Other [Issue 19] Editorials

[Raphael2 3,263]

 

Hello dear active reader, you want to make people aware of a cause? You want to promote something? You want to be heard?

Forget humans billboards, flyers, hoardings.

In this topic we will publish opinion pieces, letters, adverts, etc..
In order to be published, you need to PM Raphael2 with your text. It will be published in the next Issue as long as it is appropriate and suitable for all ages.

 

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@GoldRock: The Development of the Tanki Newspaper (as seen through the eyes of an ex-reporter).

 

It's coming up to the end of March, 2013. There has recently been an amusing mix-up with the rewarding of winners of a Press contest, for which the results were revealed at the start of February. The developers confirmed the crystals had been put into the winners account half-way through February, though the winners finally received them over a month later. After the economics update which multiplied crystal amounts by 10 (which the devs forgot about when distributing the prizes), meaning that everyone received ten times less crystals than they should have. Well, that's just the typical lack of organisation from the Tanki admins, only to be expected.

Yet it seems as though things are about to change a little. Just a few days after, vacancies for Reporter positions are advertised, to much excitement. I submit my application on the first day, and wait nervously; I send out a barrage of PMs asking to trade applications with others who have applied, trying to weigh up the competition. A moment of joy when I am informed I got through to the interview stage, only for my heart to sink when I realise about dozen others also got through, and that there are only a couple of positions up for grabs.

Sel and I agree to try (and fail) not to be too jealous if only one of us gets the job. All too soon, the times for our interviews arrive - it goes pretty well, and all I can do now is wait. To the great surprise of many, a grand total of seven applicants (including myself) end up joining the newspaper staff, which just goes to show the high quality of the applications that were submitted at the time.

How will these new reporters fare in comparison to their predecessors? Very well, it would seem, as Issue 11 certainly contains a number of cracking first articles and high-quality content. Since there are so many of us, each of the new reporters wants to be the one to impress the readers, to stand out and show potential... The results are testament to the hard work which had gone into the issue. From "What do tankmen do in real life?" and "What if the English community is a restaurant..?" to the exceptional "Tanki Online Hunger Games" story and my very own "The 10 Commandments of Tanki" (all worth a read - Sel was definitely the stand-out reporter from amongst the newcomers that issue), the standard of the articles in this issue was about as good as it gets.

However, Issue 12... Let's just say that's an all-time low. For starters, it contains about 15 articles, compared to the grand total of over 25 in the previous issue, with some reporters unable to write. Admittedly, many of us have exams around that month; but the stuff that is actually written is deemed to be 'very average' and 'lazy' by skit in the Main Topic, which is probably fairly accurate, considering a fair few of the articles are last-minute 'filler' pieces. This time, it's a lack of hard work which showed, and it ends up being an issue which is easy to forget (and is best forgotten).

Fortunately, over the next few issues, the standard steadily recovers and builds. In particular, hog's "The Ultimate Guide to Isida" in Issue 13, and his "The Official Tanki Online English Dictionary", is a sign that the newspaper team are back on track in terms of putting enough effort into articles. Issue 15 ends up being pretty brief (with only around 10 proper articles in total), but the articles that have been written are well-written and polished this time round. Swag's picture-creating skills and Lham's main topics are, in particular, consistently of a very high standard. The quality of the newspaper is definitely on the rise.

And then, alas, 5 reporters leave the Tanki newspaper for one reason or another (4 of these, including myself, from the batch of reporters who joined the team at Issue 11). Again, applications for Reporter positions are made open... but there's one question on the minds of most now. Over the previous issues, readers have come to expect a high standard of articles; will the new reporters be able to provide the same, and keep the newspaper expanding?

It's a mixed bag, apparently. Fjelstad1678 has shown himself to be a particularly strong story writer, amongst the best the newspaper has ever seen. ArchangeI looks to be great with guides and contests, and his humourous "The Base" series on community members is exceptional. Aojsd is more rounded as a writer, and is able to join hog (who's clearly a model reporter, and has written some of the best article the newspaper has ever seen) in producing both top-notch reviews/guides and engaging and imaginative stories. Vikingsrall has written a number of imaginative stories, and I look forward to seeing more from him - his contest/interview articles have been excellent. I'm glad to see that hithere1 is settling in nicely, it seems, producing articles of a consistent quality... though his first article really is the worst I've read for a long time, it looks like he's listened to the feedback he received for it, and is now improving and honing his writing skills.

Looks like bdeck did a runner, though, and MusicJam19's news series is really not that good, if I am honest - it is dwarfed in comparison with Lhamster and hog's joint September news review, which certainly did my own original idea justice. The first of Music's articles was especially poor. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses - maybe it'd be best to go back to a 'Breaking News' topic, and leave the actual writing to... writers?

Overall, it looks as though the Tanki newspaper has some very good reporters at the moment. I'm afraid I can't end this editorial without mentioning Valletta, Raphael, jokjinari, and loktinho (yes, I know I've referred to practically everyone now). All Issue 11 recruits; all still going strong. Valletta's stories are extraordinary and very under-appreciated, and Raph must be the hardest-working reporter in the newspaper (the layouts of some of his recent articles have been truly stunning, not to mention his extremely useful Newspapers Summary, without which it would have been near-impossible to write this). Jokjinari's own stories are always creative and original, and grab the reader's attention; loktinho's substantial collection of guides have helped countless readers over the issues.

With such reporters, the only way from here for the Tanki newspaper is up.

Edited July 31, 2017 by Hexed

[godofwar30 16]

what are the prize for the 7 toys

[Raphael2 3,263]

No one knows yet :)

[RyanLIGHTNING 37]

How do you become a newspaper reporter?

[Raphael2 3,263]

^ http://en.tankiforum.com/index.php?showtopic=184460

[donut70 97]

good idea, i think this will catch on

[jokjinari 160]

Not bad, GoldRock, not bad :D

[Hazard 15]

:o

[stle829 5]

BIT OF ausomeness

[ColdWheel 82]

Cool. Nice work Raphael :)

[9mT 668]

nice raphael  :)

[BoSsBoSsTaNkIbOsS 21]

what are the prize for the 7 toys ?? 

[gameface5454 0]

what are the prize for the 7 toys ?? 

it was crystals

[qayzturbo27 0]

i think the prize for the 7 toys is crystals and we received only 10 000 crystals which means we should receive 10 times more crystals and am not really sure.

[zazan123 0]

i think so ;)