Editor Problems

[Sports_Writer]

The editor I am working with has on more than one occasion edited not just the grammar but a few words to change the overall dynamic of the article. Is it my place to say something? The edits make me look incorrect and I have no say in the matter.

 

[Buck]

I never had a problem if a reporter wanted to discuss changes I made to his/her copy.
If I made a change that affected the accuracy of a story, that's a big mistake.
If I made a change that affected the tone or voice, it should have been intentional and I should be able to explain why I made the change.
In the latter case, reporters are often very defensive about their original copy, and they're often wrong; however, the discussion can be very productive. If you grasp the editor's perspective, it will help you editor-proof your stories in the future.

If the editor is defensive about changes he/she made, he/she may not be a very good editor.

 

[Joe Williams]

I never had a problem if a reporter wanted to discuss changes I made to his/her copy.
If I made a change that affected the accuracy of a story, that's a big mistake.
If I made a change that affected the tone or voice, it should have been intentional and I should be able to explain why I made the change.
In the latter case, reporters are often very defensive about their original copy, and they're often wrong; however, the discussion can be very productive. If you grasp the editor's perspective, it will help you editor-proof your stories in the future.

If the editor is defensive about changes he/she made, he/she may not be a very good editor.

As a writer who's been at this for a while, I agree with this. Tough editing early in my career has paid off time and again in the years since. Grateful for it, and to one SOB in particular.

 

[SnarkShark]

The editor I am working with has on more than one occasion edited not just the grammar but a few words to change the overall dynamic of the article. Is it my place to say something? The edits make me look incorrect and I have no say in the matter.

This has happened to me before. I once had an editor rewrite my copy every time he touched one of my stories. I asked him about it and he got tremendously defensive.

I think it's important a writer has a voice and I will fight for that. His response was, "I know better," which is garbage. On one story, he edited in an egregious mistake and I completely lost my mind. His mistake made me look like an idiot, because my name was on the story.

Eventually, he began passing off my copy or largely didn't touch it.

My advice would be to say stand up for yourself, but make damn sure it's worth it. If you have an editor that is adding mistakes to your piece, you better speak up, because you're the one that's going to look like a jackass, not the editor.

 

[Moderator1]

who

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

The editor should have you make the fixes, if there's any rewriting involved.

 

[SnarkShark]

who

I did it intentionally to make the editor seem unhuman.

 

[joe_schmoe]

I never had a problem if a reporter wanted to discuss changes I made to his/her copy.
If I made a change that affected the accuracy of a story, that's a big mistake.
If I made a change that affected the tone or voice, it should have been intentional and I should be able to explain why I made the change.
In the latter case, reporters are often very defensive about their original copy, and they're often wrong; however, the discussion can be very productive. If you grasp the editor's perspective, it will help you editor-proof your stories in the future.

If the editor is defensive about changes he/she made, he/she may not be a very good editor.

Agree with this.

I'm not saying editors don't edit mistakes into stories, it's probably happened to all of us. But more times than not the editor knows what he/she is doing. Id you think you have glowing grammar and copy and it gets changed, there is probably a reason. It may sound right in your head, but would the reader understand it? Is it cliche? Or is it just not AP style, though it may be proper English style.

Ask your editor why it was changed. If the story is filed long before deadline, try to look at the edited version before it gets on a page.
If you are young and still new to the biz, you'd be better served trying to find out why the changes were made rather than get upset that they were.

Maybe it is the editor, maybe it is you.
Post a story to the Writers' Workshop section of this site, and let some of the seasoned editors look at it and see. Just a suggestion.

 

[WriteThinking]

And if an editor has edited in a mistake, and you point it out to them, and he/she apologizes for it, be graceful and be ready and willing to forgive and forget it.

Unless it's something that's going to get you sued, or something, let it go and move on.

 

[JRoyal]

It's a horrible thing for an editor to edit a mistake into a story. But remember, for every error a good editor inserts, he or she has probably fixed 50 mistakes you made. That doesn't excuse inserting errors, but I hate writers who go off about the errors that get into their copy without ever acknowledging the times that an editor saved their ass.

Question, though: How do the edits make you look incorrect? Are they inserting facts or changing the tone somehow? If they're changing tone, could you give us an example?

 

[Sports_Writer]

I'm trying to keep things somewhat generic because you never know who reads these things.

Long story short, I made reference to a QB who threw an interception and the editor re-worded it to make it seem as though the QB had a much worse game than they actually had. A minor change but it wasn't true and contradicted the rest of the article.

 

[JRoyal]

I'd ask why he made the change. Might be a learning opportunity. If nothing else, gives you a chance to discuss why you didn't like the edit. But remember -- no one is as good of a writer as they think they are. Keep an open mind when you discuss it. If the editor knows what he's doing, there's a reason he made the change. You might learn something. And if the editor doesn't have a clue, you'll find that out, too.

 

[HejiraHenry]

"First, do no harm."

 

[Sports_Writer]

I know the editor makes me look good on a daily basis so I'm not trying to come off as a know-it-all. This isn't the first time it's happened though.

 

[deskslave]

I'm trying to keep things somewhat generic because you never know who reads these things.

Long story short, I made reference to a QB who threw an interception and the editor re-worded it to make it seem as though the QB had a much worse game than they actually had. A minor change but it wasn't true and contradicted the rest of the article.

Did the rest of your story make that clear? Or was there room for ambiguity? Remember, the editor didn't see the game. He just knows what you told him in the story.

That being said, again, the editor didn't see the game, so it's really not for him/her to make interpretations, either. But if you're looking to approach him/her, and you have every right to do that, I would start with something along the lines of "this change didn't really reflect the game; how can I write it next time to make it clearer to you and [more importantly] to readers?"

 

[JRoyal]

I'll say this real quick: Depending on your desk setup, you may want to approach someone else and have them discuss it with them first. Before we went to a universal desk, I was one of our assistant sports editors and helped manage the desk. If a writer was looking to have a discussion, I had no problem with them approaching one of our copy editors. Some of the time, though, they just wanted a confrontation so they could tell the copy editor how wrong they were, so I wanted them to go through me, the other ASE or the SE first. The copy editors deal with a lot of crap and get very little praise, and I was kinda protective of them. When reporters went around us and chewed out a copy editor, it pissed me off. It is simply not a reporter's place to tell copy editors how to do their job. They aren't the bosses. If a writer has a serious problem with a copy editor, it should be taken to the section editor or assistant editor, and that person can deal with it from there.

Since it seems like you're already dealing with a section editor, this probably doesn't apply in your situation, but it's something to keep in mind down the road.

 

[I Should Coco]

As others mentioned, talk to your editor either early in his shift or after deadline. He or she should be open to discussing why your story was re-worded.

In an ideal world, this discussion would happen either as the story is being edited or after deadline that day, but in this modern world of newspapers, that's often not possible.

 

[Moderator1]

who

I did it intentionally to make the editor seem unhuman.

A smartass, eh? Nyuk nyuk nyuk.
Very good comeback and you get one free who/that pass.

 

[da man]

who

I did it intentionally to make the editor seem unhuman.

A smartass, eh? Nyuk nyuk nyuk.
Very good comeback and you get one free who/that pass.

A Who Dat pass?

You mean, like this?

 

[Drip]

As a reporter, your job is to report. As an editor, his job is to edit. Egos need to be checked at the door.