The Mechanic & the Muse: A Rookie's Lament

Reporting

"Made in the Shade"
A package on Southern writers: profiles, interviews and an 11-state directory of writers you may never have heard of but are worth your time. Appeared in Creative Loafing chain.
"Mass Appeal"
A day-in-the-life profile of a telegenic parish priest in Miami. Published in Catholic Digest, reprinted in the St. Petersburg Times
"The Liberation of Tam Minh Pham"
How the first West Point graduate from South Vietnam disappears after the fall of Saigon, only to be rescued by his classmates two decades later. A cover story in The Washington Post Magazine

The other day, an email arrived from a a new reporter who says she's having the time of her life. But as many of us know, beginnings can also suck.

For instance, she asks,

"Is it normal for the editor to always want to re-word things, do you suppose, or am I just learning? I am like a kid who 'walks on' to the field in college, playing against the kids who have been in the game since diapers. The only leg I have to walk on, is possibly, a bit of talent for weaving the words. But I have no inside knowledge, I don't know all those grammar rules, I don't know how an editor or 'rival reporter' operates. I am winging it, teaching myself as I go. One day I turned red because I didn't know what a 'cut line' was."

I felt her pain, not just because I had the same kind of awkward and confusing beginnings when I walked into a 6,000 circulation daily in 1973, devoid of any journalism experience or training. Three decades later, the blank screen or an unforeseen assignment can still rattle my nerves. Here's what I wrote back:

"Young reporters often get their copy rewritten (so do veterans, by the way). What you need to do is print out your story as submitted, and compare it with what appears in the print. Highlight the changes and see if you can understand why the change was made. Sometimes it's arbitrary, but often editors are able to make useful revisions; some that merely reflect the paper's style guide. Ask what style guide the paper relies on. Often it's the AP Stylebook.

"If you can't figure out why the change was made, ask the editor (off deadline) if she or he could help you understand so you can learn. (Some editors, frankly, are assholes, (and for that matter, so are some reporters) but the best understand their role as teachers in the newsroom and may be willing and able to help.

"If you want to know how an editor works, ask if you can shadow a copy editor or editor after your shift is over. Don't worry about getting paid. It's an investment in your career. As for the rival reporter, read his or her stories very carefully. Make it a puzzle to solve: who are his/her sources? Where did they get their stories? Follow their leads; one day someone else will be following yours.

"There are no stupid questions; only reporters too stupid (or proud) to ask them.

"There's no shame in being a rookie.

"Just try to write down the things you learn and keep that close so you don't have to ask twice.

"Use the Internet: I Googled "glossary cutline" and the first hit , a link to a photojournalist Mark Hancock's site, answered your question:

" A cutline is the caption (text) near a photograph in a newspaper. It informs the reader of who, what, when, where, and why or how about the photograph. Because photographs depict events frozen in time, the first sentence of a cutline is written in the present tense. Additional sentences can be written in present or past tense depending on the publication’s style preferences ."

After that, all I could do was wish her luck.

What would you tell her?

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