On the horns of a stupid dilemma, but I have no pride

Here's my situation: I am the editor of a handful of weekly newspapers. Tomorrow is our production day, moved up from Monday becuase of Christmas. I have sports sections from two such papers to complete by Friday night.

I have eight pages tab, of various tightness (two open, the rest anywhere from 30-65 percent newshole). I have three stories -- one written, two I still have to do. That's not enough to fill the section.

And I have this piece submitted by someone from the local YMCA in conjunction with a 10K race training program. It's long, and it'll fill space. But it would take a lot of editing to get it to my standards. But I don't know if it's worth it anymore, trying to pare 25 inches of PR copy into 15 legitimate ones. Few people if any are going to read it. But I don't want it to run like this. But I don't want to be kept up later than I already am rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic when nobody's going to notice (I do this, get caught up in the minutae of the job that nobody will ever notice). But I don't want my standards to slip. But I fear they already have. But that's no excuse. But ... help.

Do I give in and run it, cleaning it up only for obvious grammar errors? Or do I overhaul it? Nobody's going to notice either way except me. But I don't think I can live with letting a substandard piece slip through on my watch. But I don't like tilting at windmills, either. And I don't like what I'm becoming, which I think is the undercurrent behind this particular rant.

When I started this job a couple of years ago, I swore to anyone listening that I'd never scale back on my news judgment or my resistance to self-promoters despite being at a weekly. But I think if the me of early 2005 could see what the me of late 2006 has become, he'd weep. But he probably would anyway, because he's a giant fairy.

So, anyway. Any suggestions?

 

you probably could've had that sucker rewritten by now

 

Clean it up for style and grammar, and then see how much else needs to be cut. I'm sure there are a few paragraphs that could easily be eliminated.

 

Integrity, meet compromise.

Never say never ....

 

Great. Big. Pictures.

 

When I'm nearing completion of big projects, or something important to me, or just before a long break/vacation, I try to make sure I give everything I have through to its completion/deadline. I take it as a challenge almost. How much better can I make this in the little time I have left? That type of thinking. Then, I can at least know I gave the effort, regardless of how it turns out. Usually it helps makes the results all the better.

OK, call it sappy, whatever, but it might work what you're going through.

 

Don't forget the "Merry X-Mas from the sports staff at the Ft. Smidling Chronic Truncator" promo that you can use to eat one page...

 

Cut the last graph, run this. It's more interesting than anything else you're going to run.