The Brown and White staff, like that of any other newspaper, functions with transparency at the forefront of our minds. Each story we publish is meant to clearly exhibit the intent behind it, but we recognize that understanding the broader picture of a newsroom is just as important.
At a time when the number of local newspapers is decreasing — research shows almost a third of all U.S. newspapers have shuttered since 2005 — and audiences’ trust in media outlets is plummeting in the U.S., The Brown and White Editorial Board wanted to take a moment to foster an understanding of how our paper works — how stories are born, created, edited and ultimately published.
The Brown and White is produced and operated completely by Lehigh students. As a student organization, we work independently from the university and are self-governed. Our faculty adviser, journalism professor Matt Veto, provides industry-standard advice and general guidance, but he doesn’t oversee or interfere with content decisions.
Our newsroom is made up of roughly 70 reporters, 40 multimedia contributors and 40 editors, many of whom also write pieces for publication. Our staff also includes specialized teams that enhance our storytelling across platforms. We have photo and video departments, a team of designers, and a data and graphics department. Other specialty contributors include our investigative, audience, community engagement, and diversity, equity and inclusion editors.
The paper is divided into five sections of coverage — news, lifestyle, sports, opinion and community — all of which have their own team that welcomes all undergraduate students to join.
These sections comprise our twice-weekly print publication and almost daily online publication, with the exception of The Community Pages, which is published on a monthly basis. The Community Pages was created in 2021 to increase and improve our coverage of the South Side, specifically.
For regular issues, there are three news pages, two lifestyle pages, two sports pages and one opinion page, which spotlights the voices of our staff and community at large.
The editorial process:
Each piece published in The Brown and White follows the same structured process to ensure all content meets our editorial standards.
Stories typically begin in the newsroom, where reporters pitch ideas within their respective sections on a scheduled basis. These pitches come from almost anywhere — personal observations, tips from our audience, events either on or off campus and beyond. Editors then review the proposed ideas, evaluating them against specific criteria including timeliness, newsworthiness, novelty and relevance.
After a pitch is greenlit, editors will assign the story to a reporter, providing them with background on the topic and potential sources.
Reporters then begin the process of gathering information, seeking multiple perspectives through interviews and digging into research and data that authoritatively informs our readers. Prior to publication, they perform accuracy checks to ensure all aspects of the piece are exact and error-free. The timeline of each article varies, as the need for depth may increase with the complexity of a topic.
The completed story then goes through multiple rounds of editing. For a typical article, this includes review from four ranks of editors, once online and once on paper. The editorial staff refines the narrative, fact-checks the content further and ensures the story will be engaging to our audience.
After top editors agree a story is ready, it may be published online at any point. For timely stories such as meetings or events, we aim to publish as soon as possible.
During press nights on Mondays and Wednesdays, our design team and other specialists create the layout of the paper, and at this point, each story is accompanied by its multimedia content and prepared for publication in either our Tuesday or Friday print issues.
Meanwhile, our editors will share these stories across The Brown and White’s social media pages, where readers can interact and offer their perspectives.
Our various forms of content:
The Brown and White produces a variety of content to ensure we cover all facets of our audience and to tailor our approach to each specific story. Different forms of content within our publication may call for different processes, and together, we hope to create a comprehensive picture.
Breaking news calls for speed and accuracy. When a story breaks, whether it be a university announcement or a local emergency, our staff immediately gets to work on gathering up-to-date and verified information. Initial reports are typically news briefs, which are short pieces made up of only the hard facts available at the time. Briefs are then updated as stories continue to develop and may be expanded upon in the form of complete and comprehensive news articles.
Features highlight people, establishments and the stories behind them, and they can appear in any of our coverage areas. These pieces require time and exploration, as our reporters practice detailed storytelling by seeking information that isn’t immediately available, such as personal anecdotes.
Event stories also circulate between sections, and include sports games, campus events or local happenings. These pieces aim to capture key moments and greater community impact, providing coverage of what is occurring on campus and in the local community for our audience.
Investigative stories typically require the most time, care and attention. Pitches that call for reporting beyond our typical workflow may be handled by our investigative team, which seeks to uncover the truth and hold people and institutions accountable through deeply researched and reported pieces.
Our opinion coverage is structured with one editorial and one column or Campus Voices piece per issue, with additional pieces published online. Editorials are written by the editorial pages editors on behalf of the entire Editorial Board — made up of seven top editors this semester — and are meant to express a unified opinion on various topics proposed by the board. Columns are recurring pieces of the same overarching theme from a reporter. Campus Voices is the newest addition to the paper, offering a space for members of the campus community to share their viewpoint on issues they’ve encountered on campus or personal experiences they want to voice to a wider audience. Other one-off opinion pieces may include edit desks and guest submissions, which can highlight any thought-provoking idea proposed by their authors.
While we hope this glimpse into our process can create dialogue in some form, we also encourage you to share your feedback, pitches and suggestions with The Brown and White so that our paper is constantly improving. Any thoughts can be submitted through our new Community Feedback Form. Each piece published in The Brown and White follows the same structured process to ensure all content meets our editorial standards.
Comment policy
Comments posted to The Brown and White website are reviewed by a moderator before being approved. Incendiary speech or harassing language, including comments targeted at individuals, may be deemed unacceptable and not published. Spam and other soliciting will also be declined.
The Brown and White also reserves the right to not publish entirely anonymous comments.