TeaHey spends most of his time sitting – in the old days, he often had an ashtray full of cigarette butts. They rarely lift their head or their fingers off their keyboard. But when they do, it’s either to check news headlines on a television screen or to take another endless sip of tea and coffee. Reporters, writers amicably oppose him and know everything about him; In turn, they despair of the former – they wonder when they will learn.
These individuals have one of the most incredible jobs in the world, correcting other people’s mistakes. They strive to make things appear immaculate—better, brighter, smoothing out folds and imperfections. The original backroom boys (at one time, they were sent to the basement), anonymous and mostly unsung, they became known, collectively, as a block of wood – the desk – as they spend their working lives behind a .
They don’t make headlines, they write them.
By now, you should have guessed the topic of this month’s Reader’s Editor column: editors and sub-editors – those low-profile, quiet, shy or reserved and simple individuals without whom journalism would be a Facebook post, at best a blog. .
Why write about them now? Well, for several reasons. As readers’ editor, I’m happy to say that I’ve received some complaints about genuine errors in ThePrint—factual, or grammatical. Most of the mail relates to readers’ other opinion pieces or news developments. This is good news for ThePrint because it shows that we don’t make too many mistakes. If so, it is largely due to the desk, which bears ultimate responsibility for whatever is published.
In this age of fast and loose communication, especially on social media or WhatsApp chat groups, the timeless principles of journalism, balance and fairness, need to be strengthened, not discarded. And, it’s the desk’s job to check, question, and press ‘pause’ long enough for errors before anything becomes public.
YP Rajesh, managing editor of ThePrint, says, “It is about very strongly interstitial journalism. ‘Also, you need to be clean, legally.’
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gatekeeper
Editors are simple yet eloquent, even taking pride in their role. Here’s how some people described it: ‘We are imitators’; ‘We are the silent generators that keep the show going; ‘We are surgeons who cut out the bad parts; ‘We are the brains behind the voice’; ‘We guard’; ‘We are the last outpost’, ‘we shine a copy’.
Well, they do all that and more. As journalism’s gatekeeper, if editors fail to add An important fact, link, statement or quote, he ate in trouble. The reporter can get away with a reprimand but the buck always stops at the editor’s desk. They’re the ones who scream if a) it’s plagiarism, b) it’s titled poorly, c) it has factual errors, d) it’s too long, it’s too short, it spins, it’s biased, its none Doesn’t mean, or at worst, it’s wrong. ‘Treat everything a lie’, is one of his motto.
‘It’s a tough, thankless job,’ said one editor weary. Oh that’s another thing: editors live longer. His day in the newspapers starts only at 5 pm and his night may end in the early hours of the morning. They shift online 24×7 to online news portals; At ThePrint too, they have shifts, but they’ll all tell you they work outside their time.
Take a picture of them: Leaning at their desk, “copying” through – any article is always a “copy” for them – looking for mistakes. Editors and sub-editors see that a story actually tells a story and tell it clearly, so that the reader, any reader, can understand it.
They dot the i’s and cross the t’s; Confirm correct spelling, grammar and language, facts, names, places, dates, data, citations; Rewrite and sometimes even write reports, opinion pieces, features. They do ‘line edits’, reading each word carefully – which is what a proof reader in the past used to do.
In newspapers, they also design pages; Online and on ThePrint, they provide headlines, strap lines, keywords, add links to related stories, even publish articles they edit.
Importantly, at ThePrint, editors of sections such as Opinion and Features, “ideas” with authors understand what they are trying to communicate and, often, communicate it to them – they literally put our words in our mouths. put. This is where copying comes in. “You have to master the disguise,” says Nira Mazumdar, editor at ThePrint for five years, “and something else – you have to master the language and style of the writers as well as their thought patterns.” We have to reflect the spirit of the piece, to make it better.”
Editors have to deal with journalist tantrums and objections to the changes they make and their crazy habit of not responding to repeated phone calls or mails; Journalists struggle with the ‘editor-know-best’ attitude of the people at the desk.
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Keywords: patience and diligence
My experience with the editors has been great. I am always grateful that someone is looking over my shoulder, nodding in approval or snoring in despair. I know that when the article is published, it will be fine because it has passed the scrutiny of the editors. Even as I write this article, I am comforted by the idea that other eyes will see it, tell me how to improve it, cut the fluff, iterate, and sharpen its thoughts. Also, I challenge myself to send in copies that are error-free. The day that happens, I’ll, well, do somersaults.
But it’s a conversation on ideas, and as ThePrint editors say, the article’s “unique logic” is what makes it so important – it helps me settle my head.
If anything, editing is even more demanding for an online news portal like ThePrint – speed is of the essence. ThePrint editors will tell you that each piece requires a strong opening, with the main emphasis being the first few paragraphs, short sentences, energetic writing, and lots of key words. There is no place or time to ‘clear the throat’ here. If you do that, the editors will spit it out.
Plus, ThePrint’s relatively young – many of its reporters are in their first jobs and in their 20s. They are full of energy and enthusiasm but inexperienced. So the desk plays a vital role in making their copy printable – it requires immense patience and diligence. You have to respect him and at ThePrint, one way to do that is to give him a byline at the end of every piece he edits.
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all for good journalism
Over the decades, journalism has rapidly become a byline empire where the reporter is king. But the editor was and still is the power behind the throne. The chief sub-editor used to decide what to publish and what not to publish. Desks would literally ‘spike’ sayings. He decided which reports were aired and which were turned into ‘news briefs’.
like in magazines India Today, They would tear apart the reporter’s excerpts and reassemble them in their own news magazine style – often, the published article was not identical to the original.
And you thought your job was difficult?
Which begs some questions: First, what qualities do editors create? Start with “zero ego” – no peacock characters need to apply. A nose for news, a passion for the right language/grammar, a jittery habit of being right, an attention to detail and the patience of a saint—all these help in the job. Otherwise, welcome to Hypertension!
Why would anyone in their right mind want to be an editor? Some loving words, some news, some the satisfaction of publishing a good piece, some because they get to read and know more than most people, certainly more than journalists, some are just plain shy and work behind the scenes Likes to do: They read books, newspapers, magazines, agency copies from Reuters, PTI, ANI, etc. – They enjoy the perspective of a “big canvas”, a window to the world.
They are not for fame and glory but a clean copy. And yet, where would good journalism be without them?
Shailja Bajpai is the Reading Editor of ThePrint. Please write with your views, complaints readers.editor@theprint.in
(Edited by Anurag Choubey)