Editor:
– Ensure that all photo requests are satisfied. This means both assigning photographers to events and providing them with access to the cameras and personally taking photos at events for which there are no photographers available.
– Capability to provide event coverage around campus throughout the week.
– Responsiveness to capturing breaking news stories.
– Update archive photos regularly.
– Attend Sunday meetings to receive photo requests.
– Edit photos on Monday and Tuesday nights.
– Be present on production night.
– Work with news photographers to ensure all news articles have a photo taken by a Ram photographer.
Opinion Photo Editor:
– Ensure that all photo requests are satisfied. This means both assigning photographers to events and providing them with access to the cameras and personally taking photos at events for which there are no photographers available.
– Has a creative eye for photo or an interest in photo illustrations.
– Attend Sunday meetings to receive photo requests.
– Edit photos on Monday and Tuesday nights.
– Work with opinion photographers to ensure all articles have a photo taken by a Ram photographer.
Culture Photo Editor:
– Ensure that all photo requests are satisfied. This means both assigning photographers to events and providing them with access to the cameras and personally taking photos at events for which there are no photographers available.
– Has a creative eye for photo or an interest in photo illustrations.
– Attend Sunday meetings to receive photo requests.
– Edit photos on Monday and Tuesday nights.
– Work with culture photographers to ensure all articles have a photo taken by a Ram photographer.
Sports Photo Editor:
– Ensure that all photo requests are satisfied. This means both assigning photographers to events and providing them with access to the cameras and personally taking photos at events for which there are no photographers available.
– Capability to provide game day coverage on campus throughout the week.
– Attend Sunday meetings to receive photo requests.
– Edit photos on Monday and Tuesday nights.
– Work with sports photographers to ensure all articles have a photo taken by a Ram photographer.
Multimedia Director:
– Oversee all video, audio and newsletter execution for newspaper.
– Coordinate and execute weekly audio production of Ramcast.
– Schedule required interviews for on-air guests.
– Ability to work with or quickly learn some form of Illustrator, video editor and audio editor program preferred.
– Coordinate with each section editor on Sunday nights in regards to potential weekly multimedia projects.
– Coordinate livestream of campus events, specifically USG Debate Night in the spring semester and breaking news stories.
– Spearhead and execute production of The Fordham Ram’s weekly newsletter.
– Coordinate with section editors to collect content for the newsletter.
– Proficiency in MailChimp encouraged.
– Work to increase digital engagement through email marketing.
– Initiate and edit video content for The Fordham Ram’s website and social media platform.
– Communicate with digital producers and section editors, as well as interested contributors.
– Must be comfortable generating and pitching ideas for multimedia content each week.
Digital Producer:
– Maintain the Ram’s website throughout the week, ensuring that the final version of all article content is updated and that the new issue is activated Wednesday morning.
– Work with executive editor(s) to maintain the Ram’s Twitter and Facebook pages.
– Work with the executive staff to improve the overall design and content of the online version of the newspaper.
– Maintain the Ram’s social media presence throughout the week to sustain engagement.
– Work with executive editor(s) to maintain the Ram’s Twitter and Facebook pages.
– Work with the executive staff to improve the overall design and content of the online version of the newspaper.
Graphics/Illustration Editor:
– Contribute graphics and illustrations to all sections of The Fordham Ram.
– Work with section editors to determine direction of graphics and illustrations.
– Proficiency in Adobe InDesign and Illustrator, or visual art skills, required.
Columnist (Multiple positions open):
– Pitch and submit column (varies by section) on the same general theme on a weekly basis. The theme must in some way relate to the Fordham community or to an issue affecting college students in general.
– For sports, this can cover any sports topic, including pro sports and Fordham sports.
– For culture, columns cover music, art, fashion, food, theatre, etc.
– For news, this can be creative but must rely on either student issues or Fordham-centric themes. In the past, there has been a Fordham in the Bronx column, which focuses on events outside the campus gates, and a Retrospective Column, which focused on events in Fordham’s history.
– Expected to write at least once every week, failure to produce promised work more than three times results in a review meeting with the section editor and an e-board member about status as a columnist.
– Please submit a writing sample in your application, articles published by The Fordham Ram are preferred.
Staff Writer (Multiple positions open):
– Pitch and write articles a minimum of every other week.
– First on call to pick up last minute articles and breaking news.
– Failure to produce promised work more than three times results in a review meeting with the section editor and an e-board member about status as a staff writer.
– Please submit a writing sample in your application, articles published by The Fordham Ram are preferred.
New Editor/Staff Position Application
The Fordham Ram, Volume 102
APPLY HERE
Returning Editor/Staff Position Application
The Fordham Ram, Volume 102
APPLY HERE
Columnist/Staff Writer Application
The Fordham Ram, Volume 102
APPLY HERE
Editor in Chief/Managing Editor Application
The Fordham Ram,Volume 102
APPLY HERE
Business Team Application
The Fordham Ram, Volume 102
APPLY HERE