Intro

Zitko: 00:00-00:10

Hi everyone, thank you for tuning in for another episode of “Between the Issues.” I’m Bailey Zitko, the editor-in-chief of Xpress Magazine, and I’m joined by Paula Sibulo, the editor-in-chief of Golden Gate Xpress.

Sibulo: 00:10-00:18

For those of you who don’t know, the journalism department hosts two student-run publications, Xpress Magazine and Golden Gate Xpress news.

Zitko: 00:19-00:46

At Xpress Magazine, we tend to focus on covering the SF State community and also the broader SF State community. A lot of our stories this semester have dove into ties into the city with SF State and also just the broader impact of how issues in the city are affecting our community. We come out with four issues a semester, the first and fourth are online, and then the second and third are in print and online.

Sibulo: 00:46-1:01

So at Golden Gate Xpress, we are a daily news publication, so we publish online, and we’re also bilingual, so we publish in both Spanish and English, and we cover anything from politics, sports, campus news, beyond SFSU every single day.

Interview 

Sibulo: 01:05-01:10

All right, Bailey, so how are you? Let’s start off with rose, bud, thorn. 

Zitko: 01:10-01:11

A classic. 

Sibulo: 01:11-01:13

Yeah, do you want to explain what rose, bud, thorn is?

Zitko: 01:13-01:34

Yeah, so first of all rose, bud, thorn, one of my favorite games. It’s something we do a lot with our community in the newsroom. Your rose is the best thing that’s happened to you. It can be whatever range of time you want, day, week, year, semester. Your thorn is the worst part and then your bud is what you’re looking forward to.

Sibulo: 01:34-01:56

Okay, okay, I can start. Okay. So my rose, lately, we’ve been producing a lot of multimedia, and I think that we were lacking in that in the beginning of the semester, but we’re having like so many podcasts come out and so many reels, and I’m so glad to see that and that’s gotten a lot of engagement on Instagram. So that’s my rose for GGX. My thorn right now is that I really do miss writing. 

01:56-02:21

Being the editor-in-chief, it’s a lot of time and you have to care about other people’s stories more than your own. But that leads into my bud, which is like the upcoming months. I have my birthday in November, Thanksgiving, Christmas. I love the holidays, but I’m also looking forward to graduating, so I can get back into reporting and producing my own stories because ultimately that is what I want to do. I think postgrad, I don’t want to be in an editorial role. 

02:21-02:26

I would love to focus on my own stories, so that’s something I’m looking forward to.

Zitko: 02:26-02:54

Love it. I’m going to start with my rose. We recently went to D.C., which we’ll touch on later, to attend MediaFest 25, and Xpress magazine won second place in the Best of Show Awards for Best Feature Magazine, so that’s definitely something that we’ve been celebrating. My bud, I’m looking forward to publishing Issue 3 tomorrow. Really exciting. We’ve put in a lot of hard work to this one and it’ll be printed, so I’m looking forward to that. 

02:54-03:14

And then my thorn, kind of piggybacking off of what Paula said: Being an editor is a lot of work and it also requires a busy schedule, and I do kind of miss having time to write. I still am writing, but it’s definitely nice to have time allotted to write and not just jamming everything in.

Sibulo: 03:14-03:27

So I want to talk about Issue 3. So, I know you had themes for Issue 1 was Community, right? Second, Issue 3 was Change. I know we were talking about whether or not you’re going to have a theme for issue three. Do you have one?

Zitko: 03:27-03:27

We do. 

Sibulo: 03:27- 03:28

Oh my gosh. 

Zitko: 03:28 – 03:49

So, usually when I pick a theme, my managing editor Olivia Mendez and I, we usually go around and think about what is the underlying theme of all these stories, which is easier to identify after they’ve all been written, because things can change with stories, especially in longform writing and the way the reporting goes.

03:49-04:04

So our theme for issue three is Stories from the Undercurrents. A lot of our stories cover seemingly surface-level topics, but once you read them, you’ll find that they dive into the deeper implications and what’s going on behind the scenes of these topics. 

Sibulo: 04:04-04:10

I guess my question is, you’ve had issue one. You’ve had issue two. Do you feel like issue three is easier? 

Zitko: 04:10-04:33

That’s a really good question, Paula. I think there’s a lot of different elements that go into publishing a magazine. I would say that our last stage of creating an issue is the final proofing and workshopping before we send it to the printer and publish it online. I would say that part is a lot easier now because we kind of know how to go about it. 

04:33 – 04:54

This is my first semester being editor-in-chief. So that was something that I kind of had to warm up to and understand what were the effective strategies and what weren’t. And publishing day is usually like an eight-hour day of us just sitting in the newsroom, going through each line and design and fixing everything. So I would say by the third issue, it’s gotten a lot easier. 

Sibulo: 04:54-04:59

Yeah. And you’re publishing tomorrow, right? So exciting. 

Zitko: 04:59-05:07

Yeah. Okay, enough about me. I have a question for you. How is your second term of editor-in-chief going? Is it easier? Is it harder? 

Sibulo: 05:07-05:32

I would say both. We definitely have a smaller staff this semester. I think we’re about down to 20. Last semester, we had a pretty big staff. Everyone had a pitch in every single week. Not to say that our staff doesn’t, but with a smaller staff, we definitely, as an editorial staff, have to pick up the extra hours to produce every single day, which is really hard. I think we have about six reporters, and a lot of them do work part-time, full-time.

05:32-05:58

So, in that way it is harder. But as a second-semester EIC, it is definitely easier. As a first-semester EIC, I was coming in as a previous reporter, so I had one semester of reporting, and then it was like [being] thrown to the wolves. So yeah, you can relate to that too. But I think just the first semester was definitely like learning all the ropes while also trying to produce every single day.

05:58-06:19

And that was really hard. But luckily, I had Neal Wong, my previous managing editor, who had been on staff — that would have been his fourth semester. So, he really led me through that and I think that was such a big helping hand. But now I have Eddie by my side, Eddie Monares, my current managing editor, is my rock.

Zitko: 06:19-06:20

What a special guy. 

Sibulo: 06:20-06:29

I know he really is a special guy. So you might be a second-semester EIC. Are you running? Can we drop that information? 

Zitko: 06:29-06:31

I am running for a second term. 

Sibulo: 06:31-06:32

Ooh! This is news to me. 

Zitko: 06:32-07:02

Yeah. I’m not really attached to any certain outcome. I love to write, like I mentioned, and that’s really what I want to do after I graduate. I think it would be cool to be EIC again, but I also think there’s other people that are just as fit for the role. So I’m kind of going with what’s meant to be, will be, and if not, I’ll just be a staff reporter and get to write. So, I don’t really see there being any bad option. I’m excited either way. 

Sibulo: 07:02-07:12

Yeah. That’s good. I think, if you do get it, it’s going to be a lot easier. You’re doing a great job right now, but I think that you’ll just be more comfortable.

Zitko: 07:12-07:33

I feel like now I’m more comfortable in my position, but it is a lot of like — it started off with a lot of consulting other people and having to learn to trust my instincts and know that this may not — I might have doubt in the decision that I’m making, but either way, it’ll teach me a lesson and I can do better next time.

07:33-07:54

I think it’s been a good learning experience, and I’m really grateful that I have my managing editor, Olivia [Mendez], because she was the managing editor last semester, so she kind of gives me some direction on what to do for things that I’m uncertain in. And I also have Laura Moorhead, our adviser, who I treasure because she’s so helpful to our staff.

Sibulo: 07:54-08:15

Yeah, I love our advisers. Rachele, she’s been my rock since day one. I had GWAR with her, so that was actually my first journalism class at SF State because I took news writing at [Sacramento] State. But she taught me all the ropes to know in journalism, and then to have her as my adviser is just a continuation of our working relationship.

Zitko: 08:15 – 08:35

That was the same with Laura and I. I always say 205, which is one of the intro courses for journalism, was like my gateway drug into journalism. And I had Laura, and I remember being like, “She’s so cool.” And I had no idea journalism was this complicated, but in a good way. And she really got me into it.

Sibulo: 08:35-08:54

And then I had her for reporting, and now she’s my adviser, so it’s been nice to have her along the journey. And we both are non-journalism EICs. I think this is like the first time in the publication’s history where both EICs are non journalism majors. How is that experience shifting from apparel in design and merchandising?

Zitko: 08:54-09:20

Yeah. So when I entered college, I was set on this plan that I was going to be — do something in fashion. I wanted to design, but I didn’t really know. But I’ve always had a love for writing. I would say that was my first love, and then I kind of got into sewing. But when I took reporting two semesters ago, I really realized this is what I want to do.

09:20-09:43

And, like, journalism makes me feel this excitement in my body that nothing has ever made me feel, not even fashion. And so I kind of made a big decision last semester — ended up dropping one of the big classes you have to take as a design major. And just being like, I’m going head in to this whole journalism thing.

09:43-09:56

And that’s when I decided to run for EIC. So that was a pretty monumental time for me because I was like, I’m changing my whole path that I had envisioned for myself since I was young, but I’m so happy that I did it because I have. I’ve never been happier. 

Sibulo: 09:56-10:00

So monumental. D.C.! We’ll talk about that later.

Zitko: 10:00-10:05

What about you? How has it been being EIC as a BECA major. 

Sibulo: 10:05-10:11

Yeah. I still have, like, imposter syndrome. Like, “Oh, my God. Like what?” I’m leading this?

Zitko: 10:11-10:19

Like me? I know, and then sometimes I forget that I’m an apparel design major and then someone reminds me, and I’m like, “Oh, that’s true.”

Sibulo: 10:19-10:24

I know. I’m never Marcus Hall anymore. I’m always here. I forget I’m a BECA major. 

Zitko: 10:24-10:34

I do too. I’m always like, “I don’t associate with my major professors.” But I still have a love for fashion, but it’s just not something that I want to carry out in my career. 

Sibulo: 10:34-10:51

Yeah, I think I use BECA as more as, like, supplemental to my classes here. Like if journalism here is not supporting me in the way that I want to broadcast, then I’ll take broadcast news classes there. But at the end of the day, I love taking electives here. I’ll take GGX for no credit. 

Zitko: 10:51-11:14

And I think that makes a difference too. Like, it seems like when you have to take a course, it feels like a chore. Yeah, but it might differ for us because to me, I’m like, “Oh, I get to do this.” I’m not required to take pub lab. I’m doing this as my second-term elective. So, it’s kind of cool because I’m choosing to be here, and it feels almost more like a job. It is a job, but more of a club than a class.

Sibulo: 11:14-11:16

Yeah, totally. 

Zitko: 11:16-11:19

Okay, should we talk about D.C.? 

Sibulo: 11:19-11:20

Yeah, I think it’s time.

Both: 11:20-11:22

It’s time for D.C. debrief. 

Zitko: 11:25-11:42

We went to D.C. to attend MediaFest 25. This was my first time at a conference, period, So, I didn’t really know what to expect. I just thought it would be like everyone in a suit and tie, so that’s kind of what it was.

11:42-12:01

I really enjoyed it. I felt like I was very enlightened after. Sometimes you think you know everything about a subject, and then you go to something like this and you’re like, “Wow, I am so small in a big sea of fish with so much information,” like I learned so much. The conferences were all like back-to-back the first and second day.

12:01-12:25

So I felt like I was taking in so much information. And thank goodness for note taking because I wouldn’t have remembered anything, probably, but I really enjoyed it. There was a good mix of panels and sessions for just being a student journalist, and then ones for actually improving your writing and reporting skills. What did you think of the conference? 

Sibulo: 12:25-12:37

Well, this was my second conference. So, the last one I went to was in New York. I feel like the one in New York, I definitely focused on attending sessions that would help me as an EIC. So, I attended editor-in-grief sessions like you did. 

Zitko: 12:37-12:39

I love the editor-in-grief sessions! Those are my favorite.

Sibulo: 12:39-13:09

Those are so good. I learned so much. But yeah, I think this conference, I definitely was focusing more on what I need for post-grad, like how to freelance. But I still was taking sessions that I thought would help our publications, like headline writing. Oh, my gosh, that headline writing session was so helpful. I took photos. Eddie has photos too, of what verbs look best in headlines. I can share it with you. 

Zitko: 13:09-13:16

Yeah! I feel like there were so many good sessions and I was like, it was so hard to choose. 

Sibulo: 13:16-13:30

Yeah, it was packed days. But outside of the conference, I think I wanted to do more. It just kind of sucked. Like a lot of things are closed down or you had to reserve spots at the museums, like the Holocaust Museum. 

Zitko: 13:30-13:52

Yeah, I know. For context, if you’re watching this 20 years in the future, we went during kind of a wild time. So it’s the government shutdown right now. And then the “No Kings” protest was happening. So that made for a lot of the streets to be closed. And there also was just National Guard everywhere, which I was expecting. But like seeing them —

Sibulo: 13:52-13:59

It was so crazy. I mean, like, it was so surreal, like the fact that they were also kind of like our age, too.

Zitko: 13:58-14:02

They were like 18 and just messing around on the street. 

Sibulo: 14:02-14:09

And Eddie was shaking their hand and giving them the quote of the day. At GGX, we have “quote of the day.” Well, I guess mag shares that too.

Zitko: 14:09-14:20

Yeah, we call it the “pull quote of the day” because pull quotes are supposed to imply that it’s important. Every day, somehow, we find one because someone says something that’s worthy of a pull quote

Sibulo: 14:20-14:23

And the rules are is that you can start thinking about it at 

Both: 14:23-14:26

9:13 p.m. the night before. 

Sibulo: 14:26-14:29

And then submissions are due 9:13 a.m.

Zitko: 14:29-14:30

Oh, wow. You guys have a submission time, okay. 

Sibulo: 14:30-14:37

Yes, we do. And it has to be original. If you can look it up, then it doesn’t count. Disqualified. It has to be from the dome. 

Zitko: 14:37-15:01

Okay, okay. We don’t have as many rules. It usually comes about in the morning. I just, when I hear something, I’m like, “That would be great.” Write it on the board. Yeah, but I agree. I think it was really busy in D.C. I feel like we didn’t sit down once, except for the conference. It was long days. It’s like we would wake up at like 7 a.m. and then come home at like 11:30 p.m. because we were jet lagged, too. So yeah. 

Sibulo: 15:01-15:02

Yeah. Georgetown though!

Both: 15:02-15:06

We love Georgetown.

Zitko: 15:06-15:08

Any chance we got, we were like, “Let’s go to Georgetown.” 

Sibulo: 15:08-15:12

The Brandy [Melville], the headband is from Georgetown. Is it? 

Zitko: 15:12-15:18

Yes. Yeah, this is from Georgetown. And also, Eddie went to Brandy for the first time. He loved it. 

Sibulo: 15:18-15:24

[He] held my bags. Held our coffees from Cafe Georgetown.

Zitko: 15:24-15:27

We went to a coffee shop that prints things on your lattes.

Sibulo: 15:27-15:29

That was really cool. Eddie put his 

Both: 15:29-15:30

Quote of the day!

Sibulo: 15:30-15:34

On the latte. It looked very AI. It was real. 

Zitko: 15:34-15:37

Yeah. It was just like with the espresso powder. 

Sibulo: 15:37-15:40

Yeah. Real ones know it’s real. 

Zitko: 15:40-15:42

Yeah. What else? Oh, we have the best burger ever. 

Sibulo: 15:42-15:44

Oh, my God, that was at La Bonne Vache.

Zitko: 15:45-15:51

It was so cute. And there was this French vibe, and I was loving it. 

Sibulo: 15:51-15:59

That was our first meal back, or our first meal there. And it was so good and it was small, and I’m like, “I’m going to be hungry after this.” But I literally couldn’t even finish it. 

Zitko: 15:59-16:02

It was quite perfect. 

Sibulo: 16:02-16:04

Was that best meal?

Zitko: 16:04-16:05

I think that was the best meal. 

Sibulo: 16:05-16:07

Laura did take us out. The pasta.

Zitko: 16:07-16:17

That was good. We had the biggest pasta place in the world. And calamari. Yeah, that was insane. I think La Bonne Vache was the best meal. 

Sibulo: 16:17-16:23

It really was. I’m not exaggerating. Like, that was the best burger. People say that all the time, but this was different.

Zitko: 16:23-16:38

Yeah. So good. Oh, also, best sweet treat of the trip? Levain Bakery. Oh, my God, the cookies were — I’m like a chocolate chip cookie connoisseur. And that was the best cookie, I think chocolate chip cookie, in my life. It was like a biscuit cookie. 

Sibulo: 16:38-16:42

I’m sad because mine was cold, but I would imagine —

Zitko: 16:41-16:45

Yeah, Paula and I got cold ones, but it was sitting in my bag, and then it got warm. 

Sibulo: 16:45-16:58

No, I ate that during the “No Kings.” Oh my God. I was bedridden for like seven hours. Just editing. Jazlyn and Eddie were in my room, and I was just on my bed. Seven hours had passed.

Zitko: 16:58-16:59

That’s insane. 

Sibulo: 16:59-17:00

I was dizzy when I stood up. 

Zitko: 17:00-17:13

Oh my God. Life of editor-in-grief. And I feel like the traveling days were kind of intense. We took a redeye there, which everyone was like, “Don’t do that.” But we did anyway. We’re like, we’re young and we can do that. No, we were running on very little sleep.

Sibulo: 17:13-17:14

Oh my God, and my lymph node. 

Zitko: 17:14-17:19

Yes, Paula had to use my gua sha in the airport. I hope it helped. 

Sibulo: 17:19-17:37

I was so scared because I was on the flight and I’m texting my mom. I’m like, “Mom, I have like a swollen lymph node,” and we land. I’m like, “Bailey, I don’t know what to do.” And she’s like, “I got you.” I got my gua sha, the oil.  I had massaged, with the gua sha, my lymph node and it was fine. 

Zitko: 17:37-17:39

Yeah. She drained all that fluid 

Sibulo: 17:39-17:41

I did. Yeah, we went to Nando’s. 

Zitko: 17:41-18:05

Oh, yeah. One Direction’s favorite restaurant. Oh my gosh. That was really good. That was a really fun trip. I had the most chaotic experience coming home. I flew home a day early from Paula, Eddie and Jazlyn, and I left the conference. I went to your guys’ panel, which we’ll talk about. Then I got back to the hotel and I was like, “I’m going to zip up my suitcase and go to the airport.”

18:05-18:25

So I go to zip it up, zipper breaks. My suitcase won’t close. So I was like, what do I do? And I texted our group chat, our D.C. group chat, and like, “Guys, something terrible just happened,” and explained the situation. And within minutes, Eddie and Paula FaceTime me from a suitcase store, because they’re such good friends, and they were like, “Which one do you want?”

18:26-18:31

And I was like, “Oh my gosh, you guys are so awesome.” But unfortunately, the cheapest one was in fact $800. 

Sibulo: 18:31-18:37

I was like, “Can you point me to the cheapest luggage,” and they’re like, “It’s going to be $800.” I’m like, “We’re good. We’ll see ya.” 

Zitko: 18:39-18:58

But I ran upstairs, dumped out all of Eddie’s stuff, and then put my stuff in it, and then bounced to the airport and it was fine. But then, my layover in Charlotte got extended to four hours. So I didn’t land in San Francisco till 2 a.m. But you win some, you lose some. Yeah. I was just grateful to have a suitcase. 

Sibulo: 18:58-19:16

Eddie paid for that, I think, the next morning. Because when we were flying back, he was carrying this handheld duffle bag. And then he was like, “My luggage used to have wheels.” He was going through it. But I mean, we made it back. 

Zitko: 19:16-19:19

Yeah, what a good friend. So I want to ask you, how do you think your panel went? And what was it about?

Sibulo: 19:19-19:46

Oh, my panel. Yeah. Oh my goodness. Okay. For those of you who don’t know, the panel was about covering campus conflicts, which is a similar panel that we did in New York, which is covering campus tensions. So it was very similar. So, I feel like I definitely prepared less for this panel than I did last time, but I think that it was a very candid panel.

19:46-20:05

We were just like, “Oh, Haley, what was it like covering this? Eddie, what was it like covering this? Jazlyn…” I think it was definitely more candid, but it worked out for us in that way. We were definitely more relaxed. It was less scripted. I think, the day before, we saw like 106 people were RSVP’d. 

Zitko: 20:05-20:08

Yeah, we were at dinner, we were like, “um, okay?” And these rooms were small.

Sibulo: 20:08-20:16

These rooms were small. They were small. I’m like, “Is there gonna be people standing?” Thankfully, there wasn’t that. I don’t think all of the people that RSVP’d showed up. 

Zitko: 20:16-20:17

You had a good turnout, though. 

Sibulo: 20:17-20:39

Yeah, there were some people standing, but I think maybe like 70-ish, I don’t know. So, that calmed my nerves. I was like okay, it’s just the amount of seats [that] are filled up. I think it went well for the amount of preparation we did. We pulled it off and there was so much engagement from the audience. From you too, the girl in the Brandy.

Zitko: 20:39-20:58

Yeah, I asked a question ‘cause I was like, I’ll start it if no one wants to ask anything. I assumed people would. But some of the panels I went to, it was quiet, it was crickets. But to be fair, you guys had a really interesting topic. I think that’s why so many people showed up. But I was like, “Oh, don’t worry, guys. I got you.” But I barely had time for my question because there were so many. 

Sibulo: 20:58-21:21

I was planning. I was like, “Okay, when do I break it off for questions?” Because I don’t want there to be so much dead space. And I was like, “Oh, I’ll leave like 20 minutes. That’ll be enough time.” And then after the panel, there were people coming up after the panel to ask questions, which warmed my heart. So, I’m glad we could at least help some people with the issues that they’re having in their newsroom.

21:21-21:27

But that was my last conference. But I had a really good experience at D.C. And it’s your first one. You might go to another one.

Zitko: 21:27-21:36

It was my first one and my first time in D.C. So yeah, it was really cool. I really enjoyed it. I was leaving and I was like, “Wow, that was special.” 

Sibulo: 21:36-21:37

We left our hearts in D.C.

Zitko: 

Yeah, I left my heart in D.C.

Outro

Sibulo: 21:40-21:42

Well, I think we yapped enough. 

Zitko: 21:42-21:44

Yeah, if you’re still here. 

Sibulo: 21:44-21:48

If you’re still here, I think we’re going to wrap it up. And Issue 3 is coming out soon.

Zitko: 21:48-22:09

Yeah. By the time you guys are watching this or listening to it, Issue 3 will be out online, xpressmagazine.org. And then you can expect to see the printed version of Issue Three in the newsstands around campus mid-November. Really exciting stuff. 

Sibulo: 22:09-22:22

Nice. GGX, no special projects coming up, but always keep up on our website, goldengatexpress.org. We publish daily. Well thank you, Bailey, for joining me for an episode of “Between the Issues,” and I hope we can continue this collaboration.

Zitko: 22:22-22:27

Yeah, I really enjoyed it. Cheers to more. Thanks for tuning in.

22:32-22:43

Support Xpress publications by signing up for the Everglade newsletter. Follow us on social media at GGX News and Xpress Magazine, or by visiting our website[s] at goldengatexpress.org and xpressmagazine.org.  

Sibulo: 22:43-22:49

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