My Experience on the muse
Last year was my first year on The Muse and quite honestly I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I basically went through last year guiding myself through my responsibilities. I had an editor who I think was just as confused on her responsibilities as I was. She never checked up on what I was doing nor did she teach me what it would take this year to be an editor. Although that experience was not the greatest, it gave me hope that this year would be great because I could make the Multimedia section the best it could be.
Starting off this year I was informed that my two staffers would be in a different class than me which made my job extra difficult but I was willing to deal with it. I didn’t realize how much of an effect this would have on me until now. Recently, some people on the staff have been making passive-aggressive comments towards me that I didn’t understand. Then, last week, the EICs had a meeting with me where they talked about how my staffers are having problems with the way I am running the section. I was thankful for them telling me and I am working to get better in any way possible. However, what I didn’t appreciate was that apparently these complaints about my leadership have been circling for a few months. And even though I am the person who people are talking about I was NEVER informed that anything was wrong. My staffers have been extremely polite to me and never gave me a sense of dissatisfaction. This made me extremely upset because I feel like I have been attacked behind my back when someone could have confronted me about it and solved it weeks ago. I understand that it is not my staffers job to reach out to me, and I’m working on that, but even my ADME Sebastian never directly addressed any complaints about me he has just becoming increasingly passive-aggressive. With all of the fantastic parts about being a part of The Muse, this is the biggest negative that I have noticed that happens quite frequently, but I never thought I would be a part of it. People talking about Dani behind her back this year and the drama with Shelby and Haley last year could have been solved by simple communication. The only reason I know that there have been complaints about me is because I noticed Sebastian’s attitude towards me and overheard someone talking about it. I understand that a few people “planned” to have a meeting to discuss this with me, which I was never told about until now under the table. With all the journalism skills being on The Muse has taught me, this is far from “journalistic behavior.” I hope that we can have this meeting to improve my abilities in being a good editor and healthy communication between everyone on the staff.
Because my experience with Eliza last year wasn’t the greatest, I was never taught how to be an effective editor. I want to forget the past drama we all have faced and come together to make the Multimedia section the best it can be from here-on-out.