Think like readers, edit like journalists
At the Washington Post, readers are calling attention to minor errors that they say are affecting the news organization’s credibility. The public editor, Andrew Alexander, makes that point in his column under the headline, “As errors grow, so does a credibility gap.” Readers rightfully complained about the wrong use of a word in a headline, [...]
Where readers still get the attention
As I read today’s column by The New York Times’ newest public editor, Arthur Brisbane, several of his comments about his role at the newspaper resonated with me. Brisbane calls his job “a kind of journalistic ‘CSI.’” That means he’ll be retracing issues with stories and unraveling the how or why as questions about stories [...]
Listen to your “guests”
Recently, I attended an interesting conference in New York called MOB — Monetizing Online Business. The conference was organized by colleagues at the Newhouse School. An interesting talk was given by Thomas Kruczek, executive director of the Falcone Center for Entrepreneurship at the Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University. On Day Two, Kruczek said he [...]
Context essential in any story
As I was reading the latest news today about the conflict between North Korea and South Korea, I came upon a couple of paragraphs tucked in a New York Times story that added value to my understanding of the situation. The paragraphs provided: Context Background History They told me why this crisis is different from [...]
Get online readers involved: Video
Newspaper editors like to talk about points of entry on a page — headlines, photos, graphics, breakouts and the stories themselves. Readers usually start with the main art or top story and move in a left-to-right fashion from the top to bottom. This is not surprising to learn, but it’s important nonetheless. Editors should know [...]
