Transcript Editor`s constraints

An editor’s constraints
Influences on editors from within and without
Influences on editors
 All mass media professionals face a wide variety of
influences affecting what they choose to publish,
broadcast or post online.
 Editors are no exception.
 They must conform to a publication’s “view of reality,” of
course.
 But they also deal with more specific considerations.
Space
 For editors dealing with publications as well as websites—
that is, most of them—space is a major constraint.
 Usually an editor has too little space to work with.
 Possibly, however, she may have too much.
Determining space
 Editors of most commercial publications do not make
decision regarding space.
 Space is determined by the business office.
 It’s usually based on a formula considering all costs of the
operation.
 In legacy media, most of that cost is paid by advertising.
Advertising and space
 Because the traditional formula requires advertising to
pay for a publication, the business office calculates the
amount needed to cover costs and profit.
 That provides a ratio, called the advertising ratio.
 The ad ratio dictates how much space an editor will
have to work with.
Ad ratio
 Many news-based publications, for example, set an ad
ratio at about 50 percent. That means 50 percent of the
space available must contain advertising.
 What’s left over after the ads are placed is available to
editors.
 The advertising always goes in first—because someone’s
paying for it!
Ad ratio day to day
 The number of pages changes depending on how well
the advertising staff did their work.
 For example, if the ad staff had a really good week, the
editor will have plenty of space—maybe too much.
 On the other hand, if ad sales were slack, the editor will
find less space.
 The ad ratio explains why most mass media publications
change in page size from issue to issue.
Available space
 Number of pages generally has little to do with amount
of copy an editor has available. It’s based on advertising.
 So what this means practically for us on the editorial side
is that even if we have a day packed with story options, if
the ad staff didn’t sell enough papers, we’re stuck.
 We end up throwing away a lot that just won’t fit.
Lots of space
 On the other hand, the editor may face a really big issue,
lots of space—and a comparatively slow news day.
 What now? Stories that might not have been published
end up in the publication. Photos might be bigger, and
more abundant.
 Most editors save “evergreen” (no time element) stories
for slow news days.
 Sometimes they’ll rely on unpaid “house ads,” such as a
promotion: “Read the Blab every day!”
Shoppers
 Publications that reach an ad ratio of 70 to 80 percent,
that is, 70 to 80 percent of the space is paid for, are
commonly called “shoppers,” or other free supermarket
rack publications.
 Even if an editor doesn’t think he’s working for a shopper,
if it’s packed with that many ads, people will presume it is
regardless.
 You can’t include mostly advertising and expect people
to pay for your publication--with the exception of some
slick magazines such as Brides, of course.
Section editors
 Most publications of any size employ specialized editors
responsible for filling a section of a publication.
 The most obvious example is the sports editor, responsible
for the sports section.
 Others may be business, variety or the “wire” editor—
national and international news.
 On magazines, sections reflect the theme of the
publication.
Getting more space
 Editors may be able to negotiate with each other for
more space. A heavy sports day may require an extra
page from the business section. But the sports editor will
have to pay that back.
 Sometimes important news will squeeze out advertising
for a few days. But in the long run, it will have to be
evened out to refect the publication’s ad ratio.
Space and the Web
 Editors don’t face similar space concerns on the internet.
Often they can add more pictures, videos, sidebars,
interviews and other assets not possible in print.
 Nevertheless, editors know readers have online habits
that make it harder to keep eyeballs on a website, and
harder to keep attention spans on long stories.
 Those constraints keep a news operation’s website from
sprawling, though cost is not closely related to space as it
is in print.
Big publications
 Normally editors for large-circulation publications find
space constraints more difficult—they just have too much
copy coming into their desk for the amount of space
available.
 Smaller publications, however, sometimes have the
opposite problem—they don’t get enough copy.
Everyone who has edited an organization’s newsletter
knows how hard it is to get people to contribute.
News mix
 By “news mix” we mean content mix—that is, the kind of
things an editor publishes based on that publication’s
view of reality.
 It might not be news, per se; even Yoga Journal has a
news mix.
 Editors need to make choices matching the news mix
formula—also a constraint, because editors can’t choose
some kinds of material, no matter how good it may be.
News mix
 Most publications of sufficient size base a precise news
mix formula on marketing surveys.
 If, for example, a survey shows that a small but devoted
group reads the daily bridge column or crossword, a
newspaper will keep that in its news mix, even if it’s not a
large readership.
 This is because legacy news media tries to have
something for everybody.
Something for everybody
 A media operation doesn’t care why you read, and why
you (hopefully) buy the publication. It just cares that you
buy it, and you look at it.
 If a publisher can get 50 more people to buy just for the
crossword or bridge column, well, that’s enough.
 The is the contract of the published mass media:
something for everyone.
Everything for everyone
 Note that contract is different from that of broadcast
media.
 Broadcast news has to offer everything for everyone.
 News directors know that, unlike print, if you don’t like a
story you don’t just turn the page. You turn the station.
And that needs to be avoided at all costs.
 So broadcast news tends to appeal to a lower common
denominator than print news.
Pressure from advertisers
 Some people not involved with the media presume they
are mostly controlled by their advertisers, and the editors
make content decisions based on advertisers.
 Is that true? Well, no. And yet....
Legacy journalism and ads
 First let’s consider the case of the large legacy journalism
operations—the daily newspapers.
 Most quality dailies of any size separate their advertising
division from their editorial division.
 And that means literally separate—on a different floor, or
behind a different wall.
 Advertising staff request nothing from journalists. Editors
would be insulted if they did.
Advertising influence
 Advertisers may occasionally try pressuring editors at
these newspapers, but they likely will not get very far.
 This is a matter of journalism ethics. But it’s also a matter
of power—on large media operations, traditionally the
advertisers needed the publications more than the
publications needed the advertisers.
 The balance of power tilted toward the media.
Advertising power and change
 That does not, however, seem to be so true today. A few
of the largest metro dailies in the United States have
actually gone out of business.
 Others are trying to predict their future, as the old profit
model based on advertising ratio seems to be breaking
down.
 Still, however, journalists of integrity working on larger
operations see little influence from advertisers.
Advertisers and smaller pubs
 The influence of advertisers on smaller publications may
be dramatically different.
 Small-town newspaper editors know the loss of just a few
big advertisers will spell doom for their company.
 So advertisers are accommodated whenever possible. If
an advertiser wants to see a reporter out covering its new
products or new plant, you can bet someone will be
there.
Advertisers and magazines
 Advertisers’ influence on mass media goes beyond this
obvious news influence on smaller pubs.
 Magazines typically have maintained a more porous wall
between advertising and editorial.
 Advertisers likely influence story choice and placement
on many smaller magazines.
 Magazines will sometimes offer a feature article in return
for buying advertising space.
Special publications
 Advertisers also are accommodated through production
of special sections or feature publications.
 Newspapers in particular earn money by producing
popular special sections on topics such as weddings,
sports, fitness, travel, car care, etc.
 These consist of light feature stories, but are primarily sold
as vehicles for advertizers.
 Not unethical—but you won’t find hard-hitting
investigative pieces in such places.
Publisher’s traditions
 Editors also are constrained by a publication’s
traditions—newspapers in particular are tradition-bound,
ironic considering they are renewed every day.
 A publication may publish, say, square dance news
because they always have done that.
 Perhaps they never publish wedding photos, because
they never have.
 Sometimes these traditions are unwritten—but an editor
needs to know them.
Publisher’s bias
 We know most publications have a publisher—that is, a
person who runs the show, and probably is part owner of
the operation.
 That person may carefully avoid any appearance of bias
by staying out of the editorial operation.
 Or not. Even if she does, editors know what the publisher
does and does not like.
 If, for example, the publisher hates cats, well, you won’t
see a lot of cat pictures published.
Editor’s prejudices
 Perhaps most insidious is the bias from inside.
 All of us have opinions about pretty much everything.
 Research shows that more often than not those opinions
are based on emotion, childhood experience, influence
of relataives and friends—but not on evidence or reason,
alas.
Editor’s prejudice
 I hope we, on the other hand, form our opinions based
on reason and evidence.
 But probably we can’t do that for all of them.
 In fact, we might not even know our biases. Perhaps
we’ve never examined them.
 What happens when an editor is influenced by
unconscious bias?
Bias and editing
 Sometimes the editor responds by selecting and
displaying material based on subtle bias.
 For example, an editor may be prejudiced against Native
Americans.
 He may respond by downplaying or ignoring news of
Native Americans, or focusing only on the negative news
that confirms his bias.
Editors and bias
 How can a fair, ethical editor respond to his own bias?
 First, she needs to carefully examine and acknowledge
them.
 Is she politically liberal or conservative? On what side
does she fall regarding controversial issues?
Responding to bias
 Acknowledging bias is the first step to editing based on
this knowledge.
 The second step is to plan a response should the issue
come up.
 Will the editor make a decision himself? Ask for input? Ask
someone else to decide? Or even give more emphasis to
the side he opposes, to counteract his bias?