1. ROLES AND
FUNCTIONS OF THE
PUBLICATION
STAFF
By: MAY NECTAR CYRILL LOJA-
TABARES
Director, Public Relations and
Information
Sultan Kudarat State University, EJC
Montilla,Tacurong City

2. Staff and Policies
Organizing the staff
 There are no hard and fast rules on
how to organize the staff and to pick
the editors.
 Each school should therefore work
out a system best suited to its
particular set-up.

3. Common nagging questions:
How are the editors and the
staff members chosen?
How long should they serve?
How big should the staff be?
Should they be paid?
To whom are they
responsible?

4. 1.One with a degree in journalism- bachelor,
master or specialization.
2. One with a degree in English-bachelor,
master or specialization.
3. One with experience in newspaper work.
4. One with more than ordinary experience in
journalism or school paper work.
5. One who teaches social studies.
First, there should be a moderator or an
adviser who must possess the following
qualifications in the order of their
importance:

5.  The principal or the head of the school,
with the recommendation of the adviser
may designate the members of the staff
or may pick them through a competitive
examination.
 Indeed, the candidates should possess
writing ability, leadership, ad previous
experiences in school publication in that
order. Whatever the criteria are in
choosing the staff, the method should be
systematic, objective, and fair.

6.  But whether the editors and staff
members are chosen through
recommendation or competitive
examination, the following
pointers are recommended.
1. The candidates should at least
have one year residence.
2. The candidate should not be in the
probation list.

7. 3. He must not have any disciplinary
case against him, because there is a
likely chance for him to drop or to be
suspended.
4. The chief, associate, and managing
editors should not hold other major
positions in school organizations,
especially in the student council or
student government. The press is
supposed to be objective and non-
partisan.

8.  The most democratic way to select
the staff is through a competitive
examination followed by an
interview.
 However, there are certain
drawbacks. If there are no qualified
teachers who will evaluate the
entries in the competitive
examination, the test will not be
worthwhile.

9.  If a big number of students try for the
competition, the evaluation will take a long
time.
 Another question is : In what phases of
journalism would the test be?
Newswriting, editorial writing, layouting, or
actual press work? If the test is in editorial
writing only, isn’t that just one phase of the
work?
 Because of these drawbacks, the adviser
resorts to designation. The drawback here
is favoritism.

10.  Despite the result of the examinations,
the adviser should not stop there. He
should also look for people who didn’t
take the examinations but have writing
skills. He should ask them to join the
staff. But he should refrain from taking
students into the staff who have more
activities in their hands than they can
handle. He should be aware of students
who only love to see their names in the
masthead or editorial box.

11. The choice of editors should
be based on who obtains the
highest average in the
examinations and who
possesses the most in
personal qualities or traits like
leadership, managerial skills,
sound judgment, and flexibility.

12. The adviser should file and
publish in the bulletin board
the results of the examinations
and the comments of the
judges. Over-ambitious
students are prone to accuse,
saying that they have been
cheated.

13.  How large should the staff be?
A manageable staff should not be
more than ten, as follows: (1)
editor in chief; (2) associate
editor; (3) managing editor; (4)
feature editor; (5) literary editor;
(6) sports editor; and (7) reporters
(one for each class-senior,
sophomore, freshman).

14. There are other members of
the staff who may simply be
appointed; the typists, the
layout artist, the staff artist,
the photographer, and the
circulation manager.

15. Duties and Responsibilities of
the Publication Staff

16. Editor in Chief
 Supervises the editorial staff of the
paper.
 Writes the editorials of the organ after
consultation with the members of the
editorial staff.

17. Editor in Chief
 Edits all articles preparatory to
submission of the same to the
adviser for final editing and approval
for publication.
 Supervises the preparation of the
layout and dummying of the paper
and paging of the same in
cooperation with the managing
editor and layout artist.

18. Editor in Chief
Causes the accomplishment of
all assignments properly and
on time.
Acts as liaison officer between
the editorial staff and the
adviser.
Calls meetings of the staff in

19. Managing Editor
 Brings articles to the press for
typesetting.
 Checks articles for typographical
errors.
 Prepares the layout of the paper and
paging of the same in consultation
with the editor in chief.
 Proofreads galley proofs before these
are finally approved by the chief
editor, then by the adviser for printing.

20. Associate Editor
 Edits the articles in cooperation with the
editor in chief.
 Writes editorials of the organ when
requested.
 Prepares assignments of section editors
in consultation with the editor in chief.
 Cooperates in the preparation of the
layout of the paper and paging of the
same with the editor in chief and
managing editor.

21. Section Editors
News Editor
 Assigns reporters to cover events
relevant to the school activities.
 Writes news articles on assignment from
the editor in chief or through his own
initiative in consultation with the latter.
 Edits all news articles received
preparatory to submission of the same to
the editor in chief then to the adviser of
the English section.

22. Section Editors
Filipino Editor
 Writes the editorial of the Filipino section.
 Edits all articles preparatory to
submission of the same to the Filipino
adviser, for final editing and for
publication.
 Causes the submission of all Filipino
articles properly and on time.
 Acts as liaison officer between the
Filipino staff and the editor in chief.

23. Layout Section Editors
Layout Artist
Assigns or causes the assignment of the
school’s official photographer to take
pictures on school’s activities for the
month.
 Prepares pictorial articles of the organ in
consultation with the managing editor
and editor in chief.
 Writes the captions of pictures utilized by
the paper in cooperation with the editor
in chief.

24. Section Editors
Layout Artist
 Takes charge of the design of the magazine
cover.
 Labels or properly identifies all pictures
made available for publication. It is
suggested that he writes ( in pencil) at the
back of every picture the event to which a
particular picture refers.
 Helps in the preparation of the layout of
pictorial stories.
 Makes illustrations for feature articles.

25. Section Editors
Feature Editor
Gives out assignments to feature
writers.
Receives and edits feature
articles preparatory to
submission of the same to the
editor in chief.
Writes regular articles or column.

26. Section Editors
Exchange Editor and Circulation
Manager
 Makes up a list of school papers sent by
other schools.
 Mails copies of his own paper to these
schools.
 Files their papers on a bulletin board or
display them on a newspaper rack.
 Keeps files of school information, such as
lass lists and lists of homeroom advisers,
faculty, and staff members.

27. Section Editors
Reporter
 Secures the cold and raw facts of an
assigned event and writes an article
out of the same.
 Receives assignments from the
section editors and board of editors
and accomplishes the same
properly and on time.

28. POLICIES

29. Policies
 A well-edited paper needs definite
policies which may pertain to
what it may print or to what the
staff may conduct. Such policies
may be posted on the bulletin
board in the staff room or printed
and distributed to the staff.

30. Policies
A brief statement of the paper’s
platform or policies is sometimes
printed under the masthead, as in
the following examples:
 To support all school projects and to
give only constructive criticism of some
projects.
 To maintain a high standard of
sportsmanship by avoiding personal
enmity and jealousy both within the
school and in inter-school relation.

31. Policies
To refrain from publishing
articles that convey wrong
impressions against the
school.
To avoid unkind personal
jokes, criticisms, and
caricatures.

32. References
 Ceciliano, Jose Cruz, Campus Journalism
and School Paper Advising, REX
BOOK STORE, 2010.
 Merriam-Webster’s Advanced Learners
Dictionary
 Wikipedia Online Dictionary