Timely editors

Editing isn’t just about grammar, punctuation, and spelling which is made evident in the book, “The Art of Editing.” A significant responsibility that editors have is that of fact checking and making sure information is accurate. Editors must also help maintain the balance between reporting news and keeping advertisers and the audience happy. Decisions regarding whether or not to run a story that may show an advertiser in an unfavorable light are often assigned to editors.

An interesting development in the realm of journalism is the idea of citizen journalism. While it can aid in fostering an interest in the local paper by the readers, it can make more work for editors. Community members who may not have much experience with writing and grammar are submitting stories for publication and it is the editor’s job to decide whether or not the story makes it in the edition.

The time of copy editors, and video editors, and sound editors is coming to an end. Many news outlets are moving toward multimedia formats and editors must be skilled in all areas of editing. Newspapers are filming video and posting audio on the web. Television news stations are posting written articles to go along with video on their websites. All of these developments are making it necessary for editors to become familiar with all types of media in order to remain competitive and employable.

In addition to all of these duties editors must fulfill, they also must have a good understanding of the audience for which they are editing the news. They must not only decide what news is relevant to their audience, but, as stated in “The Art of Editing,” “editors must balance what the public wants to read with what it needs to read,” making the job of editing an art.