Editors must understand every job

An editor’s job involves a lot more than assigning stories and editing copy. Through the years, I’ve learned that to be a good editor you need to understand others aspects of the business from advertising to design to printing. I was reminded of that during a recent visit to QuadGraphics for a press check on a dining publication.

Walking through the large press room with sorters and binders and printing presses spread across the warehouse, I thought of all of the people who have taught be about the publishing business, many of whom never worked in the newsroom.

I’ve always thought of being an editor as a kind of air traffic controller. You need to be able to juggle projects, deadlines, people, copy and pages without losing your cool and without missing a beat. In order to do that, editors need to step out of the newsroom and learn about the publishing business.

Design
The design of the newspaper and the art accompanying the stories from photographers to maps to illustrations puts a face on the articles. Through the years, readership studies have shown that headlines, photographs, photo captions, graphics and breakout boxes are always read by readers. While they may peruse only the first six inches of the story, those art and design elements will be looked at.

My philosophy is to make a publication look as good as the words that fill its pages. Editors need to work with photographers and designers to develop a cohesive look, to get the best art to illustrate stories and to design pages (newspaper or magazine) that will appeal to readers. Any editor that has worked at a small publication will know how to design pages. If you don’t, take the time to shadow a designer for a few hours to understand the design process. This also will give you insight into their creative process and maybe get a few ideas in the process.

Advertising
The newsroom and advertising rarely interact at most publications, and that’s a disadvantage that editors need to overcome. Understanding the advertising process does help in making sure your product gets out on time. At small publications, an unsatisfied advertising client can hold up editorial and advertising production. Take the time to understand the challenges in advertising, and how to make these challenges work within publication time schedules.

Pressroom
I learned a lot about the press side of publications working with Keith Hux, the production manager for the Enterprise-Journal in McComb, Miss. From setting plates, to shooting film for newspaper pages (yes, there are still some papers out there) to running the press, I learned quite a bit in my more than four years at the newspaper. Hux often took the time to explain to me the plate-making process, the different types of paper, the ink, how the press worked and how small problems could stop operations on the press. I also learned how page flow from the newsroom to the press can have a huge impact on getting the paper out on time.

Filing the last story or sending the last page is far from the end of the process. Once the last page is sent, it has to go through production, plates have to be burnt, processed, bent and placed on the press, the press starts up and ink is adjusted before clean copies ready to be bundled come out.
Understanding this process helped me to understand how important our deadlines in the newsroom are, but also to find ways to cut that time. At the Enterprise-Journal, 10 minutes could determine whether we got the paper out in time for the lunch crowd or missed rack sales.

I think every editor should spend time in the pressroom. Learn how to burn the plates, understand how the press works, how minute color adjustments by seasoned press workers is more of an art than a science, catch a few papers and then head to mailroom to stuff some inserts. Give it try, I have.