My name is Zack Meisel and I’m the editor-in-chief at The Lantern. I started out covering football for the paper at the start of my sophomore year. I also covered men’s and women’s basketball that year. Then I became sports editor, leading football and basketball coverage again while managing the sports staff and producing the sports section every day. After four quarters as sports editor, I stepped into the role of editor-in-chief, where I’m in charge of the entire staff of editors and give the final answer on newsroom decisions. Working for The Lantern has provided me with countless opportunities to gain experience that will be valuable as I continue on my path toward what I hope is a job as a sports journalist (I’ll be starting out covering the Cleveland Indians for MLB.com following June graduation). I’ve gotten to cover just about every football game over the past three years, including the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl. I’ve covered the NCAA Tournament and even appeared on an episode of ESPN’s “Outside The Lines” to provide analysis of the OSU football suspensions over winter break. For college students interested in a career in journalism, or even just interest in writing or news, there’s no better way to obtain experience at this level than working for the student newspaper. The Lantern recently swept the Ohio Newspaper Association awards for college papers in the state, highlighted by the award for best college paper in Ohio. (Questions by Rob, Hae Soo, Minghao)
How did you become a writer/editor for the Lantern?
I caught an ad for sports editor out of the corner of my eye during my freshman year. I applied, despite little experience, impressed enough during my interview to get several editors and advisers to request that I write for the paper, then after a year of serving as the beat writer for football and basketball, applied again for sports editor and got the job.
How do you relate to such a large student body? What are the challenges?
It’s our job to provide news coverage of the topics students care most about. For example, we’ve had a number of stories in recent months about tuition and the potential for an increased tuition beginning next academic year. It’s somewhat easy for us to relate to the student body because we are students too, so we have a pretty strong sense as to what people want to read about. We know the scarlet and gray that Buckeye Nation bleeds during football season, for example. The challenge, of course, is finding something to appeal to everyone, which will rarely, if ever happen, with 60,000 students on campus. We have to do our best to provide coverage of stories that a majority will find interesting, and then make our coverage diverse enough so that every person on campus can find something that appeals to them.
How do you find sources that appeal to students at OSU? What kind of sources do you find?
We always try to include student voice in each campus story since we are “the student voice of Ohio State.” Aside from that, we also strive to reach the people that would have the most immediate, profound impact and are the experts on a story. If we need a comment from President Gee, we’ll seek one. If we need a comment from a specific department, we’ll strive for that.
How much is the average article changed during the editing process?
It always depends on the writer, the story and the timing of the story. We hope that we guide the writer along the correct path when handing out the story assignment and getting in contact with sources so that when the story is initially submitted, it’s not too far off from our expectations. However, there will always be instances in which a story needs to be reworked or even restarted. Regardless, each story goes through an editing flow in which the section editor, at least two copy editors, the copy chief, the managing editor and the editor-in-chief all read through and edit the story.
Does a writer appear at every OSU sports event?
Just about, yes. We allot coverage based on our audience’s interest, so football coverage will typically trump coverage of the other sports. But we still have a reporter at just about every home sporting event and even away games for football and some basketball.
How does your work with The Lantern intersect with your other more formal, academic writing as a student?
Learning writing skills will help in anything a person does. The style of writing performed for a newspaper article is different than that of an economics paper, but the basics are still the same, and mastering the craft will help immensely. I’ve found it much easier to get through papers for class as my journalistic writing has improved.
Emilia Benton (Questions by Safianu, Nick, Mason, Drew)
How do you manage your time with work, running, and writing your blog?
During the week, I run first thing in the morning. This means waking up an earlier hour than I otherwise would. I blog about two or three times a week and usually do it at night after work. I'm lucky in that I rarely have to work late, so it's not too difficult to balance the three things.
When writing your blog, how do you make it compelling and interesting so people want to read it?
I think working toward a goal keeps people interested. Last year's New York City Marathon was my first and it had been on my list of life goals for a while. I learned a lot about myself in the training process and I think my readers (particularly the ones who aren't such seasoned runners) were interested in the challenges that it entailed. Hopefully documenting my future long-term goals (breaking four hours in this year's NYC Marathon and eventually qualifying to run the Boston Marathon) will keep drawing readers in.
How do you create a blog that is relevant but at the same time draws the readers in?
I try to focus on my personal experiences, struggles and accomplishments rather than rehashing news I might read online or in magazines; I think the personal element is what keeps people interested.
Where do you find the motivation to put yourself through something like a marathon?
I ran track and cross country in high school and decided to continue running on my own when I got to college in an effort to stay in shape. I knew I wanted to someday run the New York City Marathon after getting to college, and qualifying and getting accepted is no easy feat. Moving to the city after graduation and not being able to afford a gym membership meant running was my only option for free exercise, and it gave me the perfect opportunity to focus on qualifying and training.
Your blog, was it bred from your love of running or writing?
Definitely from my love of running. Documenting my first go at marathon training was a way for me to focus on what worked for me and what didn't, and sharing my time goals with the blogosphere was extra motivation in achieving them-- I ended up beating my marathon goal time by more than 20 minutes.
The name of your blog is Run For Your Life, how does your day job in the health industry aid in developing topics for your blog?
Honestly, I can't relate my job to it at all. My writing for work is aimed at medical professionals (rather than consumers or patients) and I often write about complex diseases conditions that I don't understand too well and connect to my blog topics at all. I'm definitely more in my element when I can write about what I know, and blogging about my running experience is a nice escape that allows me to do that. On a related note, though, working in publishing has helped-- one of my past internships was at a footwear trade publication and my editors usually let me cover athletic wear press events, and getting in touch with those contacts helped with a few posts: http://www.caffeinatedrunner.com/2010/12/time-for-some-product-reviews.html
Does your running experience aid you in your career as a health reporter?
Not really, since I can't really relate the topics I cover (kidney disease and emergency medicine) to running and fitness. I do think that being an avid runner and talking about my experiences played a small role in helping me get this job because it showed that I am a pretty health-conscious person and health/wellness is something that I am genuinely interested in.
How would you rate your level of fitness to a runner who does not take in caffeine? How do you feel about running six miles without caffeine?
Honestly I doubt caffeine really has much of an effect on running, especially if one is running later in the day versus first thing in the morning after being woken up by an alarm. I drink coffee every morning regardless of whether I'm going to run or not. I don't always pop right up feeling ready to run and sometimes the coffee is key in getting me out the door if I might be feeling uninspired, especially in the winter.
Do you feel running is the best form of exercise? What other form of exercise would you have done if you didn't run?
I took up running because I'm not good at any other sports, so I'm really not sure what I would do otherwise! In college, I would frequently mix up my runs with some sessions on the elliptical.
What do you enjoy most about your career?
I didn't actively seek out a job in medical publishing; this just happened to be the first of countless interviews that panned out. Even though it's sometimes very technical and a little boring, I feel lucky that I get to cover topics that are important could actually help people, which is something I never felt like I got to do at, say CosmoGirl.
What do you least enjoy about your career?
There aren't very many young people in my office and a lot of my co-workers work from home most of the time. It can get lonely! I'm also not sure if this is what I want to do in the long run. Now that I know I no longer wish to pursue a career in magazines, I'm hoping to move back to my hometown of Houston possibly as soon as this summer and often feel like I'm just biding my time with this job. Healthcare is a big industry in the South, so I'm definitely keeping my options open, but I worry that I might end up pigeon-holing myself in this field if I switch to a similar job. Another one of my big interests is country music, and I think my next "dream job" would be to work in a communication capacity for a non-profit like the Country Music Association. Maybe someday...
Do you think that the United States should have a presumed consent for organ donation?
I have interviewed people who have had family members die while waiting for a kidney donor, and since being a living donor comes with serious risks, I think it would be a good thing if more people were educated and aware of the many lives that could be saved with organ donation.
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