Bigfoot stalks your newsroom late in the day. He (or she) marches in and takes a look at the top stories, usually the front page, and says something like this: “This is a good story, but it would be a great one if…” And the editors scramble to supply the “if,” which usually requires more reporting.
Unfortunately, the reporter has gone home, and so have the sources, so the editors do a “writing job,” making a mess of what had been a good story two hours before. In the morning critique, Bigfoot wonders why his good ideas never get carried out.
Bigfeet are high-ranking editors who spend their day in meetings, and like to end the day with the real fun: news and stories. They achieved high rank by having good ideas as reporters and line editors, but now their skills disrupt the editorial process. What’s the problem? They act too late in the process.
Sometimes rewriting or rearranging can incorporate a late good idea. But bigfooting almost always increases the scale of the story, requiring additional reporting, or more photographs or a graphic. By the time it happens, the story has usually been edited and the reporter has vamoosed.
Even if you recall the writer, the sources have vanished into the evening. The late hour also rules out shooting additional photos. A late graphics assignment may mean using only the information in the edited story, yielding a thin map or diagram. Bigfoot’s good idea gets thin treatment at best, errors and confusion at worst.
Dealing with Bigfoot
Ironically, Bigfoot has good ideas that really would improve stories if handled right. Or, better, if handled early. How do you get Bigfoot to stomp early?
Desk editors can usually spot stories that will attract bigfooting; generally the ones headed for the front page or section fronts.
They’re big ideas, or striking, or scoops, or controversial. So you flag them in the preliminary budget for special treatment.
The earlier you spot a bigfootable idea, the better and easier the handling.
And the best time is the first conversation with the reporter, before the news gathering starts, so you can brainstorm various ways to handle the increased potential of the story. You can judge if the reporter has gathered enough by debriefing before the typing starts. And you can take a look at a draft to anticipate needed additions.
More importantly, you can brief Bigfoot early, getting his good suggestions while the reporting is still in progress. Stories get harder to change once they’re typed, even harder once they’re edited, and harder still after dark.
Of course, bigfeet can also have wacky or just plain wrong ideas. Early briefing gives you time to brainstorm looney suggestions into good ones rather than just taking orders. And early briefing gives the reporter time to investigate and rule out mistaken notions.
What if You’re Bigfoot?
Are you Bigfoot? Do you help your editors by descending at dusk to read finished stories and suggest how to make them more wonderful? Yep, you’ve got big feet.
Remember that Bigfoot is a good guy, with good intentions, and good ideas that you want in the paper. Unfortunately, you’re caught up in old late habits, and so is your newsroom.
Change the time scheme. Instruct your managing editor to flag ideas that might profit from your early input. Set aside time daily to discuss them, preferably with the desk editor involved. Then, late in
the day, you can read your suggestions in stories about to go to press.
Don Fry, an affiliate of the Poynter Institute, works as an independent writing coach from Charlottesville, Va. To discuss this piece, call him at 434-296-6830, or e-mail him at donaldfry@cs.com.
