At UNH, we have our own student newspaper – The New Hampshire. We’ve all read it. Whether there is a tall stack outside of your classroom, the dining hall, or your dorm, it is hard to miss grabbing the latest edition of the TNH. If you’ve ever wondered, who is the man behind this great paper, this article will solve all your questions!
Chad Graff, the Editor of the TNH and this weeks Campus Celebrity, is a junior and a Journalism and Communications double major. Here’s a peek into his crazy schedule, and how he balances it all!
How and why did you get involved in the TNH? When did you start and how have you progressed to your current position?
I got involved with TNH my first week of freshmen year. I showed up to the initial meeting an hour later, and didn’t get to cover a sports team like I wanted because of that. But, I kept bugging them for stories and came in to work on editing and slowly moved through the ranks. I always knew that I wanted to be a journalist and was able to get a job at the Union Leader during high school, which helped me improve and teach me things that I was able to bring to The New Hampshire.
Describe a typical day at work with the TNH.
Well, it typically includes unhealthy food, mediocre music, and lots of coffee. Monday’s are production nights so I’m in the office working on producing the newspaper from roughly 3 p.m. – 3a.m. I come in and we decide which stories are going where, then discuss editorials and begin editing. Tuesday’s we have our meetings so I work on coming up with story ideas than have our meetings in our office from 7:30 – 9. Wednesday’s I spend a lot of time working on the website, making sure everything looks OK and approving comments, and then Thursday’s are the same as Monday. Then during hockey season, I cover the men’s team, which usually has games on Friday’s and Saturday’s.
How do you manage balancing the responsibility with your course load and other involvements?
It’s really not too bad. I usually do most of my homework in TNH’s office so that allows me to always be there if things come up, but to also stay on top of classes. I still work with the UL a few hours a week and try to make it to as many sporting events as possible, namely football and hockey.
What is your favorite part of your job?
My favorite part of the job is also the longest part of the job — production nights. I spend 12 hours in the office with seven or eight other editors, but we manage to have a good time between late HoCo runs, music, and heated debates.
What is the hardest part?
The hardest part, quite honestly, is probably dealing with the all the little things — ensuring the paper gets out on time, the website keeps from crashing, and dealing with people who think that, as a student newspaper, we have to do whatever the faculty/administration thinks is right.
What is a funny story or memory from your time at the TNH?
There have been a lot. I skipped the Patriots game my freshman year to do an interview for my first story. I was excited for my first story — but after an hour of waiting for the interviewee to show up, realized it wasn’t happening and had to walk back into the office and tell the editor that my first ever story wasn’t coming in. When you spend 12 hour shifts with the same people twice a week you can to know each other well, develop a relationship and a lot of stories come of that. I’ve worked with several talented journalists and it seems a funny story comes from every production night with them.