I met with Olivia last week just to go over anything we may have forgotten over the course of the semester. I just wanted to make sure I didn't make anything more confusing for her before the year ends, and go over her piece that she was hoping to submit to TNH. We talked for a while about her lead, which originally was okay, but could have been improved. We brainstormed some rewrites to her lead so that it would better draw in the reader. Her story was about a recent town meeting that concerned the new Durham fire station. I relayed the tip I remembered from newswriting last semester, which was that the story shouldn't be that a meeting happened at this time and place, but instead it should focus more on the people and how the proceedings of the meeting affects them.
After all that, we just talked about the awesome weather, our plans for the summer, and next semester. We're actually both taking an Asian-American Lit class next fall, so it looks like Olivia and I will be seeing each other again soon!
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Finding errors.
I think that by far, one of the worst mistakes I found was one that occurred during the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting coverage. Poynter.org writes how several news organizations began running the Facebook photo of the shooter, named Ryan Lanza; however, the photos weren't of the correct Lanza. Errors like these not only destroy the lives of the falsely accused, but also tarnish the reputation of the reporting news sources. One source, Mediaite, published the photo with the headline "Is this Connecticut school shooter Ryan Lanza's Facebook?" and then upon realizing their mistake, changed the headline to "Apparently, this is NOT Connecticut school shooter Ryan Lanza's Facebook." Many other sources followed suit and edited their headlines, while others ran corrections at the end of their online stories with an apology.
In general, most of the other corrections I've seen have been pretty simple: names misspelled, incorrect ages, and the Boston Globe misprinted winning lottery numbers. While these all seem pretty trivial, and nothing compared to the Ryan Lanza debacle, errors still add up. No matter how little the error is, if your news organization continually makes them, it all adds up to lost credibility. Readers depend on the news for accuracy and quality, and any error-- no matter how small-- affects that dependability.
In general, most of the other corrections I've seen have been pretty simple: names misspelled, incorrect ages, and the Boston Globe misprinted winning lottery numbers. While these all seem pretty trivial, and nothing compared to the Ryan Lanza debacle, errors still add up. No matter how little the error is, if your news organization continually makes them, it all adds up to lost credibility. Readers depend on the news for accuracy and quality, and any error-- no matter how small-- affects that dependability.
Running corrections.
For this exercise, I looked at three New England news sources: the Boston Globe, TNH, and the Portland Press Herald.
In the Globe, corrections are printed on the second page of the paper, under a section titled "For the Record." In this section, it says that the Globe, "welcomes information about errors that call for correction," and lists both a phone number and an email that corrections can be sent to.
TNH also runs a printed corrections section on the second page of their paper, under a large heading that reads "Corrections." Under this, it says that, "if you believe we have made an error, or if you have questions about TNH's journalistic standards and practices," you can contact the Content Editor, listing both his phone number and email.
On the Portland Press Herald's website, it was surprisingly difficult to find a corrections section, but I did find on one story that a correction was listed in italics at the end of the piece. There was also a link to an accuracy form that you can fill out, which can also be found under the "Reader Services" tab.
I feel like most of these correction sections sound like light-hearted suggestions, and none of them particularly draw too much attention to themselves. The Boston Globe's "For the record" title doesn't even explicitly say what it is. I am a bit surprised how long it took me to locate any sort of corrections service for the Portland Press Herald. While I think it's okay to not draw all the attention to the errors, I think a news source should at least make a corrections section easy to locate.
If I had a corrections policy, I'd want to keep it kind of light, to remind the readers that we're all human, and that mistakes happen from time to time. I think mine would go something like:
In the Globe, corrections are printed on the second page of the paper, under a section titled "For the Record." In this section, it says that the Globe, "welcomes information about errors that call for correction," and lists both a phone number and an email that corrections can be sent to.
TNH also runs a printed corrections section on the second page of their paper, under a large heading that reads "Corrections." Under this, it says that, "if you believe we have made an error, or if you have questions about TNH's journalistic standards and practices," you can contact the Content Editor, listing both his phone number and email.
On the Portland Press Herald's website, it was surprisingly difficult to find a corrections section, but I did find on one story that a correction was listed in italics at the end of the piece. There was also a link to an accuracy form that you can fill out, which can also be found under the "Reader Services" tab.
I feel like most of these correction sections sound like light-hearted suggestions, and none of them particularly draw too much attention to themselves. The Boston Globe's "For the record" title doesn't even explicitly say what it is. I am a bit surprised how long it took me to locate any sort of corrections service for the Portland Press Herald. While I think it's okay to not draw all the attention to the errors, I think a news source should at least make a corrections section easy to locate.
If I had a corrections policy, I'd want to keep it kind of light, to remind the readers that we're all human, and that mistakes happen from time to time. I think mine would go something like:
Oops! You caught us. If you've found an error in one of our stories, we are more than willing to look into it. At this news organization, we value accuracy and quality; however we all make mistakes now and then, and we thank you for letting us know about ours. To let us know about any errors, send your corrections to wedonefudged@murraynews.com, or call us at 207-800-8135. Once reviewed, the correction will run the next day in this section, and online within 24 hours.I think this works as a policy because it admits that as news organizations, we are capable of making mistakes, but also that we will take the time and care to verify corrected information and not just blindly print it. I think this policy makes us sound human, relatable, and grateful for our readers.
Editor's credo: REDUX
Back at the beginning of the semester, I wrote my own "editor's credo," which went like this:
I mean, it still pretty much sounds good to me, but now that I've learned a lot more over the semester, I'd probably add a little to it. Something like:
Being an editor means being encouraging, constructive, and never close-minded. Editing is a cooperative relationship. It’s not just improving the writing—it’s improving the writers and helping them realize their full potential. Being an editor means being trustworthy and trusting. Writers should be able to look to you for advice, but you also have to believe in their own ideas. It's like being the captain of a ship; you can give direction, but you won’t get anywhere without the contribution of those looking to you for guidance.
I mean, it still pretty much sounds good to me, but now that I've learned a lot more over the semester, I'd probably add a little to it. Something like:
As an editor, it is my responsibility to be encouraging, constructive, and never close-minded. Editing is a balance between the input of reporters, and my good judgement as an editor. I will not just improve the writing, but I will try to improve the writers and help them and their stories reach their full potential. As an editor, I have to be trusting and trustworthy; I have to believe in the ideas of the reporters, but I also have to be able to provide help and advice. It is my job to recognize what is fit to print, and what is going to tarnish my reputation and the reputation of journalism as a whole. As an editor it is my job to recognize a story's flaws, potential, holes, strong points, weak points, and everything in between.
Semester in review.
I think I got a lot more out of this class than I ever really expected. When I signed up for an editing course, I thought we'd strictly be doing copy-editing, and consequently I assumed it would be a tad bit miserable. Fortunately, I was wrong. I've learned so much valuable information in this class, and that's really given me a lot more hope and optimism when I think about finding a career as an English major. I've also loved everyone I've gotten to work with this semester, and the little 8-person editing family we've made, and I'm going to call it that whether any of you like it or not.
I know there's still probably a lot left to learn when it comes to this stuff, but right now I'm feeling like a lot of things have been answered for me.
Meeting with my reporter, round dos.
Olivia and I met again on Friday, March 29. She's been sending me her stories via email, so I can look over them and give her suggestions. After reading through several of her stories, what sticks out most t me is that many of them read like school reports, and not feature stories--they don't quite have the cosmic elements or attention-grabbing leads that we've been studying.
A our meeting, we talked about how to improve leads. She had been writing a story about the new firehouse in Durham that's been debated at town meetings. I suggested to her what we learned in class last semester: don't write the story with the main event being that a meeting occurred, but write the story using someone's passion about the topic as a jumping-off point. She said that there were a few speakers there who seemed to have strong opinions about the firehouse location, so I suggested she look into leading with those.
Olivia has definitely made progress from her first story to her latest ones, so I hope that my comments about how to write leads can give her stories the element that they've been missing.
A our meeting, we talked about how to improve leads. She had been writing a story about the new firehouse in Durham that's been debated at town meetings. I suggested to her what we learned in class last semester: don't write the story with the main event being that a meeting occurred, but write the story using someone's passion about the topic as a jumping-off point. She said that there were a few speakers there who seemed to have strong opinions about the firehouse location, so I suggested she look into leading with those.
Olivia has definitely made progress from her first story to her latest ones, so I hope that my comments about how to write leads can give her stories the element that they've been missing.
Meeting with my reporter.
Okay, I'm a little behind, surprise surprise. I actually first met with my 621 reporter a while ago, but I forgot to write an entry about it, so this is what I can remember.
In our first meeting, Olivia and I just got to know each other a bit. From the start, I could tell we were very different people in terms of our personal lives: Olivia is a dedicated Christian, and I'm just... not. While the difference in our religious views was originally a bit intimidating, Olivia turned out to be extremely sweet and very enthusiastic about working together. I'm really lucky I got a reporter who's really looking forward to our collaboration because her willing participation and openness seems key to this working out.
We basically just talked about how she had been doing in the class so far, what the hardest things were for her to do, what kinds of stories she wants to write, etc. I was a little uncomfortable with talking like I had the answers to her questions because really, I only took the class she's in a few months ago. I don't really feel like an authority figure yet, but I guess that's something for me to work on.
In our first meeting, Olivia and I just got to know each other a bit. From the start, I could tell we were very different people in terms of our personal lives: Olivia is a dedicated Christian, and I'm just... not. While the difference in our religious views was originally a bit intimidating, Olivia turned out to be extremely sweet and very enthusiastic about working together. I'm really lucky I got a reporter who's really looking forward to our collaboration because her willing participation and openness seems key to this working out.
We basically just talked about how she had been doing in the class so far, what the hardest things were for her to do, what kinds of stories she wants to write, etc. I was a little uncomfortable with talking like I had the answers to her questions because really, I only took the class she's in a few months ago. I don't really feel like an authority figure yet, but I guess that's something for me to work on.
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