Discussion drawn from the image below
The organization shown in this pictures makes the most sense for publications with a large staff comprised of specialists, or at least journalists who prefer to work in a certain area. Assuming I teach in Kansas, I anticipate having a much smaller staff, with younger, less experienced journalists. This significantly changes how I would organize them.
Because high school newspapers have less content than most major publications, distributed less frequently, it's very easy to diminish the complexity of the organization. For example, when I was editor of my high school newspaper, we had 6 sections: News, Opinion, Arts, Centerspread (written feature), Sports, and Captured ( photo feature). Each section had an editor, except News, which the lead editor always oversaw. If the managing editor wanted a page, they could claim one for themselves also. Each of the six page editors was in charge of designing and editing their page, as well as overseeing content, which eliminated the design and copy editing branches in the image.
Reporters were not assigned to specific sections, but just to individual articles wherever they were needed. This is more of an advantage with inexperienced writers because it gives them the chance to try out all different sections, and encourages flexibility. If they find a section they really enjoy, they can focus their efforts there and develop their abilities in that area.
We also didn't have a photo editor, or even designated photographers. Our adviser took photos for the school and local publications of athletic events, community events, concerts, and ceremonies, and encouraged her advanced photography students to do the same. If a page editor needed photos of anything else, it was up to them to find some or recruit a qualified staff member to go take some. This eliminated another entire branch in staff organization, and also made sure everyone had something to work on during class time, because our limited content would have left designated photographers with nothing to do after they had taken and the few photos we needed (most out of class-time).
I think I prefer the smaller staff organization overall for high school journalists, because it keeps them busy, varies their experiences, requires working closely with all other teammates, and in my opinion, makes things a little more competitive. The advantages of the organization pictured above are that staff members can develop stronger skills in one area, which makes them more reliable, and it works for a larger staff than I had.
Because high school newspapers have less content than most major publications, distributed less frequently, it's very easy to diminish the complexity of the organization. For example, when I was editor of my high school newspaper, we had 6 sections: News, Opinion, Arts, Centerspread (written feature), Sports, and Captured ( photo feature). Each section had an editor, except News, which the lead editor always oversaw. If the managing editor wanted a page, they could claim one for themselves also. Each of the six page editors was in charge of designing and editing their page, as well as overseeing content, which eliminated the design and copy editing branches in the image.
Reporters were not assigned to specific sections, but just to individual articles wherever they were needed. This is more of an advantage with inexperienced writers because it gives them the chance to try out all different sections, and encourages flexibility. If they find a section they really enjoy, they can focus their efforts there and develop their abilities in that area.
We also didn't have a photo editor, or even designated photographers. Our adviser took photos for the school and local publications of athletic events, community events, concerts, and ceremonies, and encouraged her advanced photography students to do the same. If a page editor needed photos of anything else, it was up to them to find some or recruit a qualified staff member to go take some. This eliminated another entire branch in staff organization, and also made sure everyone had something to work on during class time, because our limited content would have left designated photographers with nothing to do after they had taken and the few photos we needed (most out of class-time).
I think I prefer the smaller staff organization overall for high school journalists, because it keeps them busy, varies their experiences, requires working closely with all other teammates, and in my opinion, makes things a little more competitive. The advantages of the organization pictured above are that staff members can develop stronger skills in one area, which makes them more reliable, and it works for a larger staff than I had.