I spent the first half of last year and bits of the second half being a fervent writer for the Projector, rain or shine.
By the time I was given the reigns on intern editing or full-time editing last year, my peers and I had learned the fundamental rules in writing an article. Not that there was no need for editing, but I just wasn't doing serious surgery to their words either.
Come year two of CreComm, being the older (and hopefully more experienced) journalist, I have come across a few editing lessons learned.
1) Maintain serious communication. Within 24 hours of assigning the story, I send out emails to all my first year writers with the article information and possible contacts (for their first story only). Once I hear back from them, I give them a couple of days (maybe two) and bug them about whether they had any progress, what did they think their angle was going to, etc. And on the day before the articles are due, I send reminders to all writers. I don't know how I could do this job without a smart phone.
2) Don't be too in-depth about articles. I spent a lot of time last year wondering why we just cover events and why we couldn't do more serious arts issues or something. Well the reason is because The Projector is training writers how to be journalists, so expecting people brand new to the game to start whipping out New York Times-esque stories is just a little too much expectation-wise.
3) Set aside some serious hours to go over those articles. And this isn't because anyone is a bad writer or journalist, its more about making the story consistent with the rest of the section (in regards to format, amount of content, and proper grammar, etc) I've been giving myself, on average, about six hours per issue to make sure that stories flow, information checks out, they're newsworthy, and don't contain any auto-fails.
4) Keeping a good relationship with media contacts is key. You don't want to burn any bridges by ignoring pushy PR people or being dismissive when they ask or send a reaction email to an article about them. Be honest when things can't run in the upcoming issue, apologize when mistakes are made, and always be friendly.
5) Set an initial deadline for writers a couple days before the real one. This is something that has come in handy for me in the past couple weeks. If writers get busy or someone doesn't get back to them in time, you have some extra padding.
6) Tell sources a fake deadline. Its important to let people know when you need to hear from them by so they can plan accordingly. Normally, the person you want to quote in the article will want to be quoted, its just a matter of telling them when. People are, by nature, procrastinators, so tell them a deadline a day or two before your deadline so you know you'll hear from them in time.
7) Make sure writers explain who sources are and why they are relevant to the story. Don't just say "24-year-old Dana Loewen thinks youth crime has risen in Manitoba rural towns." Explain why anyone should care what she thinks. For example, "24-year-old Youth Drop-in Worker Dana Loewen thinks youth crime has risen in Manitoba rural towns." Go a step further in the next sentence by saying, "Loewen, who has worked with teens in her town for five years, said, "....."
These added details make a story flow better, give better context to readers about the topic, and make your source all the more credible.
I'm sure this list will continue, especially after the first-years are done their mandatory articles and I'm begging people to write for me. I'm sure those editor lessons will be much more like this much cuter and much furrier beggar.
6) Tell sources a fake deadline. Its important to let people know when you need to hear from them by so they can plan accordingly. Normally, the person you want to quote in the article will want to be quoted, its just a matter of telling them when. People are, by nature, procrastinators, so tell them a deadline a day or two before your deadline so you know you'll hear from them in time.
7) Make sure writers explain who sources are and why they are relevant to the story. Don't just say "24-year-old Dana Loewen thinks youth crime has risen in Manitoba rural towns." Explain why anyone should care what she thinks. For example, "24-year-old Youth Drop-in Worker Dana Loewen thinks youth crime has risen in Manitoba rural towns." Go a step further in the next sentence by saying, "Loewen, who has worked with teens in her town for five years, said, "....."
These added details make a story flow better, give better context to readers about the topic, and make your source all the more credible.
I'm sure this list will continue, especially after the first-years are done their mandatory articles and I'm begging people to write for me. I'm sure those editor lessons will be much more like this much cuter and much furrier beggar.
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