Where Are All the Editors?
All of these stupid tweets, embarrassing emails, and ill-timed comments by “journalists” and writers are emblematic of a new-media culture that has turned its back on editors.
I call this the “Golden Egg” mentality. My ideas are so important, they have to be laid immediately.
All writers need editors. Hurling “content” against a blog wall—or posting a job-related quip on Twitter—is the dangerous edge of this new journalistic culture. We have too quickly abandoned a century of journalistic standards and traditions. Like most traditions, its constraints have evolved for good reason. Editors are the guardians of those traditions.
Writers are proud of their words. Sometimes, we can get carried away by the beauty of our delicately woven prose. Editors keep our facts, our grammar, and our egos in check.
Good editors know the difference between “reign” and “rein,” but they also read copy with a skeptic’s eye. Their job is to save us—and our employers—from embarrassment.
Editors preserved my reputation as a journalist more times than I can possibly count. One crusty old New York City tabloid editor once said to me, “You don’t want to write that. It makes you look stupid.” I don’t remember what I had written, but I was likely fawning over someone who didn’t deserve it, humiliating someone needlessly, or reporting something I hadn’t sourced properly.
Sometimes, when an editor passed judgment on something I wrote, I wouldn’t even get an explanation. A paragraph that I thought was clever (always dangerous) would simply have disappeared by the time the paper came out.
Certainly, I’ve had bad editors. I have had errors inserted into my copy. All writers have a horror story or two like this. But, on balance, editors have done way more to help me than hurt me. I thank my lucky stars that Facebook and Twitter weren’t around when I was working. If they had been, I might be living in Istanbul myself. Not because I would be covering international affairs for high profile publications, or studying the martial arts, or writing spy books, but because I would be escaping some mortifying professional or personal controversy of my own making.
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Comments :
Re: Where Are All the Editors?
Aaron Miller: I prefer to see a mix of both edited and unedited journalism. Let one person write like a lawyer and another like Mark Twain. Let one person stick to mainstream questions and let another pose outrageous ideas. We need the full spectrum.
I know first-hand how restraints can inspire, but there's also something to be said for the child running naked and yelling.Jul 8 at 11:04pm
Agree, Aaron. Of course, I think the Robs, Claires, etc. etc. of the world (e.g. the writers on Ricochet) deserve to run naked and yell. It's pure joy to read their stuff. But I would guess that it's because they've experienced years of nitpicky editing, probably dating back to excellent teachers in school and parents with very high expectations. (Sorry Rob and Claire, I know nothing of your childhoods, just guessing.) As young journalists, they probably had their writing shredded by editors. (More guessing, guys, sorry). In other words, great artists must apprentice. Even Mondrian, with his squares as art, was a brilliant still life artist and portrait painter. He earned his creativity, unedited, after years of playing and dying by the rules.
Jun '10
Re: Where Are All the Editors?
And it clearly falls into the category of "funny the first time." I won't make it a habit.
Jun '10
Re: Where Are All the Editors?
Another insight on the nature of thought, if I may. I was at a conference last week for America Speaks. The 200 or so attendees were divided into groups of six for a discussion about the national debt. When I was invited to speak, I made my points with pith and clarity. I noticed that none of the others in my group had the ability to speak succinctly. The attempt to solve the problem became an exercise in listening to other people think out loud. It was a painful experience, but I remained patient and polite.
This is another reason, I think, why we write. It's an effort to refine our thoughts. Or as someone in an earlier thread put it: "How do you know what you think until you write it down?" Spot on. Pith and clarity is a skill set that comes with practice. I teach my students the following: "Pithy prose packs punch (and pleases Mr. Paules)!
Jun '10
Re: Where Are All the Editors?
The immediacy and permanence of every unedited tweet or post can, and should, be a bit intimidating. Even the edited stuff can come back to bite you in the butt. That's why I choose to use my screen name, rather than my real name.
Regards,
Jayson Blair
Jun '10
Re: Where Are All the Editors?
I agree wholeheartedly. When we apply ourselves to the task of observation and discovery, being not afraid to ask why and how, the imagination roars to life. Yet this construct, even with a disciplined mind, remains in the abstract - until the moment pen is put to paper. Capturing these thoughts on paper not only refines, but allows for a level of self-scrutiny - do my observations, deliberations and conclusions hold up to the light of day? Are they defendable, are they understandable, are they beneficial? A painter paints, a writer writes. It is both art and skill, inherited and learned. Putting thought to paper captures that thought, and refinement and editing polishes that thought. Without the act of writing it down, you may find that the thought is never expressed the same way again.
May '10
Re: Where Are All the Editors?
Ursula Hennessey
Of course, I think the Robs, Claires, etc. etc. of the world (e.g. the writers on Ricochet) deserve to run naked and yell.
Terrifying vision of Rob. Especially with him at the beach this week and all. Don't do that to us, Ursula. And Claire is in a fundamentalist Islamic country- gulp.
I will take Ricochet more seriously with regard to the process of editing when there is a way to correct my typos not noticed until after having posted......
Jun '10
Re: Where Are All the Editors?
One other thought - and I apologize for the digression. In my job, I occasionally oversee engineering student interns. When they first come to work for the summer, we establish early their tasks and goals in what we expect them to produce. Generally, short-term interns will come in and simply do the work, collect their check, and head back to school in the fall. However, for those that come under my charge, I add extra requirements. Namely, each intern is required to develop a white paper, followed by a briefing presentation that they are required to present orally to a room full of senior engineers and managers.
To each, I say this: You can be the most brilliant engineer in a generation, able to use the formulas and solve the problems. But if you cannot adequately communicate - both in written and verbal form - you will inevitably fall short of the success you seek. Be intentional, at least while in school, to take those classes that will aid you in cultivating those skills. You, and the rest of us, will be better for it.
Some love writing; some hate it. But even a minimal capability is better than none.
May '10
Re: Where Are All the Editors?
Ursula Hennessey
In other words, great artists must apprentice. · Jul 9 at 4:20am
Generally, I agree. Writers have to be trained to become self-critical and learn how to edit their own works. An outside perspective is always handy.
I'm reminded of a letter in which Tchaikovsky admired Mussorgsky's natural talent but wished his fellow composer would submit to training to hone his skills. I can think of many phenomenal musicians who taught themselves to play and create, but it's harder to think of untrained writers (poets come to mind) who were popular.
Perhaps that's because it's easier to find useful criticism for writing than for music. It's certainly easier to find reliable editors for news and commentary than for fiction. Edgar Allan Poe would have never passed my college professors.
Or perhaps it's because writing is something one does at a desk and not on a street corner. Maybe that will change with laptops and procedural animation programming.
May '10
Re: Where Are All the Editors?
Speaking of writing on street corners.
Re: Where Are All the Editors?
Oh, you made my day with this! And Hardy is one of my all-time faves..... Thanks, Aaron!
Re: Where Are All the Editors?
Ottoman Umpire
Ursula didn't say she didn't hate her editors. Just that she needed one on occasion. Kind of like the way I view colonoscopies. · Jul 8 at 7:36pm
And I hope you go the way of the Ottoman Empire.
Re: Where Are All the Editors?
Diane Ellis, Ed.
Ottoman Umpire
Ursula didn't say she didn't hate her editors. Just that she needed one on occasion. Kind of like the way I view colonoscopies. · Jul 8 at 7:36pm
And I hope you go the way of the Ottoman Empire. · Jul 9 at 9:30am
And lemme be clear: I love editors (most of the time)! In particular, I am very grateful to Diane, Ed and James, Ed who have saved me a number of times already and seem to be awake 24 hours a day!
May '10
Re: Where Are All the Editors?
Diane Ellis, Ed.
And I hope you go the way of the Ottoman Empire. · Jul 9 at 9:30am
I'm looking for the Ottoman Empire to have a comeback (cue Kevin Klein in A Fish Called Wanda: "We didn't lose Vietnam... it was a tie!")
May '10
Re: Where Are All the Editors?
"I agree, Ursula - but one small point that doesn't detract from your message: bloggers can has editors, as they say on the internets, if they just imagine their worst enemy reading the post."
I have this editor!
I've been blogging for over six years now and I've written in the tens of thousands of posts not only on my blogs but on others as a guest or a (briefly) paid contributor. I learned very quickly that it would do me no credit to write everything that comes to my mind nor to write on a particular subject in the tone that first strikes me. I consider who will read my post. I consider who will criticize it and who will use it to bolster their own argument or opinion. I consider what sort of impression it will leave on the opinion of a potential employer. All of that matters and I believe it matters to the vast majority of bloggers who stick with it for more than a couple of months.
Jun '10
Re: Where Are All the Editors?
Jim Chase:
When we apply ourselves to the task of observation and discovery, being not afraid to ask why and how, the imagination roars to life. Yet this construct, even with a disciplined mind, remains in the abstract - until the moment pen is put to paper. Capturing these thoughts on paper not only refines, but allows for a level of self-scrutiny - do my observations, deliberations and conclusions hold up to the light of day? Are they defendable, are they understandable, are they beneficial? A painter paints, a writer writes. It is both art and skill, inherited and learned. Putting thought to paper captures that thought, and refinement and editing polishes that thought. Without the act of writing it down, you may find that the thought is never expressed the same way again.
Nice job of meta-cognition, Jim.
May '10
Re: Where Are All the Editors?
The "ComBox" is the new editor. You screw up a fact and 135 people point it out. You misspell a word and someone derides you (You idiot! It's "You're," not "Your!")
It's just that the old editor used to read you before you made a public idiot of yourself.
And if anyone wants to pay me to do it, I will gladly edit all your Ricochet posts in advance. No? OK. Move on....
May '10
Re: Where Are All the Editors?
It's OK. I did it once, too, on Ricochet Facebook. At least you didn't say a certain state should break off and sink into the ocean...then get reminded the next morning that Ricochet lives in that state. But, I'm still here. And, I got a cool nickname out of it, too.
Sep '10
Re: Where Are All the Editors?
Andrea Ryan
It's OK. I did it once, too, on Ricochet Facebook. At least you didn't say a certain state should break off and sink into the ocean...then get reminded the next morning that Ricochet lives in that state. But, I'm still here. And, I got a cool nickname out of it, too. · Jul 9 at 10:25pm
So much happened here before I joined!
May '10
Re: Where Are All the Editors?
May '10
Re: Where Are All the Editors?