Posts tagged ‘ask the editor’

“Dear Editor: What’s the difference between an editor and an editor/writer? I see editor job ads that require writing, and get some that don’t list anything but managing and editing.”

Answering this question is tricky; there’s no standard job description for an editor beyond “someone who edits.” In my career, I’ve been an editor and a manager, I’ve done pure editing–as in, nothing else BUT edit. But that little slice of fun didn’t last long. I was soon pulled into many other duties.

In a bad economy, everybody’s expected to do more than they used to in any job, editors included. Chances are you’ll be called on to write, manage, even act in some kind of payroll capacity when it comes to making sure your writers get their due for the hard work.

That said, beware any job description that claims to make you an editor but takes you outside the pale of typical editor writer duties. There are some truly clueless people out there advertising job openings for editors and writers. They really want someone to edit their newsletter, but they also want that person to answer the phone. Um, NO. These people really want something ELSE, but they advertise for an editor or editor/writer because they don’t really understand the business.

On the other hand, don’t mistake some duties as being outside your responsibilities– things like attending trade shows or doing some kinds of promotional work for the company are often typical for certain types of editors. You might have to schmooze a bit at a convention on the company’s behalf or get involved in recruiting new talent. Be ready for these in case you are called upon to do so–chances are you’ll get wind of this sort of thing during an interview if the hiring manager is on the ball.

Short answer? Yes, as an editor you may also become a manager, a part-time PR person, part of your own writing staff and even payroll fixer-upper when the situation requires. It’s all in the game.

by Joe Wallace

Dear Editor: My writers constantly turn in material that’s off the mark either with rampant errors or directions not followed. I’m starting to think I hired a staff full of idiots. Help!

There are many reasons why writers get it wrong when on assignment. Some of can be laziness, some of it is circumstantial, but the problem I want to concentrate on for this post is the one that originates with YOU, the editor.

Writers often fail because editors don’t give them complete instructions. Don’t assume a writer automatically knows what to do, especially if you’re assigning a project they might not have done before. One great example–I once assigned a writer to cover a news story about military airplane mechanics. My writer had never covered that type of story before, and I had.

She came back with an excellent piece because I explained to her what she could expect when she got down to the repair bay. I told her who would be best to speak to, the most knowledgeable person on the floor based on positional authority and etc. I also warned her about a couple of pitfalls that could interfere with covering the story.

Most reporters won’t know (the first time) that when recording an interview in a military aircraft repair area, you’re often dealing with a lot of aircraft traffic and you should grab your interview when it’s quiet (usually when you first show up for some reason) as it might be a long wait once the planes start moving out to the runway. Armed with that seemingly insignificant information, the entire story gets done in a much shorter amount of time.

But editors, if you don’t give your writers complete information–as complete as you know at the time–it’s tough for the writers to figure out what’s on your mind. In this particular case, I told my writer that I wanted a story about where the repair crews felt they fit into the overall mission–and how specifically they operate in that capacity. (Without the repair crews, there basically is no mission–once the plane breaks, the repair guys are more important than the pilots.)

Now think about that one for a second. If I had just told the writer to go down and “Get me a story about airplane mechanics,” while chomping my cigar, I’d never get what I’m after. New editors, sometimes detailed instructions are best.