JT070. Journalistic Working Techniques. Journalism. Sub-Editing. Allan Lee. Open School of Journalism

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1 JT070 Journalistic Working Techniques Journalism Sub-Editing Allan Lee Open School of Journalism

2 Open School of Journalism Open School of Journalism is a division and trademark of Open.PS The Open Professional School SE. Copyright 2015 by Open.PS The Open Professional School SE. Find us on All rights reserved. The entire content of this module book (e. g. text, pictures, illustrations, tables, etc.) and each selection of it is subject to the copyright and other intellectual property rights or other protective rights of Open.PS The Open Professional School SE (Open.PS) or other owners. Any exploitation of this module book and its parts (reproduction, photocopying, scanning, storing in a retrieval system, publishing, distribution, transmission (in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical), broadcasting, selling, making derivative works, etc.) beyond that permitted within the tight constraints of the copyright laws without the prior written permission of the copyright owner is unlawful and punishable by law. The mentioning of trademarks, descriptive names, registered names, etc., in this course book, which may be subject to the intellectual property rights of the respective owners does not imply that they are exempt from the relevant intellectual property rights or protective rights and therefore free for use. Although every precaution has been taken to verify the accuracy of the information contained herein, Open.PS assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for damages that may result from the use of information contained within.

3 Journalistic Working Techniques Sub-Editing Allan Lee

4 Contents 1 Editors and the newsroom The newsroom Editor roles Copy editing The editor within Chapter summary Reflection How editors select the news Defining news Galtung and Ruge s news values Modern news values Choosing news for a target audience Chapter summary Reflection Editing a news story Accuracy and structural integrity Impartiality and balance Editing for clarity, fluency, and brevity Editing direct and indirect quotes Chapter summary Reflection Grammar, punctuation, and house style Getting the basics right Editing grammar Precise punctuation House style Chapter summary Reflection Editing the story lead Why a good lead is highly prized in a newsroom Story angles and summary leads Summarizing the who, what, where, when, why and how Achieving brevity in a lead Delayed leads and leads that need attribution... 59

5 Journalistic Working Techniques 5.6 Chapter summary Reflection Pictures: Illustrating the news The importance of pictures Picture editing Writing cutlines Ethical photo editing Chapter summary Critical reflection Solutions for exercises Bibliography About the author Open School of Journalism

6 6 Journalistic Working Techniques Chapter 1: Editors and the newsroom Learning outcomes After you have worked through this chapter, you will be able to: Describe the modern newsroom environment, including how editors direct the gathering, selection, and editing of news stories. Outline the key roles performed by editors, copy editors, and sub-editors in the newsroom. Explain the main responsibilities of copy editors. Describe the personality traits that characterize good editors. This opening chapter serves as an introduction to the newsroom, the spiritual home and working environment of editors, copy editors, and sub-editors. It also provides a brief introduction to the course. As you work through this course you will develop a good understanding of the knowledge and skill set required to work as an editor in a modern newsroom. Editors key roles are outlined in summary in this chapter, along with some insights into editors personalities, and how they relate to other professionals in news organizations, including reporters and corporate management. In Chapter 2 we look in detail at the news selection process. We start by considering the what is news? question, then look in detail at the criteria that editors apply to news events and issues to decide just how newsworthy they are, and whether they should be the lead story on the website, front page, or TV bulletin. Chapter 3 takes you through the complex process of copy editing a story. It shows how editors check stories for: accuracy, sense, and logical structure; fairness and balance; clarity, fluency, and brevity; and for accurate sourcing. Chapter 4 covers in detail the process of editing stories for spelling, grammar, punctuation, and what is known as house style. In Chapter 5 we focus on that all-important opening paragraph to a news story, known by journalists as the lead. We find out what editors look for in a reporter s story lead. In Chapter 6 we turn to picture editing, exploring how pictures tell the news, how editors assess pictures, what changes editors can make to pictures and the ethical questions involved.

7 14 Journalistic Working Techniques Chapter 2: How editors select the news Learning outcomes After you have worked through this chapter, you will be able to: Identify the strengths and weaknesses of some standard definitions of news. Describe the news values developed by researchers Galtung and Ruge in the 1960s. Explain modern news value guidelines that can be applied to events to determine whether they are newsworthy. Explain how editors tailor their content to their target audiences, and how editors audience knowledge is informed by market research. In Chapter 1 we discussed the various roles performed by editors. In this chapter we explore in detail one of their biggest roles news selection. We will start by looking at how useful definitions of news are in helping us distinguish between news and non-news. We will look at some early news values developed by academics Galtung and Ruge. We will then discuss a range of guidelines that have been developed to measure the potential news value of events and issues. We finish the chapter by looking at how news is very much horses for courses at how editors seek to understand their audiences and what news will interest them. If you tune into news bulletins occasionally you will know that when really bad things happen, they will probably make the headlines. A school bus collides with a garbage collection truck and eight kids are seriously injured. A chunk the size of Manhattan Island falls off the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica and scientists blame climate change. Eight hundred people are left homeless as a tornado rips through northern Dallas. We might guess that these are all headline-grabbing events. But what exactly is it about events or issues in our world that determine whether they make it onto front pages of newspapers and into broadcast bulletins? What boxes do editors want to see checked before they decide that an event or issue qualifies as news? Shocking and life-changing stories make the news, but so do hundreds of

8 Sub-Editing 23 X Exercise 4 Read a selection of news stories published on news websites and in your local newspaper. See how many news values you can identify in each story (impact, conflict, proximity, prominence, timeliness, novelty, currency). Weigh up the news values in these stories from the perspective of your family and your neighborhood. So for example will the events in the story really impact you or your neighbors? Some stories will meet three or four news value criteria. Can you find a story meeting five or more criteria? X Exercise 5 Please read the extract below part of a story about a strike starting on the London Underground. Identify and list the news values present in this story. A 48-hour strike by London Underground workers began this evening following a row over ticket office closures. Members of the RMT union started the strike at 9pm, causing disruptions on all underground services and costing businesses millions. Transport for London (TfL) is reporting severe delays on the Jubilee Line, Hammersmith and City Line, and the Circle Line. On the Metropolitan Line there are severe delays between Harrowon-the-Hill and Aldgate due to strike action, but the service is still running on the rest of the line The London overground is not affected by strike action. Commuters are being advised to seek alternative routes, such as black cabs, buses, cycling and walking. London Mayor Boris Johnson has branded the strike as mad as last-ditch talks to avert a walkout collapsed after descending into bitter recriminations. The dispute is over plans by LU to save 50 million a year by closing ticket offices with the loss of 953 jobs. Open School of Journalism

9 24 Journalistic Working Techniques Chapter 3: Editing a news story Learning outcomes After you have worked through this chapter, you will be able to: Explain how editors edit news texts for accuracy, sense, completeness, and logical structure. Explain how editors ensure that news texts are impartial and balanced. Demonstrate how to edit news texts for clarity, fluency, and brevity. Demonstrate how to accurately source material in news texts including using direct and paraphrased quotes. When experienced editors work through a news story they simultaneously assess and edit the story against a long list of criteria that all need to be met before publication standard is achieved. As we found out in Chapter 2, the first of those criteria is about the article s newsworthiness. There is no point putting time into a story if it is not publishable because it lacks news values such as timeliness and impact. If the article is newsworthy, the editor can then begin to prepare it for publication. Editors ask a lot of questions, such as: Is the article making sense and is it easy to understand at the first read? Do the facts seem plausible and are there any unanswered questions or holes? Is the story balanced and fair? Are assertions made in the introduction to the article backed up with factual evidence and quotes from appropriate sources? Is the writing fluent and is the language appropriate for the audience? Are technical or obscure terms explained and translated into plain English? Does the article have a clear, logical structure? Is there sufficient background to help the reader understand the significance and context of the event or issue? Has the writer used strong direct quotes? Could parts of the story be more concise? Are there any ethical issues associated with publishing the article? Editors have to be satisfied with the answers to all these questions and more before a story is ready to publish.

10 36 Journalistic Working Techniques 3.5 Chapter summary In this chapter we have covered many of the detailed tasks and skills involved in copy editing news texts. We have looked at: How news stories need to be edited to ensure they are complete, including necessary context and background, as well as being accurate and easy to understand at first read. How editors consider whether stories are impartial and balanced, giving a fair run to all sides of an issue. How the language in news needs be simple and clear, avoiding unnecessary technical terms, jargon and unfamiliar expression; how it must also flow smoothly with variation in sentence length; and how editors achieve brevity by deleting superfluous background, process detail, quotes and verbosity, and by eliminating redundant words and phrases. How editors ensure sourcing is clear and make calls on the mix of direct quotes, paraphrased quotes and partial quotes, and also correctly punctuate those quotes. 3.6 Reflection While this chapter has had a tight focus on detailed copy editing, it is important to remember that editors are also big picture people. They are the most senior and usually the most experienced journalists in the newsroom. One minute they are worrying about the punctuation in a tricky sentence, the next minute they are making a call on whether to publish a story that could seriously damage the reputation of a big business. That call will have ethical dimensions and potentially a legal dimension. So editors are continually shifting their focus from the biggest issues to the smallest details. X Exercise 6 News story editing Edit the stories in these three exercises to improve their fluency, clarity, and brevity. Look for opportunities to change a formal expression into informal expression, a clumsy expression to a smooth expression, and technical language into plain English. Look for opportunities to take out words and phrases, and to delete repetition. And in the first story, about a young woman winning a video camera in a competition, look to cut out anything you feel doesn t add to the story.

11 E005 / Title of this Course is Written Sub-Editing in Gray 81 Bibliography Ang, T. (2000). Picture editing. (2nd ed.). Oxford, England: Focal Press. BBC News. (2005). Picture power: fire-escape drama, published 30 September, Cappon, R. (1982). The Word. New York, N.Y.: Associated Press. Conley, D. (1997). The daily miracle: An introduction to journalism. Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press. Evans, H. (1972). Newsman s English. London, England: Heinemann. Evans, H. as cited in Pape, S. and Featherstone, S. (2005). Newspaper journalism: a practical introduction. London, England: Sage. Fowler, G. (1961). Skyline: A reporter s reminiscence of the 1920s. New York, N.Y.: Viking Press. Friend, C., Challenger, D. and McAdams, K. (2005). Contemporary editing (2nd ed.). New York, N.Y.: McGraw Hill. Galtung, J. and Ruge, M. (1965). The structure of foreign news. Journal of Peace Research, 2(1), Harrower, T. (2008).The newspaper designer s handbook. (6th ed.). New York, N.Y.: McGraw Hill. Hemingway, E. (1960). A moveable feast. New York, N.Y.: Scribner. Keeble, R. (2005). Print journalism: a critical introduction. London, England: Routledge. Layton, C. (1999). State of the American newspaper: What do readers really want? American Journalism Review, March article.asp?id=3271 Marr, A. (2004). My trade: A short history of British journalism. London, England: Pan Books. Open School of Journalism

12 82 Journalistic Working Techniques McFarlane, I. (1995, August 14). Write on for clarity. The Australian, p. 15. Mencher, M. (2006). News reporting and writing, 10th edition. Boston, MA: McGraw Hill. Monk, L. (1989). Photographs that changed the world. Toronto, Canada: Macfarlane Walter & Ross. Online News Survey: Online Readers More Likely to Also Read Print. Report by AYTM.com, published January, National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) Code of Ethics, retrieved from Rascoe, B. as cited in Edwards, T., Catrevas C. N., and Edwards J. (1933). Useful quotations: A cyclopedia of quotations. New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap. State of the News Media 2014: Overview. Report from the Pew Research Center, published March, state-of-the-news-media-2014-overview/ Strunk, W. & White, E.B. (1959). The elements of style. New York, N.Y.: Macmillan. Thomson, D. Why it s so hard to measure online readership. The Atlantic, published February 8, archive/2014/02/why-its-so-hard-to-measure-online-readership/283658/

13 E005 / Title of this Course is Written Sub-Editing in Gray 83 About the author Allan Lee is a senior lecturer in journalism at Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. He teaches news writing, business journalism, copy editing and news design. Allan has edited and contributed to several books on journalism. Prior to joining the university, Allan worked as a journalist on newspapers and magazines in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. His main research interest is in production journalism. Open School of Journalism

14 Journalism JT070 Journalistic Working Techniques Sub-Editing Allan Lee Open School of Journalism