Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Editing stories
What to look for
and how to fix them
Story editing
We are continuing to build our editing house. Now we are putting up the walls, floors, wiring, plumbing and everything else. As we learned in the Media Writing class, good writing is: clear, compelling, accurate, fair, focused, and efficient. CCAFFE if you need an acronym to help you remember, as in “come meet me at the good news Writing Cafe.
Story editing
Because news writing is
often deficient in one of
these areas, God
created copy editors. As
long as there are
writers, there will be a
need for editors. This is
called JOB SECURITY.
Story editing
The following are are
some of the traits that
help make a good editor
… or Robo Editor, if you
please.
Traits of a good editor
1. Would have been a reporter in order to learn the basics of the newsgathering process and the general form of news stories. Having once been a reporter can help you assure that the reporter/writer has asked all the necessary questions. Poor reporting is one of the leading causes of poor writing.
Traits of a good editor
2. Majored in English, Journalism, History, Political Science and Geography -- with minors in the arts, sports, business and religion. Has a well-rounded education.3. Is a spelling champion.4. Reads everything in sight. Read, read, read.5. Has a photographic memory. 6. Questions everything -- never assumes. You know what happens when you assume right?
You put these in a bowl and mix up the ingredients real good and then you get a budding editor who …
Traits of a good editor
… becomes an Alpha Dog. After mixing these traits with experience, the editor develops a confidence level in which you and others feel they can depend on your judgment. But beware of becoming inflexible. Being too rigid in your thinking can get you into dangerous waters … as in …
An editing test: what’s wrong here?(Ignore that some of the text is cut off.)
More traits of a good editor
An editor wears many hats but is more of a information presenter rather than an information gatherer. An ad manager is an editor, too. So are PR supervisors. And Web designers.
All editors should have: Confidence, objectivity, awareness of readership, diplomacy, be able to write well, a good sense of what matters, sense of humor, awareness of the paper, curiosity and breadth of knowledge.
Qualities of a good
newspaper/magazine/newscast/Web page
Use the acronym APE as a barometer as an elementary way to judge the performance of a communications medium. Analytical, it explains what stories mean to its readers. Practical, it does the things you expect it to like a weather report, what the city council did last night, who is running for office, etc. Emotional or entertaining, it doesn’t forget to get a chuckle now and then or tug at the heartstrings.
Ads often have the P and E but not the A.
Traits of a good editor
If the first rule of news editing is accuracy, then the second rule is to tighten. Tightening is necessary because of space and time. Remember that “efficiency” is one of the six keys to good writing. Those of you who have plants or gardens know that careful pruning will improve the foliage or fruit. It’s the same with writing.
The editor makes repairs and adds polish or spackle when necessary. But learn this -- if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. A good editor knows when to leave things alone.
The three stages of editing
You should read a story three times, or in three different ways:
1. Get acquainted stage: Try to read the story through before you make any changes, just to get an idea what the story is about. Sometimes you have to make minor repairs (missing words, spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.) just to make it allthe way through on that first reading.
2. Janitorial stage: This is where you really get down to work. Attack any wordiness or duplication. Put that excess verbiage to the knife to get the story to a suitable or necessary length. This word economy is important when space/time is limited. This stage is where you clean up any remaining spelling and style problems. Write the hedline.
The three stages of editing
3. Cerebral stage: This is an important final stage that is often taken too lightly. After completing stages I and II, sit back and look at the overall story. Then ask yourself:
a. Is the writer’s approach appropriate? Is it tasteful? Is the tone OK for the subject or your paper? Is the lede correctly placed.
b. Is the story fair? If not, it could be libelous. Are both sides of conflict presented?
c. Any ethics or news guideline questions?d. Is this story worth being run? Where should it run? What other elements (sidebars, art, graphics etc.) may be needed to help present the story?
Story Structures
Often, a copy editor’s headline / editing strategy is shaped by the story structure. There are two main types of story structures in news writing – the inverted pyramid and the delayed lead approach. The latter has a variety of forms – the 4- or 5-boxes approach, the hourglass, the nut graph or focus story etc. Most simple news stories will be in inverted pyramid form.
More complex stories often will use delayed lead techniques, although bits of the inverted pyramid are often incorporated in the body of the story. It is important for the editor to recognize the story structure being used in order to determine what headline approach to take, how to judge transition / organization and how to trim the story if required.
Common mistakes: What to look for
It’s easy to say errors are the entirely fault of the writer. But the editor is the gatekeeper -- the editor is like St. Peter determining which words and stories make it into publication heaven. Editors are the last line of defense for any medium. What if the writer is the company president -- are you going to blame him or her for the error? Here is a list of common errors …
McGrath’s handy-dandy boo-boo list
1. General stupidity -- factual errors, word usage errors (herbatologist / herpetologist / herbalist), phone numbers, Web addresses. Such mistakes can really damage credibility.
2. Failure to provide background -- assumes reader knows the players and the game is all about.
3. Leaving out essential information -- missing info such as phone numbers, time element, location, etc. So how big was the problem? (Context)
4. Name spellings. (Jon Lindsay... DeGuerin/DeGeurin… also Brays Bayou, Braeswood)
5. Name confusion / shape-changing -- Mr. Williamson becomes Mr. Williams
McGrath’s handy-dandy boo-boo list
6. Noun-pronoun disagreement (a city council is an IT not a THEY)
7. Noun-verb disagreement -- watch out for the letter “S”. Media resists censorship.
8. Underattribution or overattribution (the car was red, police said.)
9. Math -- have an entire class devoted to newsroom math
10. Failure to localize -- what does this information mean to OUR readers? Must answer the “so what” question
McGrath’s handy-dandy boo-boo list
11. Overuse of jargon -- technical writers (space, medical, science) often guilty. Extravehicular activity vs. spacewalk, stable condition (use hospitalized?)
12. Lack of context or perspective -- has it happened before? What happens next?
13. Transition / organization woes -- creates confusion. An affliction often in wire combos, “running” in sports stories
14. Time element errors -- You better know what day it is and when your story is being published
15. “Dumping out the notebook” syndrome -- Writer thinks that if it’s in the notebook, has to be in the story
McGrath’s handy-dandy boo-boo list
16. Burying the lede, missing the lede, overcooking the lede
17. Redundancy -- strangled to death, electrocuted to death, advance planning, gather together, HIV virus, ATM machine, safe haven
18. Failure to give examples/explainers -- textbook errors story, any tax hike/decrease story, Pentagon waste
19. Purple prose / loaded language / hyperbole -- word choice that might indicate an agenda or slant. The use of “doorstep to the slaughterhouse” and “bastion of bloodlust” a story about Harris County’s record on capital punishment.
20. Failure to move the story forward – taking first day approach in story or headline when second-day approach is more appropriate
Warning signs for editors
A person is accused of wrongdoing A crime or something that might be criminal: Does the story follow our paper's naming guidelines? Is at least one version of events attributed to an official source such as the police? If possible, did we try to get comment from the accused or his or her lawyer?
A civil conflict: Are both sides presented? Have all the people involved been given the chance to comment?Does the story mention the amount of damages being sought?
Warning signs for editors
A story contains race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or other physical descriptions
• Is it pertinent? • Does the description provide essential information to the
reader? • Would we say the same about everyone? • Is the description redundant because a photo is running
with the story?
A story refers to how old people are or how many children they have
• If your paper does not require a person's age, marital status and parenting status in every story, ages and phrases such as divorced father of two or single mother should be used only when the context of the story makes them pertinent.
Warning signs for editors
A story contains profanity, explicit descriptions or slurs • Does the profanity or slur give the readers some insight
into the person using it? (Louie Welch and his “shoot the queers” line; Dick Cheney’s “F-word”)
A story refers to a legal but potentially embarrassing activity, such as owning pornography or having another fetish• Is it integral to the story? If this is a private citizen, his or
her right to privacy could outweigh the “public's right to know.”
Warning signs for editors
To be greeted with
skepticism • Surveys / polls by
advocacy groups• epidemics • trends• crowd estimates• death tolls
McGrath’s pet peeves• Stable condition• Suffering burns over
(some) percent of their body
• Due to• Routine traffic stop• Marines as soldiers• First annual
Fact-checking
When one reporter was asked about the use of “Hummer” rather than “Humvee” in her story on a dead soldier, the reporter replied, “I don’t know; I’m anti-military. When do our fact-checkers get in?” Obviously, she was out … to lunch.
Fact-checking is one way to ensure credibility. Even the best make mistakes; the Chronicle misspelled God’s name in the lede of a story. But the deadline monster won’t let you check everything in newspapers, online news services and broadcast. Magazines and PR types get more time.
So you where should you concentrate your efforts?
The most frequent errors in news stories are in names, dates, ages, locations and descriptions of past events.
Fact-checking
Plan of action when a fact question comes up:
1. Refer to a reference source for verification or correction
2. Consult with the writer if available
3. If it’s a question of newsroom policy (style, ethics, attribution, taste issues etc.), the copy editor or news desk / newsroom manager should be the arbiter
4. If the fact is not essential to the story and cannot be checked before deadline, delete it (as a last resort).
Fact-checking
Handy reference sources (textbook has sections on this):
• Google• Ask Jeeves• Wikipedia (beware that this site allows subjects to edit
entries)• Snopes.com (Internet rumors, urban myths)• In-house electronic archives• Publicdata.com• CIA World Factbook site• Encyclopedias• Almanacs – World and Texas• Dictionaries – Word and geographical
Handouts
1. What’s wrong here?
2. McIntire handouts
a. Crepuscular light
b. Getting back to the word
3. Quotes: Use of full and partial quotes, etc.
4. Interesting word list: word usage conundrums
Word usage: common problem areas
Who vs. whom: Use the he/him method to decide which word is correct.
he = who him = whom
Examples: Who/Whom wrote the letter?He wrote the letter. Therefore, who is correct.
For who/whom should I vote?Should I vote for him? Therefore, whom is correct.
Word usage: common problem areas
That vs. who: Don’t use “that” as a pronoun for people. People are “whos” not “thats.”
That vs. which: Both refer to inanimate objects. You have to know the difference between restrictive and non-restrictive clauses (AP calls them essential and non-essential clauses). A restrictive/essential clause cannot be eliminated from a sentence; its removal would cause a substantially different interpretation of the sentence. The non-restrictive/non-essential clause can be cut without harm to the basic meaning. That is the preferred pronoun to introduce restrictive clauses. Which is the preferred pronoun for non-restrictive clauses.
Examples
He is the pitcher who threw the no-hitter on Sunday. (Avoid that here unless in a direct quote)
The fences that have loose boards should be repaired. (A restrictive clause -- only the fences with loose boards get repairs. The other fences are OK. Deleting the clause would change the meaning of the sentence.)
The fences, which have loose boards, should be repaired. (A non-restrictive clause – all of the fences should be repaired. Omit the clause and the sentence has the same meaning.)
Exercises
Here are three stories for editing practice. Jimmy’s World won a Pulitzer Prize, but questions over the story resulted in the reporter being fired and the award being returned. Look over the story and circle / highlight anything you consider questionable or improbable. Be prepared to discuss how you would have saved the Washington Post at the next class.
The other two stories – the Capriati probation and the chloroform killing -- will be edited in-class next time.
Exercises: Capriati
MIAMI (AP) – Professional tennis star Jennifer Capriati will enter a drug-counseling program to settle a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge, authorities said Monday. If Capriati, 18, completes the program, the charge could be removed from her record after a year, said Assistant State Attorney Peter Paulousky.
"Isn't she a good risk for completion of this program?" he replied when asked if Capriati was receiving preferential treatment. "If all conditions of the program are successfully concluded, normal routine procedure is for the state to expunge her record against her.” (last quote not needed? Repeats a bit of info from graph 2)
Exercises: Capriati
Her attorneys and agent did not immediately return calls for comment.
Capriati, arrested May 16 at a Coral Gables motel, has already spent 23 days in a substance abuse program at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach. A person (name?) arrested with her was charged with possession of heroin, cocaine and cocaine possession.
Under the deal struck with prosecutors, she would attend programs offered by The Advocate, a non-profit agency used by Dade County courts to dispose of minor criminal cases.
Exercises: Capriati
Dade County refers 25,000 to 30,000 such cases a year to The Advocate, said Ruben Valdivia, the agency's supervisor of court services.
Those who enroll "have to take educational courses geared to the offense that they're charged with," Valdivia said.
Her lawyers unanimously (delete) attributed her misfortune to a misplaced sense of camaraderie. They said she views her arrest in front of a not of onlookers as a godsend and that she didn't waver in her conviction to choose a better set of friends. (Any of this needed? Also, when did lawyers say this – couldn’t be reached before)
Exercises: Capriati
Capriati broke into professional tennis at age 13 and began rising on the women’s circuit. But she struggled with her game recently and left the professional tour last year after losing in the first round of the U.S. Open.
Her father (name?) has said she will return to professional tennis. (Will WTA allow her back? What is that group’s rules in such cases?)
What is a possible headline for this story?:
Exercises: ChloroformBALTIMORE -- A circuit court judge is considering a defense request to have the statements given to police by a 57-year-old man accused in the chloroform-inhalation death of his girlfriend excluded from trial.
Melvin Robert Bowers of Ellicott City is charged with manslaughter, reckless endangerment and inhaling harmful substances in the Sept. 6 death of Geneva Marie Hodge, 20, of Baltimore.
Deputy Public Defender Louis Willemin asked Judge James Dudley to prevent prosecutors from using statements Bowers gave to police after arrest at his trial, which is scheduled to begin March 9.
In a taped interview with detectives played Monday during a Howard Circuit Court pre-trial hearing, Bowers said he handcuffed and spanked the woman at her request on the night of her death. He told police that Hodge liked to engage in “rough sex.”
Exercises: Chloroform"I never would do something she didn't want to do," Bowers, an accountant, told investigators.
Bowers, a divorced father of four children, told officers that he gave Hodge chloroform after she woke up in the middle of the night complaining of a toothache. He also told investigators that he considered burying her body in his backyard but instead decided to call 911.
An autopsy revealed that Hodge died from inhaling chloroform, a toxic liquid used in small doses as a painkiller by dentists. The autopsy also showed that Hodge had been drinking the night she died.
Bowers could be sentenced to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Possible headline for this story?:
