Table of Contents
Contents
Preface xi
1 The Changing World of Editing
The Chronic Shortage of Editors 6
Lifestyles of the Nonrich and the Nonfamous 7
The Changing Nature of Journalism 11
Conclusion 14
Sidebar 1—Experiences in Editing 15
2 The Rise of the New Editor 21
The Editor in History 22
The Editor As Businessperson 26
The Editor As Planner 29
The Editor As Manager 30
The Editor As Journalist 31
Conclusion 33
Sidebar 2—Defining the Typical Editor: "How Come So
Many of Them Tend to be Geeks?"
by David Barry 34
3 What Is an Editor? 38
How Writers See Editors 39
How Editors See Themselves 43
What Makes a Good Editor 45
Sidebar 3—Gifts
by Charles McCorkle Hauser 51
4 The Editor As Decision Maker 54
Making Decisions: The Foundation 55
Properly Equipping the Newsroom 56
Strategically Allocating Time 57
Setting a Tone for Good Communications 60
Shaping a Personal Decision-Making Model 61
Conclusion 62
Sidebar 4—Human Perversity
from Editor & Publisher 63
5 Making Decisions About People 64
Managing in Today’s Newsroom 64
Leading Other Journalists 76
Conclusion 79
Sidebar 5—Editors Muse on Their Management Style
from the ASNE Bulletin 80
6 Making Decisions About Coverage 83
What News Is and Isn’t 84
Organizing Coverage 87
Conclusion 92
Sidebar 6—Sure Ways to Become
the World’s Worst Editor
by Carl Sessions Stepp 93
7 Making Decisions About Copy 95
A Model for Editing 97
Conclusion 114
Sidebar 7—10 Steps Toward Better Editing
by Carl Sessions Stepp 114
8 Making Decisions About Design 116
Headlines 118
Photos 121
Graphics 123
Layout 125
Conclusion 129
Sidebar 8—The New Age of Graphics
by Bill Steinauer 130
9 Making Decisions About Legal Issues 134
Libel 137
Invasion of Privacy 141
Courts and Contempt 142
Plagiarism and Copyright 145
National Security 146
Conclusion 148
Sidebar 9—An Editor’s Reading List 149
10 Making Decisions About Ethics 151
The Ethics of Day-to-Day Journalism 153
The Ethics of Newsroom Policymaking 158
The Ethics of Upper Management 162
Conclusion 165 Sidebar 10—Excerpts From "Newsroom
Policies and Guidelines"
from the Seattle Times 165
11 Toward Excellence in Editing 169
Developing New Editors 171
Nurturing Editors 175
Some Specific Starting Points 178
Conclusion: To the Future 179
Appendix: Helping Writers With Form 180
Spelling 180
Grammar and Punctuation 181
Usage 183
Helping Writers With Style and Form 185
A Checklist 187
Index 188
