The Editor’s Desk

Katherine Latshaw, a 2009 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, is an editor at Stonesong Press in New York. In this interview, conducted by e-mail, Latshaw discusses what she does, what it’s like to work with writers and what she learned in journalism school.

Q. Describe your job at Stonesong Press. What do you do on a typical day?

A. We are book packagers, which means that we turn rough-hewn ideas into either manuscripts or entirely finished book files for publishers. If a publisher hires us to create finished book files, we do everything from finding writers to editing manuscripts to making sure that photos to be included are in the correct high-resolution format. My job varies with each day, but I’m currently working on a six-book series on human diseases (talk about uplifting!).

Here is some of what I accomplished today:

• Scoured the Internet, searching for appropriate photos for our tuberculosis title. For each photo I found, I wrote an informative caption to go with it.

• Edited our influenza manuscript. Our client, an educational publisher, was worried that some of the text discussing flu vaccines was unclear, so I reworded the offending material. Because the flu epidemic is still ongoing and the facts are always changing, I also updated some statistics on H5N1 deaths.

• Called a client to politely demand an overdue payment for a completed manuscript that we delivered.

• Started developing a book idea I had, first by seeing if there were existing books like it on the market already (nope) and then finding editors to whom I could possibly pitch the idea.

Q. You recently finished editing your first book. What was that experience like?

A. It was a very interesting experience, not completely unlike editing a news article. I had to not only check spelling, grammar, and punctuation, but also ensure that the authors’ points were made clearly for readers. When there were issues with the writing, I had to edit carefully, making sure that the writers’ voices weren’t lost in the process.

This book was a humorous nonfiction guide to business writing, and the most recurrent problem I found was that the authors often repeated the same “Star Wars” jokes in different chapters. When that happened, I had to gently let them know that the multiple wookie references would need to go.

Q. You graduated from a journalism program known for more for news editing than book editing. How does that education help you in your job, and what do you wish you had learned more about in your coursework?

A. All of my courses taught me to write precisely and to consider words carefully, which are valuable skills for any type of editor. There were a few things I actually had to “unlearn,” discarding some AP Stylebook rules along the way. One example that immediately comes to mind is using that darned serial comma because publishing follows the Chicago Manual of Style.

Although I believe my journalism education was excellent, I do think it would have been helpful to have more direct contact with the writers whose pieces you’re editing. I occasionally get calls from writers who wonder why I made the edits that I did, and it takes skill to reassure them that, yes, they did a great job, but something they wrote just didn’t work. Then I have to explain why my edit effectively fixes the problem. I’m still working on that.

Q. Many students would like to land a job like yours. What advice do you have for them?

A. I have always loved words (when I was younger, I wasn’t chastised for watching TV during dinner, I was yelled at for surreptitiously bringing books to the table). When envisioning a career as a child, I wanted to be a librarian!

To have a career in book publishing, you need to harbor an enthusiasm for written word that goes beyond polite enjoyment. And when you’re on the selling side of the business as I am, you need to see a book in everything – that funny blog you were laughing at the other day? Book idea. That magazine article that was so fascinating? Expand it, and maybe there’s a book there. That celebrity whose favorite hobby is horseback riding? Pitch her to see whether she’d like to do a picture book on the subject.

Generating book ideas is an incredibly important facet of the job, so you must always be on the lookout for inspiration. Many people have romantic ideas about writers: They toil at their craft, tucked away in a garret (or perhaps a Starbucks nowadays), making sure that every sentence on their coffee-stained pages is perfect before sending their child out into the world to be judged by editors.

I hate to dispel that notion, but it’s not really like that for a majority of authors and their books. Motivated by popular trends of the day, editors and packagers very often invent ideas, write entire book synopses and then hire writers to execute their ideas. For example, the astoundingly popular “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” was conceived by a packager in precisely this fashion (sorry, Ann Brashares).

If such a love for books is ingrained in you and you think you can regularly come up with exciting new book ideas, then go for it. Take as many internships that you can get because practical knowledge is the most valuable asset in this business. Whenever applying for an internship or job, let the person in charge know that you have great book ideas that you want to share. That’s what I did!

My visit to China is done, and although I’ve adapted once again to Eastern Daylight Time, I’m still thinking about my experience half a world away.

My colleague Laura Ruel and I spent about a week working with journalists of the China.org news site. The English-language site has a staff of about 30 people, including a few Americans.

I was impressed with the dedication and skills of the China.org staff. It’s a different sort of journalism — run by and controlled by the government, created in an environment where Facebook, Twitter and most blogs are blocked. Yet, the staff there is doing much of what their Western counterparts do: trying to figure out the best to get the news to readers, in both form and content, while on constant deadline pressure.

I was asked to speak to the staff on several topics:

• Story editing

• Headline writing

• Caption writing

• Alternative story forms

I covered each of those topics in workshop sessions at the China.org offices. Each went well, and with each session, the staff grew more comfortable asking questions and offering comments.

On my final day in Beijing, I worked with staff members one on one in the newsroom. This was the most rewarding part of the week because I got to help people with the stories, captions and other content that they were working on at that moment. I also got a surprising compliment from one editor: “Thank you for your help. And I would like to say that you are very handsome.”

Thanks to everyone at the site for their hospitality, and special thanks to Celine Chen for organizing the trip, showing us the city and and allowing us to bring a little bit of U.S. journalism to China.

I’ve written before about an exercise in my editing course in which students settle a few style points. It’s that time of the semester again, and here’s what the classes contemplated and decided this week:

First-year student vs. freshman: The majority went with “freshman” as the preferred term, though a few made a case for the gender-neutral “first-year.” (The latter is what the university likes.)

Global warming vs. climate change: This got an “it depends” response, depending on what the story was about. (It’s one that we dealt with earlier this year as part of the News21 project.)

Mike vs. mic: For the third consecutive semester, students unanimously went with “mic” as a short form for microphone. The reasons given were similar to those in prior semesters — it sounds more contemporary, and it’s what used in the recording industry.

This exercise lives in the gray areas of editing, and to college students “mike vs. mic” is a black-and-white issue. Because it is apparently not contentious enough, I am considering dropping it after this semester.

Are the fans of “mike” ready to talk me into keeping it?

Laura Leslie covers state government for WUNC radio, and she also blogs about that topic at Isaac Hunter’s Tavern. Leslie is the president of Capitolbeat, the national association of statehouse reporters and editors. In this interview, conducted by e-mail, Leslie talks about her blog, her use of Twitter and the state of journalism.

Q. You’re a broadcaster and a blogger at WUNC. How do you balance those roles?

A. Broadcasting comes first. It’s our primary purpose, it reaches more people, and it’s what I get paid to do. The online work is sort of a labor of love.

I pushed for the blog for almost two years before my bosses agreed to let me try it as a volunteer effort — I don’t get credit for the time I spend working on it, and I’m still expected to produce just as much radio as people who don’t blog. But their attitude toward it has warmed some as it’s taken off. None of us, especially me, expected it would find such a big audience.

When I started writing it, I was thinking it could be sort of an extension of my notebook — I could just slap my radio scripts up there and build them out with the extra stuff there wasn’t time for on the air. But I learned pretty quickly that doesn’t work. It’s a different style of writing, aimed at a different audience, and it offers a much richer palette of storytelling tools – links, graphics, etc. — than radio does.

One surprising outcome is that the blog has helped me become a much stronger radio writer than I used to be. The best way to write for the radio is to write like you talk, in your own voice. That’s harder than it sounds. I think writing the Tavern has helped me develop that skill because that’s in my own voice, too.

Q. You’re also active on Twitter. What do you like about that format to “broadcast” the news?

A. I love its immediacy, of course, and its portability — I tweet from my phone at events or from my desktop at the legislature.

It also forces you to boil it down. When you’ve only got 140 characters to work with, you’ve really got to focus on what you want to get across. It’s like writing a good headline a dozen times a day.

When I live-tweet an event, I treat it like my notebook. When it’s over, I can go back and build radio stories or blog posts out of those nuggets of information.

I also love the way tags allow you to follow a range of people at different events in real time. At the legislature, if you follow #NCGA, you can see what’s going on in various committee rooms – it’s like being able to track six meetings at once. Plus, you get the benefit of multiple perspectives. When you’ve got lobbyists, lawmakers and reporters all tweeting about an event, you get a lot more information about what’s at stake and why it matters.

Q. For your blog, how do editing and headline writing work? Do you have someone read back on your posts?

A. I don’t get an edit before it goes live. In the beginning, that was because our platform wouldn’t allow for that. Now, it probably would, but we’ve just settled into doing it this way.

I write a post, I come up with a header of some kind, and I let my bosses know about it. They go back and look it over for typos or mistakes, sometimes a day later.

My most dependable editors are my readers. They’re quick to let me know when a link doesn’t work or I’ve misspelled something. I always say thank you when they do, and I mean it.

Q. What advice do you have to student journalists who want to go into the field nowadays?

A. Number one, learn every medium or platform you can, as early as you can, even if you’re not sure how or when you’ll ever use it. I can’t say that strongly enough.

Audio, video, blogging, Twitter — these are all tools for storytelling, and who doesn’t want a bigger toolbox? Even more importantly, get good at learning new media, because you’re going to be doing it on a regular basis as technology evolves.

I think the smartest way to think about our field these days is in terms of what we do, not how we do it. A journalist is a journalist, regardless of your mode of communication. We aren’t “print” or “broadcast” or “online” anymore. We’re doing it all.

That’s a change some older journalists have had a hard time accepting. You hear a lot of complaints: “Why should I have to do X? It’s taking time away from my reporting. ” No, it IS your reporting now.

We have better tools than ever to be smart, absorbing storytellers. The journalists who succeed will be the ones who focus on the potential of those tools, not the drawbacks.

Erica Beshears Perel, a former reporter at The Charlotte Observer, is newsroom adviser to The Daily Tar Heel, the student newspaper at UNC-Chapel Hill. In this interview, conducted by e-mail, Perel talks about her job, the paper’s new Web site and the changing role of copy editors at the DTH.

Q. What does the newsroom adviser to The Daily Tar Heel do on a typical day?

A. A little bit of everything, although I do not make editorial decisions. I provide daily feedback of the product in the form of a written critique of each newspaper. I praise the stories, photos, designs, etc., that I like while offering ways to improve the rest.

When I’m not critiquing, I’m working with editors and staffers, listening and giving advice when needed. I organize and provide training and enrichment opportunities, and serve as a writing coach and editing coach. I spent plenty of time this summer monitoring the new Web site, and right now, I’m busy with our massive recruitment season.

Q. The paper just launched a major overhaul of its Web site. What’s the idea behind the redesign?

A. Sara Gregory, managing editor for online, did a great job explaining the philosophy behind the new site here. But basically, we need a Web site that can grow with us, one that’s flexible, one that allows us to interact more with our readers.

Our previous site, hosted by the College Media Network, served us well, but we needed more flexibility to grow in terms of content and ad revenue. This one, while developed by professionals, should allow our student journalists tremendous freedom for experimenting, both with content and technology.

I’m personally excited by plans to publish more news as soon as our reporters nail it down, and by the tagging and topic pages that should help keep our readers informed.

Q. How is the role of the copy editor changing at the DTH, both in print and online?

A. Copy editors still perform a traditional function at The Daily Tar Heel, saving us from embarrassing errors and writing good headlines. But this year, they will be taking a more active role in the online publishing process.

They also plan to start writing more online headlines that differ from the ones that run in the print edition. Print edition headlines, constrained by space and dependent on other visual elements to make their point, often are hard-to-understand online headlines. A special online headline can be clearer and help the story pop up faster on search engines.

Q. Every weekday, thousands of students pick up a print copy of the DTH. Do you see a time when the paper is exclusively online?

A. I certainly don’t see that time in the foreseeable future. We say here at The Daily Tar Heel that young people read newsprint as long as it’s free, easy to pick up and full of relevant, interesting content. We work hard to satisfy all three components.

The DTH is an independent newspaper that gets all its revenue from advertising. And right now, the vast, vast majority of that advertising comes in print form.

The DTH is very lucky to have potential for growth on our site without harming the print product because we have a large audience outside our print circulation area. Alumni, parents and UNC sports fans everywhere can’t get the print edition, but they can really drive traffic to our site.

I spent a few days in Boston this week at the annual convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. I participated in these sessions, met with the good people from NewsU and saw some old friends.

My favorite session was a discussion on Tuesday afternoon about the future of editing instruction. I was on the panel with Rick Kenney of the University of Central Florida and Jill Van Wyke of Drake University. Two students who are Dow Jones editing internships at the Cape Cod Times were also on the panel, and their candid comments were the highlight of the day.

Susan Keith of Rutgers served as the moderator, and she posed this question to the students: What would you remove from the editing courses you took?

One of the students described spending a great deal of time hearing about the role of journalism in the Watergate scandal, a topic that came up in several courses. “After a while, we get it,” she said. The other student said that her editing professor still taught students how to hand-count headlines with pencil and paper. Both wished that they had gotten more experience with online editing and multimedia journalism.

Perhaps there is still some value to knowing that an uppercase W uses more space in a headline than a lowercase i. And yes, journalism students should know about Watergate, just as every American should.

But the students were right: Those who teach editing need to rethink how they use their time in the classroom. How do we best prepare students for not just the future, but for the present?

We professors on the panel offered some ideas about how that can be done, and you can see some of our suggestions in this .pdf handout. Tim Lynch, a former Los Angeles Times copy editor, has some ideas too.

We don’t have all the answers, but it’s obvious from the students on this panel that editing instructors must constantly revise what they teach. That’s something every faculty member on the panel and in that room learned on Tuesday.

I’ve spent part of my summer working with 12 talented students at UNC-Chapel Hill on Powering A Nation, a Web site that looks at the intersection of energy and demographics. The site, which debuted Friday, is part of the News21 project.

As one of several faculty coaches, I advised the project’s editing team on issues of work flow, story editing, alternative story forms, word choice and headlines. It was a pleasure to work with this group in our newsroom.

It’s important to note that members of the editing team also served as reporters. As reporters wrapped up their stories, they were sometimes drafted for other duties, including help with editing. As you can see on the site’s “making of” blog, everyone did a bit of everything.

The idea behind News21 is to serve as an incubator for multimedia journalism, where students can chart a course for the future of news. My time with the students this summer reinforced my belief that editing will play a significant role in that future.

Tim Lynch is the senior media communications coordinator in the public affairs office at Cal Poly Pomona. Before changing careers this spring, he was the senior copy chief for the foreign and national desks at the Los Angeles Times, where he worked for nearly 20 years. He is the 2006 recipient of the Robinson Prize from the American Copy Editors Society.

Lynch is working on his master’s thesis at the University of Southern California and hopes to submit it — and graduate — this fall. He has taught copy editing at USC and Chapman University, and he has served as newspaper adviser at Cal Poly Pomona.

In this interview, conducted by e-mail, Lynch discusses his research into how editing is taught at five U.S. universities.

Q. What inspired you to examine how editing is taught at journalism schools?

A. In the past year it became apparent that editors — those who were not “content producers” — were the most at risk in newsroom staff reductions. Copy editors in particular appeared to be in the crosshairs. (At the L.A. Times, my former employer, copy editors have borne roughly the same share of cuts as the rest of the newsroom, but a perusal of Romenesko showed that the situation was worse in many other newsrooms.)

If copy editing is to remain relevant, those entering the profession must arrive with a range of skills much broader than those of their predecessors. I was curious to see how some of the better journalism schools were doing at preparing the next generation, and my master’s adviser at USC gave me the opportunity to find out via directed research.

Q. How did you conduct the study?

A. This study certainly does not qualify as definitive, quantitative research. I consider it more of a serious glance at five universities’ copy editing classes. I chose four programs known for copy editing: Missouri, North Carolina, Central Florida and Penn State. I included USC because that’s where I was studying, and I thought my findings might be of at least marginal value there.

I began by analyzing copy editing syllabuses, focusing on first-semester courses. I also e-mailed several questions to the professors and a separate set of questions to some of the most respected copy editors in the profession. My study consisted of a content analysis of the syllabuses, buttressed by the observations and opinions of the professors and professionals.

My goal was not to see which program was best, but to see how class time was allocated and which skills were taught. I tried to steer clear of value judgments, and I didn’t directly compare the syllabuses. Based on that analysis, complementary reading and my experiences in the newsroom, I drafted a new syllabus (Word .doc) for the teaching of copy editing.

My primary objective, though, was to join in the conversation about the future of copy editing. It’s a conversation that all copy editors who value their career should weigh in on.

Q. What were your major findings?

A. I think my biggest takeaway from the research was just how much traditional copy editing anchors the classes. Style/grammar/punctuation, print headlines and news literacy remain staples. I had expected a manic move toward digital skills. Those new skills are being incorporated, of course, but not at the pace I had assumed going into the research. This is a bit of a generality; some professors were moving with dispatch.

Q. What surprised you the most about what you found?

A. I was surprised at how much the programs varied in the time they dedicate to the teaching of copy editing, from 310 minutes a week at North Carolina to 110 minutes a week at USC. A good teacher can do more in less time, of course, but in general, quantity equals quality in the classroom, at least based on my experience both as a teacher and student.

I was also surprised about the wording in some of the syllabuses, which still characterized copy editing as a much-in-demand career. Those syllabuses need tempering.

Q. What recommendations do you have for instructors who teach editing?

A. I think this is a time for experimentation. I’m not recommending that teachers blow up their syllabuses, but I think they need to find out what’s going on in newsrooms and they need to reflect that environment even more in their classes. I also think they need to gear their classes for “content producers” as well as editors.

Based on my experiences as a teacher, I know that most students in my class were not planning careers in copy editing. Instead, they were either meeting a curriculum requirement or were hoping to hone their skills by becoming better self-editors. My new syllabus, which I grant is nontraditional, takes this constituency into account.

The annual convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, which will take place this year in Boston, brings together about 2,000 journalism professors and media professionals. Editing has a prominent place on this year’s agenda, notably in these three events:

The Future of Editing. An afternoon of sessions on Tuesday, Aug. 4, will look at the state of editing and where it’s going. Chris Wienandt, president of the American Copy Editors Society, will be among the panelists.

Great Ideas for Teachers. This annual contest is a great place to pick up some new teaching ideas. Some of this year’s 25 winners have an editing angle; they will be on display on the afternoon of Wednesday, Aug. 5.

Breakfast of Editing Champions. Faculty members and newsroom editors will get together at this session on Thursday, Aug. 6. We’ll swap teaching ideas and discuss what is happening in the field and what’s to come.

I’m playing a role in each of these events, and I hope to see you there.