Editing your stories
Editing isn't just the grammar and style fix-up that stories go through after reporters turn them in. Editing actually has many aspects to it that stretch from before the story is written to well after it is corrected and polished, and these functions are performed by virtually all newsroom professionals, from reporters to titled editors and producers.
Assignment editing
The first aspect of editing is the assignment process — coming up with enterprising ideas for engaging stories to tell. In a newsroom, reporters and their supervising assignment editors share this responsibility. The best reporters rarely have to wait for a supervisor to give them assignments. They come up with ideas on their own and pitch the ideas to their supervisors, trying to sell them on the idea that the story that will result is worth the time it will take to gather appropriate material for it.
We'll practice that aspect of editing with our assignment for 3:30 p.m. Oct. 2, when you are to submit via the Submit story idea pulldown an idea for a story that could be included in a publication like last year's FreshI, an online magazine of sorts for incoming freshmen at the University of Illinois. Anything that would tell engaging, human-focused stories of interest to freshmen is fair game. So, unlike our previous assignments, which unduly focused on tragedy or the seemy side of life, these can be more lifestyle-focused pieces — “hard“ news or “soft“, basically whatever type of journalism interests you most.
This isn't just an off-the-top-of-your-head idea we're looking for. You have to do enough research and interviewing to suggest that there's actual story lurking within the subject matter you propose. You don't have to do all the reporting, but you have to do enough to persuade your assignment editor that your efforts to flesh out the story will be worth the time involved. Basically, he or she will want to see enough smoke to speculate that there's some fire behind it.
What you'll be doing is creating basically an “elevator pitch” for your idea — a short note, of the length that it could be read during a trip up or down an elevator — citing your basic idea, evidence you already have gathered that it might make for an engaging story, and a brief plan for what you would do, and specifically how you would obtain additional sources of material. Submit this in the form of a one-page PDF before 3:30 p.m. Oct. 2.
Story editing
The second main phase of editing is what happens after you finish your initial efforts at reporting a story. Usually with the help of an assignment editor or producer, you go over the basic organization of the material, putting your words and, in the case of television, video in proper order for maximal storytelling impact. For print and online, an additional editor, known as a copy editor, also will look at your material to ensure proper organization, adequacy of coverage, appropriateness of tone and balance, and other important “copy taster” functions in addition to checking your grammar, syntax, and writing style.
This is mainly what we did in class Sept. 25 with our first two stories. As background, these links may help:
- AP Stylebook available online only from within the University of Illinois network. All style is, by definition, arbitrary, but AP style is the most common denominator in all journalistic work — print, online, and broadcast — and provides many meaningful tips not only about consistency but also about ensuring that points are clearly made.
- Grammarly and similar web-based services provide spelling and grammar checking that works with online forms, including document and email apps, the way built-in spelling and grammar checkers work in desktop applications like Microsoft Word. The secret is to always use them and pay attention to what they say. Their points may not always be right, but going through the process is a good way to double-check what you have written.
- Style supplements maintained by various news organizations, including the abbreviate sample linked to here, offer additional tips on a variety of topics. Read them thoroughly and consult them frequently when writing or editing stories.
Publication editing
Once content is written and edited — and even long before those processes are completed — it is envisioned as and eventually actually assembled into final products like page designs, content menus, and broadcast rundowns. Generally, a smorgasbord of varying content with multiple entry points into that content, each appealing to different interests of diverse audience members, are created. Planning for this begins with the assignment process, where different approaches to telling different aspects of a topic are explored. This may include photos, graphics, video, audio, interactive material and other non-textual means.
Most of these techniques involve use of technologies that we will be exploring in future weeks in this class but all require keeping an open mind early on and planning for more than just linear narrative text as the ultimate product of your reporting. This phase of editing also requires being very attuned to audience needs and desires and to the very processes by which they glean information from news reports. More on these topics later.