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Prima donnas in the newsroom

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by What Deadline, Jan 4, 2009.

  1. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    How is the SE powerless? How is the person untouchable?

    I have dealt with columnists who were not supervised by the sports editor and you had to go through the managing editor to make even basic changes in copy that the columnist did not agree with.

    That just made it that much more fun to call the ME on deadline and go over editing.

    Someone is this person's boss. If it's a big deal, go to them.

    If this person is just not that social, well, everyone is different.
     
  2. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    At my first stop, the national baseball writer (a big time guy) would routinely file stories on deadline without spellchecking or factchecking. This was in the days before every computer had Internet access so you would see a running baseball gamer come across and then see a frantic copy editor trying to check facts on deadline.

    When he was called out on it, he said, "They pay me to write, they pay you to edit."

    He would also call routinely wanting to know what was cut from his copy and why.

    "I had to cut two inches because you were told to write 16 inches and you wrote 19. They shrunk the picture to get another inch in, but you were still long."

    "Let me talk to the slot now."

    Usually the slot would run to the back (this was in the days when we still cut and pasted the section together) to avoid the call.

    I was sitting over in preps taking notes on what not to do.
     
  3. ballscribe

    ballscribe Active Member

    I'm never in the office either, save to file expenses, pick things up, the occasional training session for something or other. Usually, though, it's late at night when parking's not an issue, so I see the deskers pretty regularly.
    I do my best to go out for beers with them, take the tennis players among them out for a hit, and e-mail back and forth about this and that.

    They've saved my ass more than once. I'm the only "girl," so they all could have made me sink (as some of the higher-ups tried to do at first). But they didn't. They were great.

    Then again, I spell-check, check facts before sending, make deadline with as much time as humanly possible to spare, and write to length. That's probably what got me in good with them. ;-)
     
  4. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    True. But there are also deskers who feel that their way is the only way and edit copy just because.
     
  5. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    The only copy editor I ever worked with that I had problems with was the guy who would call you up to point out every mistake you made, regardless of how small and regardless of whether I had anything to do with the mistake.

    Once I filed a running basketball story to make first deadline, ran to get the coach, ran to the locker room and by the time I got back to the press room, he had called me six times.

    My mistake? Player X had 14 rebounds and AP moved a correction to show he had 15.

    He would pull that kind of shit regularly to all the writers and it got to the point that none of us answered our phones between making sure the running story got there and getting back to the press room, because it was usually just him.

    "Hi Mizzou, just wanted you to know that you had the game being tied with 3:28 to play and the official play-by-play shows it at 3:29."
     
  6. Frank_Ridgeway

    Frank_Ridgeway Well-Known Member

    It's all in the delivery, how he says it. No knock on AP, but I never wanted to assume their reporters were more competent than ours, thus a discrepancy ought to be checked rather simply changing a staffer's facts every time AP runs a correction. If the copy editor changed a fact based on AP's story/agate and AP was in error, the writer would have every right to be pissed.
     
  7. SoCalDude

    SoCalDude Active Member

    There's a columnist who will give attitude with every question the deskers ask about the column. If something doesn't make sense, deskers will be made to feel they just weren't smart enough to "get it."
    Then, a week or so later, this columnist will show up in the office with 4 or 5 pizzas for the desk. And you will find out later that the columnist has sent an e-mail to your immediate supervisor complimenting you on your work in helping the column be better.
     
  8. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    Now that's what I'm talkin' about! :D
     
  9. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    I think that's just a respect thing. You show it to them, they show it back. There's something to be said for being nice and cooperative. And writing to length and on time always helps.
     
  10. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    That's beyond idiotic. Sadly, there are lots like that out there.
     
  11. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    I would also check with the boss if you get wind that someone has a "special treatment" clause. If it is indeed true, your boss needs to grow a set.

    I was not long on the desk when I noticed one of our "big" writers had misused a word. I checked to make sure I was right, then made the change. The desk chief that night asked what I was doing and I told him. He says, "Call the writer. We have to call him every time we make any change."

    You call him, I said. I fixed a simple mistake. Part of my job. If I make a substantitive change, I'll call. Desk chief went borderline apeshit but I wasn't about to make that call.

    Later, one of the other desk guys told me that they never did shit with the guy's copy, even when he had something wrong. Wasn't worth the trouble of dealing with him.

    I asked the SE about it the next day and he said it was a bunch of horseshit and quickly sent out a memo making that clear.

    Anybody who thinks they are above editing is an arrogant, stupid sumofabitch. I wouldn't want to work with one and I sure as hell wouldn't have one on my staff.
     
  12. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    Amen to that.
     
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