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Sometimes I want to strangle editors
Nov. 1st, 2007 02:42 pmWhen I was younger, I wanted to be a fashion designer. Throughout high school, I came to love Journalism so much (but hated the program at my school) so much that I wanted to go to college to become a teacher. Now, I might still consider teaching, but probably not at the primary education (elementary through high school) level. I'm considering going to graduate school for my Master's or even my Ph.D so I can teach at a higher education institution someday.
As of right now though, my dream job would be to work as an editor of some sort (e.g. copy editor, features editor) at a magazine, especially one like Glamour or similar. I'd love to edit work that I love to read-- whether it's magazine journalism, which is my major and emphasis, or literature (like chick lit).
The Dumbledore article that I've been working on (read: slaving over) the past week finally got published today, but some WHACK JOB editor changed the critical nut-graf (a.k.a. the lead, for those who know journalism jargon). The current lead reads:
I have to admit, I was surprised at first. I came back from the AIDS Walk on Oct. 21 only to discover that both a good chunk of southern California and Albus Dumbledore, the beloved headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from J.K. Rowling's best-selling "Harry Potter" series were gay. The two were mutually exclusive events, by the way.
Now, what's wrong with that lead? Well, obviously, it makes it sound like I'm surprised that "a good chunk" of Southern California is gay. (The final sentence also doesn't make any sense.)
Anyone that knows me would know, very little surprises me, especially when it comes to homosexuality. I'm not claiming I have hyperactive gaydar or anything, but I was raised in San Francisco: gayness doesn't scare me. I have good friends who are gay. Hell, I'm bi! I get along well with the LGBTA people on campus-- they're fun. And while Northern California might have more gays per square mile (I don't even know that for a fact, but I certainly imagine it could be true), Southern California having any/a lot of gays WOULD NOT surprise me.
The original nut graf read: I have to admit, I was surprised at first. I came back from the AIDS Walk on Oct. 21 only to discover that both a good chunk of southern California and Albus Dumbledore, the beloved headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from J.K. Rowling's best-selling "Harry Potter" series were flaming. The two were mutually exclusive events, by the way.
See the difference? (It's the word "flaming," for those who didn't know.) It was meant to be a witty pun -a double entendre, if you will, referring to the Southern California fires. Someone who is gay might be called any number of things; one of them is "flaming." AFAIK, that's not a BAD thing. It's not negative or insulting, the way "faggot" et. al. are.
I don't know which editor changed it or why, though the wire editor, David, who's here with me in my Investigative Journalism class, told me that it's because "flaming" would get the LGBTA club on campus up in arms and mad at us. Paul, the editor-in-chief, told me it doesn't matter WHO we piss off, because the Daily Sundial pisses off almost everyone (people, organizations, etc.) on campus. Danielle doesn't know who edited it, either. NONE of that makes me feel better.
This is what I get for wanting someone to "look over" my work. Admittedly, I'm a bit concerned about my grade, but not to the point where I want someone to edit my work where it can get horribly misconstrued and get ME in trouble with strangers OR people I'm normally on good terms with.
I tried to nip this in the bud by mentioning the original context and apologizing to anyone that might be offended by either version in the comments section of the Sundial's website, but there still might be angry people that write or email in and again, I won't get told about it in time to make a response.
What this boils down to is a life lesson: I want to be an editor, but not the kind of editors I have or have had. I wanted to be a teacher, but not like the ones I had in high school. I want to edit to help people and to clarify messages, but I want to WORK with the writer-- which means I'm not going to be in the newspaper industry, because apparently deadline trumps over intent.
This is why I like having Dragonfayth as a moderated archive-- while it pisses me off that some people are "repeat offenders" who constantly need simply spelling and grammar checks, I appreciate the final product for being that much more readable. When I ask betas to look over my own fanfiction, they catch things that I couldn't, whether I read over my work once or ten times, whether it was just on-screen or printed out. I recognize the importance of editors (or betas, or pre-readers, or whatever you call them) not just because I AM one, and because I want to BE one professionally, but also because I need one-- and so do you. Really, everyone does at some point or another, for one thing or another.
Maybe I care too much about what people think. But honestly, I'm always aware that whatever I put out there -my own writing or someone else's- is for public consumption. It should be clear. It should retain the intent of the writer. And an editor's name is NOT the one on the byline; they're not the ones whose reputations are at stake. As someone who WANTS to be an editor but has just gotten screwed by one, it's a harsh reality.
I only hope it doesn't bite me in the ass.
As of right now though, my dream job would be to work as an editor of some sort (e.g. copy editor, features editor) at a magazine, especially one like Glamour or similar. I'd love to edit work that I love to read-- whether it's magazine journalism, which is my major and emphasis, or literature (like chick lit).
The Dumbledore article that I've been working on (read: slaving over) the past week finally got published today, but some WHACK JOB editor changed the critical nut-graf (a.k.a. the lead, for those who know journalism jargon). The current lead reads:
I have to admit, I was surprised at first. I came back from the AIDS Walk on Oct. 21 only to discover that both a good chunk of southern California and Albus Dumbledore, the beloved headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from J.K. Rowling's best-selling "Harry Potter" series were gay. The two were mutually exclusive events, by the way.
Now, what's wrong with that lead? Well, obviously, it makes it sound like I'm surprised that "a good chunk" of Southern California is gay. (The final sentence also doesn't make any sense.)
Anyone that knows me would know, very little surprises me, especially when it comes to homosexuality. I'm not claiming I have hyperactive gaydar or anything, but I was raised in San Francisco: gayness doesn't scare me. I have good friends who are gay. Hell, I'm bi! I get along well with the LGBTA people on campus-- they're fun. And while Northern California might have more gays per square mile (I don't even know that for a fact, but I certainly imagine it could be true), Southern California having any/a lot of gays WOULD NOT surprise me.
The original nut graf read: I have to admit, I was surprised at first. I came back from the AIDS Walk on Oct. 21 only to discover that both a good chunk of southern California and Albus Dumbledore, the beloved headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from J.K. Rowling's best-selling "Harry Potter" series were flaming. The two were mutually exclusive events, by the way.
See the difference? (It's the word "flaming," for those who didn't know.) It was meant to be a witty pun -a double entendre, if you will, referring to the Southern California fires. Someone who is gay might be called any number of things; one of them is "flaming." AFAIK, that's not a BAD thing. It's not negative or insulting, the way "faggot" et. al. are.
I don't know which editor changed it or why, though the wire editor, David, who's here with me in my Investigative Journalism class, told me that it's because "flaming" would get the LGBTA club on campus up in arms and mad at us. Paul, the editor-in-chief, told me it doesn't matter WHO we piss off, because the Daily Sundial pisses off almost everyone (people, organizations, etc.) on campus. Danielle doesn't know who edited it, either. NONE of that makes me feel better.
This is what I get for wanting someone to "look over" my work. Admittedly, I'm a bit concerned about my grade, but not to the point where I want someone to edit my work where it can get horribly misconstrued and get ME in trouble with strangers OR people I'm normally on good terms with.
I tried to nip this in the bud by mentioning the original context and apologizing to anyone that might be offended by either version in the comments section of the Sundial's website, but there still might be angry people that write or email in and again, I won't get told about it in time to make a response.
What this boils down to is a life lesson: I want to be an editor, but not the kind of editors I have or have had. I wanted to be a teacher, but not like the ones I had in high school. I want to edit to help people and to clarify messages, but I want to WORK with the writer-- which means I'm not going to be in the newspaper industry, because apparently deadline trumps over intent.
This is why I like having Dragonfayth as a moderated archive-- while it pisses me off that some people are "repeat offenders" who constantly need simply spelling and grammar checks, I appreciate the final product for being that much more readable. When I ask betas to look over my own fanfiction, they catch things that I couldn't, whether I read over my work once or ten times, whether it was just on-screen or printed out. I recognize the importance of editors (or betas, or pre-readers, or whatever you call them) not just because I AM one, and because I want to BE one professionally, but also because I need one-- and so do you. Really, everyone does at some point or another, for one thing or another.
Maybe I care too much about what people think. But honestly, I'm always aware that whatever I put out there -my own writing or someone else's- is for public consumption. It should be clear. It should retain the intent of the writer. And an editor's name is NOT the one on the byline; they're not the ones whose reputations are at stake. As someone who WANTS to be an editor but has just gotten screwed by one, it's a harsh reality.
I only hope it doesn't bite me in the ass.
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