EDITING
As Editor-in-Chief, I edit every single publication we have. Over time, I've come up with a routine for everything I edit.
I prefer to edit with the staff member. They learn more as I tell them what AP style problems I fix and there's less back and forth through Google Chat messages as I give them suggestions. However, if we're unable to edit together for any possible reason, I'll Google Chat them individually and tell them the AP style stuff I found. If there's any major suggestions, I typically leave comments and instructions bolded and in all-caps inside the article and tell them to check out those comments.
As I edit, though, I follow a simple process:
1.
JUST READ IT
You can't effectively edit without knowing what you're looking at. So, the first step is just reading it. I just get the gist of the article and what to expect while I edit. Most of the time, I've checked out the work before it was ready for edits and have talked to the staff member so this step isn't necessary.
3.
SMALLER DETAILS
This is where I look more into the grammar and AP style. I read with a focus on these smaller details.
2.
THE STRUCTURE AND ADDITIONS
Then, I think about the article as a whole. Did I feel there was anything missing? Like a side wasn't covered or another source should be contacted? Did it flow well? Should we rearrange any part of it? Would adding subheadlines help this story?
4.
WEB FORMAT
Now, I check out the featured image (and edit the caption). I'll check the tags, authors, categories, headline size and story page template. Then I'll preview the story to make sure it looks good. We prefer text to be broken up with polls, related stories, side bars, photos and pull quotes. So, if it looks like too much text without some side elements, I'll give the author some recommendations of what they should add.
I have the specific components required in an article and an editing checklist posted in our classroom to help people as well. It's shown below:
EDITING MY OLD WORK
I've definitely come a long way since I started writing and publishing. Below I will edit the second article I ever published (and first feature article I ever published). This was when I was a sophomore in my first year on the staff, and I worked on it with another staff member (it was also his first feature article). While it did end up getting a Best of SNO, there's many changes I would make to the article.
Our lead definitely could have been more interesting. I would change it to:
"It started with a small request to watch a soldier's cat. Now, three years later, freshman Kimora Evans watches soldier Joe Herrera's cat full time, and they stay connected through an Instagram account." (I would brain storm more to make that lead even better)
"
,
Quotes should be at least two sentences, with "---- said" after the first one. We should have another sentence here.
We don't use parenthesis when it's not in a quote, it should be a dash here.
This part is confusing, is Williams a soldier? We need clarification that we can get into a transition.
Evans needs to be identified as a freshman again. The photo also needs a credit.
"Said about" and "(shown below)" should be "Commented on the Instagram post below"
I also don't really like that quote. I remember that we reached out to Sierra and didn't get a response. We could have found another comment on a post or reached out to Sierra again (although, I do remember that we reached out multiple times.
This sentence beginning is confusing. It seems it should be, "Because of the love they have for Anna,"
This post is placed oddly. There should be more than one paragraph between this and the previous post. This should be moved to the end of the article.
Don't use "you" in the article, it should be: "Visit the website today to see how to help" or just take out the sentence entirely.
This ending is really abrupt and odd, we should have used a different quote.
This is the very first feature story I ever wrote. I wrote it my freshman year in Journalism 1, so it never published, but I wanted to go back and look at my very first work. There's definitely improvements to be made, but I'm pleasantly surprised by it.
This lead is much better than I expected.
There's too much in this nut graph that could be said later. I would rewrite it to say:
"Over the summer of 2015, Hatfield went on a trip to Austria with her then-current dance studio, Academy of Dance Arts. The trip was two weeks long, and she explored and performed in Austria and a few other countries"
Also, I should have asked what the other countries were and then said them by name there.
I should have asked her to give me information on the company and use a quote about that there.
I don't need to repeat that two weeks part from the nut graph.
Rewrite:
Hatfield started dancing when she was four years old, and now dances at Dream Dance Center. Hatfield will perform with her studio at the Dec. 1 Prosper Christmas Festival. (Actually, I should have tried to get this date into the lead).
Hatfield not Katie
No exclamation marks in quotes
Put quote attribution after the first sentence.
Don't need two weeks again, take it out.
We prefer having two sentence quotes rather than one sentence quotes
Hatfield not Katie
I'm pretty impressed with how I did with my first article and first interview, however there's questions I should have asked in my interview:
- Future dance goals?
- Biggest challenge of the trip?
- What kind of dances did they perform? Where did they perform (like was it outside or in an auditorium or stadium)?
- Did she meet anyone from Austria or those other countries? Like did she interact with any audience members?
- Where was it besides Austria?
Also, we need three sources, so I'd need to find two more before publishing.
EDITING OTHER'S WORK
Another staff member wrote a news brief, and I helped them write the lead. The left photo is of the original lead they wrote, and then I walked them through lead writing again to help them write the lead below.
Here's another news brief I edited, with most of my edits shown in the photo on the right.
A graphic designer wrote her very first feature article, and I helped her write her lead. I walked her through setting the scene of the event and then transitioning into the article. I asked her questions such as "How would you describe the art? How was it done?" and questions like that, and helped her describe it to create a set the scene lead.
These two screenshots are both from an article I edited. To improve the lead, I separated the first sentence to make it a bit more dramatic, and then I took out some passive voice (change "have been scrambling" to "scrambled").
Later, I left some comments in the article capitalized and bolded so that the writer could go back into the article and fix them.
