Amanda Hsu: The Beats Manager is tasked with editing and publishing monthly or weekly thematic stories for each person on both the Online and Print staff. I’m Amanda Hsu, and in this podcast episode, I talk to senior Elizabeth Tuttle, who efficiently runs the whole beat system behind the scenes.

Hsu: What is your role on staff this year?

Elizabeth Tuttle: I’m the Beats Manager.

Hsu: What are some of your responsibilities as Beats Manager?

Tuttle: I have to work with people on both online and print staff to help them and support them create their beats, which for some people is a monthly story, and then for others, is a weekly short-form story.

Hsu: What inspired you to run for Beats Manager?

Tuttle: I really like deadlines. I think I can hold myself accountable for making my deadlines, and I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone to try and support others by helping them meet their deadlines, and I enjoy editing across sections, and I think also being able to work with print staffers is something that I’ve never done before, and I like hearing new perspectives and just seeing the work that they can produce as well.

Hsu: What is one thing you changed about the beats system from last year?

Tuttle: I decided to make our production cycle a little bit more individually directed. Our writers this year are responsible for asking editors to give edits. So our first drafts are edited by a section editor, like the section in which the writer story is in edits their first draft. And so it’s a very writer-driven process. Once they receive and use the edits, they will ask me for edits. And then after that, they need to go to their group partner, which is basically just within the Beat groups, and then the partner will give them peer review edits, and then I’ll publish everything, just so I can help everything along. I focus a lot more on the production of the Beats, not necessarily doing the nitty gritty editing stuff.

Hsu: Is there anything you want to change about the system, even though the year just started?

Tuttle: I think for this month, no. I think this month is just for me and the writers, especially like the weekly writers, to get into the swing of things. Especially on Online, I don’t know about Print, but we have a lot of new staffers, and that’s great, but I think it’s really important for me to keep in mind that they are also new to this process, and I’m also new to this process. So I think giving people a little bit more flexibility right now is really important. Especially with the newer writers, just helping them a little bit more, supporting them a little bit more, maybe sending more individualized reminders [is important].

Hsu: What is the [Beats] theme for this year?

Tuttle: Ninja Turtles.

Hsu: How did you decide on this theme?

Tuttle: I think the Ninja Turtles are iconic. I like how they have four distinct colors. I think I’m very visually oriented, so having color coded organization really helps me keep myself on track and organized, and I hope that that also helps others. But I think it’s kind of really fun, because even though they are so different as turtles, right, even though they are still all turtles, reminding us that even though we are on different staffs, we are working for the same publication.

Hsu: Who’s your favorite ninja turtle?

Tuttle: I don’t really have one. I think I’m a little biased, because I’m in the Raphael beat group, so I think that’s my favorite right now, but I do like how Donatella is purple,

Hsu: How many Beats do you edit in one month?

Tuttle: 44 I think.

Hsu: What is your favorite kind of beat to edit?

Tuttle: Ok so this year we are doing something really cool, that’s different from last year. In the past, we’ve had weekly beats, but [this year] a small group of, I think seven or eight writers have to produce something every week. And it’s just really cool seeing what everyone comes up with, and how even though, the big idea is the same for their beat, just seeing the differences and unique takes on their ideas. I like short form beats, because I think especially publishing something online, you do have a lot of flexibility and opportunities to include multimedia elements. And so one of our, I think opinion writers on online, Audrey Jansen, has a quiz beat, and she makes these really cool quizzes– you guys should go check that out– but last week, she made a Would You Rather quiz, and we just put it up on the site. And I think that’s a really cool way to, you know, increase viewership in a fun way.

Hsu: If you could steal a beat, which beat would you want to steal and write for yourself?

Tuttle: Oh, yours, totally. I think it’s so fun. I think especially for you, being someone who works on Print, being able to, you know, utilize the multimedia aspect of what makes Online so special, utilizing multimedia and just kind of trying something new, I think, is really cool. But also, I think, you know, since conflict of interest, we can’t typically interview Rubicon staffers, I think it’s just really cool to see what goes on behind the scenes. Because I think everyone knows we’re part of Rubicon, and kind of knows what we do, but they don’t know what we really do, if you know what I mean.

Hsu: Is there a prize at the end of the year for the Beat group who wins?

Tuttle: We’ll see. I think if everyone can stay motivated and timely, given the new grading policy, I don’t think that will be needed, but if we do need to incentivize beat production, I think that will be needed. But honestly, right now, our first beat group, shout out to Leonardo, has gotten all their beats in on time. And so I think if we can just continue that positive trend, I think no incentive will be needed. But I think it would be fun to make it a competition, but I don’t really want to do that, [because] I just don’t want it to negatively impact our positive staff culture.

Hsu: What is your favorite part of your job?

Tuttle: I think I like editing more than actually writing. I like being busy. I like having a lot to do. I don’t feel satisfied if my edits aren’t done, like, if the things I have to edit haven’t been edited. I definitely like editing more than I like writing. If I could just be a beats editor and not actually a writer, also, I would totally do that, not because it’s too much work, but because I just enjoy editing a lot more.

Hsu: How do you like to encourage or support your writers?

Tuttle: I don’t think really any encouragement is needed now, but I can foresee maybe in the future, people kind of forgetting. I think that’s when I’ll need to incentivize a little bit, but I love giving shout outs in class. It kind of sucks that I attend the online class only because I do give a lot of shout outs and reminders at the beginning of meetings, but sometimes I leave, you know, I leave notes for people to say things for me, but I think just like recognizing those people who do put in the work, or do go above and beyond to get their beat in, like a quality beat in, I think giving them individual recognition is really important and helps keep them motivated.

Hsu: If you could make any beat idea in the world, it can be as crazy as you want, which idea would you want to do?

Tuttle: Probably a travel review. If I had unlimited funding and unlimited time, I would totally get a road trip Beat or something. And I travel to every state, and then every state would be a beat. I think that’d be really cool. Maybe, I think I’d have to narrow down to food reviews in each state, which would be kind of cool. Like, if I picked maybe Korean cuisine in California versus Korean cuisine in Minnesota versus Korean cuisine in Florida, that’d be really cool. But also maybe a National Park review would be really fun. So I think moving a lot is cool.

Hsu: What do you hope to pass on to future staff members, or [do you have] any advice for future staff members?

Tuttle: Meet your deadlines. I think Rubicon is easy and fun if you are doing the work and meeting your deadlines, but if you’re not, it definitely can become very stressful. But also, for new staffers and all that and people interested in Rubicon, remember Rubicon is not your whole life, it does not need to consume you. Don’t spread yourself so thin that it’s affecting you more than it should be. Like, yes, Rubicon is really important. Yes, deadlines are really important. But remember that you are also human and you’re not a robot, and it’s okay if you can’t always give 100% just give what you can in the moment.

Hsu: If you could go back, after going through all of this, would you pick the online staff or the print staff?

Tuttle: That’s tough. I definitely think I would stick with Online, though, because I just I can’t do Saturday paste ups. You guys are crazy, you’re actually insane, I need my Saturday time, I need my Saturday reset time. I do think Online is a lot easier to publish things, but I can see where it might be a little bit more stressful given our how our cycles are set up. Also, I wouldn’t be in the role I’m in without being on Online, so I have to do that. I love the opportunities to, you know, maybe, make a video, make a podcast, making quizzes. Last year, my beat was multimedia interactives for sports teams, and I think that’s really cool. And I love how on our site you can put so many pictures with a story, you can add pull quotes, you can link other stories, you can link other sources, you can add quizzes,you can add polls. There’s just so much flexibility and so many things you can do Online.

Hsu: You can take a look at Elizabeth’s latest work on RubicOnline. Thank you for listening to this podcast episode. We will be back with more behind-the-scenes stories from staff. See you then!

(Music: “Lightness of the Moment Instrumental” from Wevideo Music Library)