Can’t We All Just Get Along?

The best reporters I know have an understanding
of the environment in which editors work.
Chris Lavin
Best Newspaper Writing 1994

The more you understand your editor…
the more likely you are to make a good team.
Samuel S. Vaughan
Editors on Editing

How Editors Help

10. Assist in Setting the Agenda

a. They help me set my agenda, sort through all I have going on, and pick what to go after.

9. Provide Direction and Support

b. They are clear about what is wanted: scope of story, length, approach, and deadline.

8. Guide Along The Way

c. I have received useful guidance prior to writing, and during those times when transitions are difficult.

d. They catch the silly errors –mixed metaphors, faulty logic– that everyone is prone to at times.

e. Good editors help untangle tangled sentences, bring simplicity to complex sentences and help improve the flow of the story. They help make a good story better.

f. They challenge my biases by asking good questions. I get organizational help from editors who ask questions at intervals that help me summarize what I’ve achieved, and understand what I have left to do.

g. I rely heavily on editors to reel me in when I tend to overwrite. I may cry, gripe and complain, but in the end I find they are usually correct.

7. Provide a Fresh Eye

h. They give a critical eye when I can’t empathize with the reader’s needs anymore. They give me insights into my own material that I am not aware of.

6. Know When To Disappear

i. Editors help by knowing when to leave me alone and when to offer guidance.

j. Sometimes they do me the great honor of leaving me alone when I need time on a story.

5. Become The Voice For Good Writing In Their Heads

k. They force clarifications, precision and tighter, better writing. They are the mother in your head, nagging you to check the facts. A good editor will make you even better than you are.

4. Defend Good Work

1. They will lobby for better play on stories we believe in. That’s a real plus.

m. I like editors to challenge those above them when they have bad ideas or unrealistic expectations.

n. They fight for time to do good stories, and space to give them play.

o. The editor helps by defending the staff to the public against all manner of accusations, true and false.

3. Trust and Respect Reporters

p. I appreciate an editor who trusts me when I say a story on my beat is, or isn’t, important.

q. I work closely with three editors, and most of the time my editors don’t help me. About the most positive thing I can say for one of them is that she helps me focus ideas. I can talk with that editor because she treats me with a modicum of respect and trust. I would strongly encourage all editors to simply treat reporters with respect.

2. Work with Reporters

r. The best editors I’ve had were collaborators. It was never “my way or the highway..”
It was “let’s talk about this.”

1. Communicate

s. Tell me when I do a good job, and when I don’t quite hit the mark, tell me then too.

What Editors Could Do Differently

10. Don’t Kill Enthusiasm

a. Many editors want to talk down to reporters and kill creative energy and enthusiasm. I’d like them to find better ways of communicating.

9. Keep the Staff Informed

b. Share more of what’s going on at the newspaper in general. Divulge more, especially if it affects (my work).

c. Let us in on it when they decide to change the focus of a story or project.

8. Be Willing to Experiment

d. I would like them to be more open to different writers’ styles, not so rigid …. I would like them to have as much fun at it as the writers.

e. Allow more story ideas that don’t have a news peg.

7. Beware of Bias

f. Sometimes their biases on an issue may weaken a story or editorial or keep it from running.

g. Stories that win praise are those written their way. Either they insist on stories written as they see it, or they show little interest beyond filling a space between ads.

6. Edit Meaningfully, Don’t Meddle

h. Editors make changes in copy just to do it, altering meaning.

i. Editors should get away from thinking that if you don’t change anything in a story they’re not doing their jobs.

j. Make suggestions to guide, rather than word changes.

k. Don’t pre-solve the problems. Present the problem (or challenge) and let me go to work on it. I am still accountable.

5. Focus on the Writing

l. I’d like them to work to improve the writing quality of our paper. Often they will change constant mistakes and never say anything to the writer.

m. Take more time out from feeding the beast to brainstorm about stories.

4. Know the Writers

n. Take the time to find out reporter’s strengths and use them. I find that editors pigeonhole reporters despite their accomplishments in a variety of areas.

o. I want an editor who can spot my strengths, weaknesses and potential, and who can talk to me about my future.

3. Stay Focused

p. I want their attention spans to last as long as the story, all day or all year.

q. They need to attempt fewer stories and do them better.

2. Look for the Good and Praise It.

r. “What are you working on next” comes far more often than “Nice job on this morning’s piece.”

1. Find the Time

s. Be available instead of always in meetings.

t. They are usually too busy to talk to me and much too fragmented to listen.

u. When I call from the road, I want them to sound happy to hear from me and take time to talk.

v. Anything editors could do to stay off the phone and out of meetings would be welcomed.

w. I shouldn’t have to be in crisis to talk to an editor. Nor should my stories have to be bad to get attention.

Other Comments

1. Just say no to editors. In my 21 years as a feature writer, I’ve had fewer than a handful who were of any help. As far as I’m concerned they’re an evil that’s not necessary.

2. A good editor is a gem to treasure forever. At the moment, I have a great one. She lets me write the stories. Together, we come up with ideas, arrange photography and talk about story angles. Then I get to write my way. It’s very satisfying. And it seems to work just fine.

3. How do editors help? You mean my editors. Paid editors? Not much. Most either just send my copy as it is or make dumb changes.

4. My editor trusts me completely. My editor expects me to go beyond what is normal and acceptable to anyone else. My editor makes me feel like what I do is the most important project (whatever it may be) and that its always worth extra effort.

5. Editors make me puke.

6. Listen more, direct less. Respect reporters more, fear bosses less.

7. A good editor is a good writer’s best friend.

8. Maybe it’s just because I’m new and young, but I don’t hate my editors like others seem to.

9. Editors help when they talk and listen to us.

10. Editors are subject to far greater pressure from above than reporters are, and get fewer compliments for their work. But what they do is absolutely vital.