Checklist for On-boarding and Off-boarding for Medium Newsrooms

I included a similar checklist in chapter two of this guide, but here's a more specific checklist for those medium-sized newsrooms. Everything on this list doesn't need to be included, but these are suggestions of what is helpful in other newsrooms.

Checklist of things to do/have for on-boarding process

• [ ] Explanation of who is in the newsroom, what they do, a little bit about them, where they are based if they are remote. Include pictures of people so you can easily identify them. You may also add a note near key people for the position
• [ ] Detailed explanations of the roles on the team and how each work with one another
• [ ] Expectations for the job (what the previous person did and/or what the newsroom and team expects the person to work on. Examples include annual projects, attending certain meetings)
• [ ] Order of how stories and/or pitches get filed and how they go through the editing process (ex: points of contact, timeline for stories)
• [ ] How to use the CMS and other software in the newsroom (there would be documents with screenshots explaining what different buttons in the CMS or software are)
• [ ] List of logins for social media, version control, servers and how to activate certain accounts (ex: PGP, set up email)
• [ ] For graphics/news apps folks: how to set up development environment, list of common tools used, basics of how to document your projects
• [ ] Meetings with team members or people you might work with to learn about their roles on the team or in the newsroom
• [ ] Spend some time on the company website looking through what the company does
• [ ] Pair program or sit with another reporter and with another person on the team (shadow a few desks, over a few days)
• [ ] Write down questions. Don't be afraid to ask questions!
• [ ] Include a glossary of common terms used in the newsroom or on the job in a document (for example if there is a list of acronyms for organizations that reporters on this beat usually contact or sources will often refer to)
• [ ] Have a mentor on the team or in the newsroom (ideally this person would walk you through what the previous person worked on and be there for any questions)
• [ ] Read through documentation written by the previous person in the job. Notes can include questions the person had when they started and answers, source information, contact list (could be in a Word doc, Github repo, markdown file)
• [ ] Timeline of ongoing topics on the beat (for example: a calendar of notable events on the beat or data releases)
• [ ] General notes/documentation on security in the newsroom (PGP, VPN, file sharing)
• [ ] Read through common contacts (ideally this would include times when they are good to contact, if they prefer email vs. phone, etc.)
• [ ] Read over any social media guidelines & policies
• [ ] Read over any ethics policies the newsroom has

Checklist of things to do/have for off-boarding process

• [ ] Writeup documentation about unfinished projects, questions, known issues, and projects worked on
• [ ] Have a few people on the team or in the newsroom read through these documentation and ask questions if there are any
• [ ] Removal from social media accounts, Github, servers and any other accounts that are shared
• [ ] Disable CMS access
• [ ] Handoff of Google docs/shared documents
• [ ] Address FOIs or record requests that are ongoing and need to be followed up on. A spreadsheet tracking this information will be helpful to send to reporters/editors on the team and include in final documentation before leavings
• [ ] Rolodex: Update contact lists and notes on any sources that the next person should know about
• [ ] Exit interview with the newsroom or people you often work with: overview of the job (can be like office hours where people can stop by and ask questions about the position/stories)

You can fork this checklist on Github and make your own.