In Modern News Editing, chapter three (“The Editor in the Newsroom”) reinforced some basic ideas I had taken away from other journalism/communication classes. The main concept that this reading reinforced was teamwork.
When working in a newsroom, you basically need to be able to play well with others. If not, then the entire publication could suffer, and that would not be good for anyone. You need to understand that no one could do this job alone and that your job, whatever it may be, is a vital part of the organization.
And a mainstay in maintaining that teamwork and positive morale within the newsroom is the staff or section editors. One thing the chapter brought up multiple times was the importance of positive reinforcement. While it doesn’t have to be anything drastic, just simple things like telling someone that they have written a good headline is important. One example of praising workers came from the San Francisco Bee where they send out newsroom wide emails to reward excellence (48). I think this is a good way to let staffers know about accomplishments happening amongst the employees. It is also very simple, yet effective. I believe whole heartedly that supervisors need to praise their staffers for excellent work. While it shouldn’t be over the top and so frequent that it becomes routine, positive reinforcement can go alone way. I think it is especially important nowadays when people are so bogged down by the economy, personal problems, financial worries, running a home, etc.. A few words of praise could brighten someone’s day and remind them that their work is appreciated and respected.
Another concept that was reinforced in this chapter was considering and covering all facets of a story. You need to look for your angle in a story that will make it the most interesting to readers. You also need to consider all of the different aspects that could be covered a given story, so that you can reach a variety of readers. I think the chapter did a good job of applying it to sports writing. I liked how it talked about how sports editors are starting to broaden the scope of sports on which they are reporting. Instead of just covering the basics like basketball, baseball, and football, they are putting together features on noncompetitive sports as well. This is good because it offers variety and can attract new readers. I also thought it was interesting that sports editors are working to make sure they cover a sport and not promote it. That goes hand in hand with keeping bias out of writing as much as possible and giving readers the information with which they can form their own opinions.
And, I still say that the job I would like to have at a newsroom would be that of a copy editor. With this position, I would get to utilize my writing talents and read a variety of news copy. I think it would be fun and interesting to be “the reader’s eye” for a newspaper. I had never considered that to be a key importance of the copy editor, but I think it is a vital one that I could handle.
When working in a newsroom, you basically need to be able to play well with others. If not, then the entire publication could suffer, and that would not be good for anyone. You need to understand that no one could do this job alone and that your job, whatever it may be, is a vital part of the organization.
And a mainstay in maintaining that teamwork and positive morale within the newsroom is the staff or section editors. One thing the chapter brought up multiple times was the importance of positive reinforcement. While it doesn’t have to be anything drastic, just simple things like telling someone that they have written a good headline is important. One example of praising workers came from the San Francisco Bee where they send out newsroom wide emails to reward excellence (48). I think this is a good way to let staffers know about accomplishments happening amongst the employees. It is also very simple, yet effective. I believe whole heartedly that supervisors need to praise their staffers for excellent work. While it shouldn’t be over the top and so frequent that it becomes routine, positive reinforcement can go alone way. I think it is especially important nowadays when people are so bogged down by the economy, personal problems, financial worries, running a home, etc.. A few words of praise could brighten someone’s day and remind them that their work is appreciated and respected.
Another concept that was reinforced in this chapter was considering and covering all facets of a story. You need to look for your angle in a story that will make it the most interesting to readers. You also need to consider all of the different aspects that could be covered a given story, so that you can reach a variety of readers. I think the chapter did a good job of applying it to sports writing. I liked how it talked about how sports editors are starting to broaden the scope of sports on which they are reporting. Instead of just covering the basics like basketball, baseball, and football, they are putting together features on noncompetitive sports as well. This is good because it offers variety and can attract new readers. I also thought it was interesting that sports editors are working to make sure they cover a sport and not promote it. That goes hand in hand with keeping bias out of writing as much as possible and giving readers the information with which they can form their own opinions.
And, I still say that the job I would like to have at a newsroom would be that of a copy editor. With this position, I would get to utilize my writing talents and read a variety of news copy. I think it would be fun and interesting to be “the reader’s eye” for a newspaper. I had never considered that to be a key importance of the copy editor, but I think it is a vital one that I could handle.
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