Courtesy of Jaylan Harrington
Chances are anyone reading this is familiar with Technician. But who oversees this publication as the Editor-in-Chief? That would be Jaylan Harrington, a fourth-year studying communications. This might seem like a huge job, but with the experience Harrington has, it’s no wonder he’s qualified.
Starting with sports writing, followed by video, then dabbling in photography all in his first year at NC State, Harrington filled the Video Editor position his sophomore year while continuing to write for the sports section. When junior year came around, Harrington took over as the first Multimedia Managing Editor and did a few podcasts. Fast forward to senior year and he’s now the Editor-in-Chief.
“It kind of only felt natural to become Editor-in-Chief,” Harrington said. “I felt the most comfortable with everything that we have to do at Technician in terms of journalism and in terms of all the different facets of the work that we do, so it felt like a natural next step.”
Regardless of his experience, Harrington admits that starting such a big role was intimidating.
“Even after they named me Editor-in-Chief, I still felt that impostor syndrome,” Harrington said. “I think that’s only natural, but then you kind of get into the role and you start to hire your staff and you get into the actual work of production every single day and it goes away.”
But what exactly is the everyday job of the Editor-in-Chief? Harrington admits that it can be unpredictable at times.
“When I wake up, the first thing I do is check my phone and I’m hoping the sky hasn’t fallen because you don’t know what you’re gonna get,” Harrington said. “You roll the dice and start your day, and then beyond that, there’s just a lot of coordinating.”
Even with the unexpected parts of the job, his flexibility as a person helps him to adapt to challenges.
“I’m not a very rigid person, and I think that characteristic helped me,” Harrington said. “When something new pops up, it isn’t something that’s earth-shattering. It’s just kind of something that makes me go, ‘Okay, I have to consider this as well.’”
While adapting to the changes that came with taking on the Editor-in-Chief position, Harrington also started working on his personal goals that he has for the publication, including reacclimating the staff to being in person.
“Most of the staff and most of the people that work at Technician either were not here or do not remember how it was in a normal year when we were fully in person because of the pandemic,” Harrington said.
Harrington also wanted to prioritize mental health during his time as Editor-in-Chief, saying that he had witnessed too many people leave the office because of reasons related to mental health.
“A huge thing for me was making sure that we’re doing the work and doing the job and also making sure that I’m not pushing them too much,” Harrington said.
So far, he also completed some of his smaller goals including redesigning Technician’s website and is looking forward to including more podcasts in the publication’s future.
Improvement is something that Harrington has strived for since his first year with Student Media. He has always wanted to be good at what he does, and his efforts will surely be remembered in years to come.
“I want people to look back and be like ‘Hey, that year was a crazy year. They did a great job,’” Harrington said. “I think that’s what will make me happy. After I’m gone … I want people to look back and go ‘That was kind of special.’”