Dealing with editors

I’ve been working as a section editor for OutWords magazine for about a year and as editor-in-chief of The Projector for a few months. I’m no expert on being an editor, or being a journalist, but there’s a few things I’ve learned about how you should treat an editor you’re writing for.

Find names and contact info yourself

If you don’t know an editor’s name, look it up. Even if you know their name double check the spelling. Can’t find it? Just don’t use it but write “Hello” or another friendly greeting instead of “Hello editor.” Need to know the email of someone working at a publication? It’s probably listed online or in the masthead. Asking the editor or someone else at the publication just makes you look lazy.

Respect their time

Need to talk to an editor? Don’t send an email demanding their time immediately. Approaching them while they’re on the phone, talking to someone or look really busy working and assuming they’ll drop what they’re doing and address your issue right then and there is probably not the best idea. Politely ask them to meet with you and find a time that is suitable for both of you.

Don’t expect them to do your work

Having issues with a story? Schedule a time to sit down and talk with them. Don’t contact them multiple times a day to ask what to do every step of the way. You’re likely not the only person that editor is expecting stories from and probably not the only person having issues that need to be dealt with. 

Also, make sure to edit your work before sending it in. If you hand in a story full of errors you will probably not be asked to write again, and may be asked not to write again.

Be polite

You think an editor did something wrong? Well, that happens. We’re all human. We all make mistakes. Sending an angry email is probably not the solution. Especially if there’s a chance that you are in the wrong. If you’re really mad wait until you calm down and then contact the editor and politely discuss your issue with them.

Really, this is advice on how you should treat anyone in any work situation.

Have you got anything to add?

Journalist hate

A couple weeks ago I walked into a restaurant looking for someone to interview. It is well-known for it's horrible service, but the employee I approached was usually kind to me. As soon as I said I was a journalism student her attitude changed. When I tried to buy food later she was extremely rude, to the point I got the impression she wanted me to leave hungry.

Later that day I went to a rally a friend of mine was at. I was covering the story for a local newspaper. My friend went up and took the megaphone, then made some not very kind remarks about a "sort of journalist friend" he knew.

Why all the hate?

Reading "news articles" written by many of these people who so strongly hate journalists, it's clear they are as biased and one-sided as they think main stream media journalists are. I even read a comment on one article stating that journalism students are taught to write so as to twist stories and change minds.

I'm getting really tired of this. I try very hard to include multiple perspectives into my stories, but when people from one side won't speak to me because they think I'm against them, it's difficult.

History changes perception

Jim Blanchard’s novel, Winnipeg’s Great War: A City Comes of Age, tells the story of Winnipeg during WWI. 

When I was a teenager I read many novels about the war. The stories always gave the impression that normal life was temporarily halted because everything revolved around the war.

Blanchard’s book tells a different story. Women fought for the right to vote. There were arguments about how schools should be run. An election took place. The war deeply affected Winnipeg, but normal life did continue.

While Blanchard’s book gave a more well-rounded picture of life during war than the other books I have read, the organization made it difficult to follow. The book is split into sections based on the year, but some information, such how racism played a role in who went to war when, didn’t make sense to split up. Some made more sense, such as what people such as Minnie Campbell were doing at different times. It would have been easier to follow had the book been split up into sections based on subjects rather than dates. This also would have made for smaller chapters which would have been easier to read.

I look at the city differently now. I’ve always admired many of the old buildings in Winnipeg, but never thought much about the history. Now that I know some of the history I am interested in learning more.

Blanchard came to speak to my class. He talked about letters written by a young man named Alec Waugh who went to war shortly after high school. He said you can tell the man changed over the course of the war from the tone of the letters, which are available in the provincial archives. I would love to read these. It makes me wonder what other fascinating documents are stored in archives. I would like to go explore them. 

On page 193 Blanchard writes about Deer Lodge Hospital. It is now Deer Lodge Centre. This place has history for me. I’ve had a Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas meal and gift exchange there. The cafeteria menu is well known to me. I know that if you want good coffee you should stop at Joe Black before heading in. I’ve left the building many times thinking I may have said goodbye to my grandma for the last time and then a few years ago I did. 

The main building is modern with glass and metal. But on the south-east corner is a small stone building with the words “Women’s Tribute Memorial Lodge”. It was built in 1931 with funds raised by Manitoba women to commemorate those who went to war. There was an auditorium and games room. The building is closed and you can no longer go inside.

Driving past it I’ve always thought about my grandma. Now I will also think about the soldiers that stayed there before her and I had our afternoon visits.

Reporting on health care policies

Trudy Lieberman came to speak to my class about reporting on health care. She had some fair criticisms of journalists and I learned a few things.

1. Think before you write: if information someone gives you seems fishy, look into it.
2. Research before you write: even if something doesn’t seem fishy, double check what people tell you.
3. Find new sources: don’t always go to the same sources or to the same people other journalists use.
4. Add context: this is the solution to faux balance (making both sides seem equal).

These was great advice. But there was something she said I don’t agree with.

Lieberman said it’s the journalists responsibility to indicate which side is right or wrong. She said journalists should be analyzing ObamaCare for the public to tell them if it’s good for them or not.

I have to disagree. I think it’s a journalists job to unbiasedly lay out all the information for the general public to determine who is in the right. For some people ObamaCare might be a great thing. For others it’s not. This can all be based on the exact same set of facts. It’s not a journalists job to try to sway opinions, just to communicate the information.

For example, last year I wrote an article about whether it was right or wrong to eat horse meat. I am a vegan and believe that eating horse meat is unethical. Still, I presented both sides. The side I disagree with has some great points, although it didn’t change my opinion. I think that some people who read the article will finish it with the same opinion they had to begin with. Others may change their mind based on the facts. Either way, they may be turning away horse meat or special ordering it from the butcher after reading what I wrote. And, despite my personal opinion, I think that’s okay because it’s not my job to change minds by injecting opinion. It’s my job to lay out the facts.

One thing was very clear from what Lieberman said: reporting on health care policies is tricky.

CTV had responsible coverage of a B.C. policy that health care practitioners either get a flu shot or wear a face mask. It mentioned that there were opponents to the policy and gave their reasons. It also listed the reasons in favour of the policy. The policies in favour clearly outweighed those against. CBC’s article on the same policy gave faux balance to the issue, which made it clear that CTV covered the issue well.

CBC gives both sides of the argument, but it exaggerates the argument against the policy to make them more equal. It gives an extreme example of a circumstance when both wearing a face mask and getting the flu shot could be dangerous. The article didn’t acknowledge that this is not the normal experience of people in the industry or that the judge (as CTV reported) said in his decision that in special circumstances the policy would be waived. However, it did post the courts decision to the legal dispute about the policy under the story which gives the public easy access to the reasons the judge had to approve the policy. 

Social media changes the news story

Social media has changed how people hear about news, but how does it affect how things that make news happen?

This weekend my friend's roommate got worried about him when he wasn't answering his phone. He has serious mental health issues and the amount of time he didn't respond left her worried.

I have been in this situation with friends before, but back before social media was big and smartphones made it easily accessible all the time. Usually a missing friend led to phone calls and texts to family members and friends who I knew. Usually in the end they were with some friend I didn't know.

This weekend the roommate posted on Facebook what her concern was and asked someone to check on him as she was stuck at work. This gave most the people he knew, though that she didn't necessarily know, the message that something was wrong. There came a flood of responses of people who wanted to keep an eye on the situation with notifications, someone posted that they had recently spoken with him, the roommate updated everyone when she called the police and then again when some friends found him and took him to the hospital.

Without social media there could have been a horrible news story there. Without social media there could be a lot more horrible news stories out there. Social media can be used for bad, such as bullying or to spread untrue news stories, but it also does a lot of good.

How to stop being a homebody

When I was in high school I was rarely home. I'd leave for days at a time, borrowing friends' clothes and eating every meal out.

I moved out of my parents' house as soon as I graduated and things didn't change much for a while. Then I got a nice apartment and busy with school and work. I don't know if it was the having a beautiful home without my parents around or the not having enough energy to go out part that changed me, but you'd be lucky to catch me going out (my last attempt I almost fell asleep at a table at Unburger at 8:00 on a Saturday night...)

Now I'll hear about an art show or concert or party a month ahead of time and get pumped up about going. I might even plan to go right up until an hour before the event starts.

I'll head home to get ready. But by the time I make it into my apartment and take care of my cats, I'm exhausted. I'll sit down to think about what I need to do before I leave. Inevitably I'll look frazzled so a shower is needed. Then I'll have to redo my makeup and hair. Eating dinner will have to happen. While I'm making the mental list one of my cats will snuggle in on my lap. And it's over. I pick up a book or magazine within reach and spend my night right there.

As a journalist I think it's important to know what's going on in the city. It's important to get to know a lot of different people. In other words, it's important to go out and experience new things.

I've been trying to do this lately. How I've started to go about forcing myself to leave home is by turning everything into work or some other obligation.

Tomorrow night I am going to see Alannah Zeebeck play at Sam's Place. She is a musician donating her talents and time to a launch party I am having November 30 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the University of Winnipeg for my zine, Cockroach. I have to go to take photographs for the soon to be launched Cockroach blog. I also need to go to show her support and visit with a friend who told me recently (and unexpectedly) over Facebook that he is transitioning. Watch me try to get out of that one!

Papers dying, but still cared about

I went to Cinematheque to see The Tribe - Story of an Underdog Paper.

In August of 1980 The Tribune's last issue hit stands around Winnipeg. People were shocked.

Someone at the screening of the documentary yesterday said that today papers are folding across the county and such shock is no longer experienced.

Of some publications this is certainly true. I wouldn't be surprised if small community papers disappeared. It wouldn't faze me if some papers went digital and ditched their physical copies. But if larger papers folded all together I certainly would be shocked.

Last year the Winnipeg Free Press laid off several staff journalists. Many people were very surprised.

I imagine feelings would have been much stronger had the paper shut down altogether. Personally, I cannot imagine not being able to pick up a copy of the Free Press on the weekend or grab Winnipeg Metro on the way to school.

Sure, many papers are struggling. But many are still read and loved enough that they would be missed.