Editing on Deadline

This is a 90-minute exercise that can be used with both content editors or copy editors.

1. Learning Objectives: By the end of this session participants will be able to...

• Identify basic tasks an editor must perform on every deadline story.
• Identify and describe problems encountered in sample stories.
• Propose realistic solutions to problems encountered in sample stories.

2. Materials: Flipcharts and markers. A handout packet that contains several stories with problems. Depending on your goals and audience, these could be first drafts, published stories or stories you make up. (Sometimes I’ve taken real stories and disguised them, abridged them and introduced more problems. I keep a file for "bad" stories that I clip any time I see one. It has become a great source of training fodder.)

3. Program: Open the program with a brief brainstorming session, listing ideas on a flip chart, about the "musts’ involved in editing on deadline. What things must an editor do or worry about under deadline conditions, without fail? Post the responses in clear view.

Break the group up into smaller groups of no more than three or four people each. Have each group select a leader. Then assign each group a story in the packet. Give them 15 minutes or less (something close to real deadline time in your newsroom) to read the story, identify the major problems and come up with a recommendation. Group leaders will have to present the assessment / recommendation to a Night Managing Editor (or, perhaps, in the case of content editors, to a reporter). The focus of this role playing exercise is on clearly identifying problems and proposing realistic solutions. The solutions may range from easy fixes to holding or killing the story.

The Night ME or reporter is played by someone not involved in any of the groups. Group leaders have just five minutes to say what is wrong with the story and how they propose it be fixed. The Night ME or reporter person should be prepared to stall, argue, be confused, or exhibit any other behavior that seems common in such situations. You need someone with a bit of flair and acting ability, if possible. Consider using the real Night ME or ME or a veteran reporter.

After each presentation everyone discusses both the assessment of the story and the proposed solutions. Each group takes its turn. At the end of each turn, the trainer should remember to relate the specific issues raised by the stories to the lists of "musts" on the wall, and see if any "musts" should be added or subtracted. If you have a good Night ME/reporter person, at the end of each turn that person should also share what worked or did not work in each team’s pitch.

4. Conclusion: Return to the lists of "musts" and try to quickly prioritize them. Some may be rewritten or changed to accommodate new views created by the exercise. Facilitate a discussion to settle on a final list. Promise to circulate the list among all the editors.