News Editing: Introduction

Prerequisites:

Course Description:

News editing is about journalism - news lists, diaries and planning. It's also about management and people skills.

This course covers all journalistic aspects of being a news editor, as well as equipping you for a managerial role and developing your people skills. The course also looks at you as a manager and how you can become a really effective team leader.

This course includes the following modules:

Your coverage

• How to plan news coverage for a magazine or newspaper
• Identifying weak areas of coverage
• Turning a story round for your publication
• Dealing with late-breaking stories
• Ensuring you have a steady flow of story ideas presented to you

The news editors role on your publication

• What is expected of you as news editor?
• Defining your role
• A look at you as leader and manager
• Managing your time effectively

Budgets

• How to win a realistic budget
• How to stick to that budget

Getting the most from your team

• How to ensure you have a clear understanding of the skills, abilities, problems and concerns of each member of your team
• How to ensure they trust and value you as their leader

Forward planning

• How to make sure your know what story generating diary events are coming up and that you have them covered
• How to anticipate news
• Controlling the diary and choosing the right reporter
• Deciding which stories to cover

Commissioning a detailed brief

• How to get what you want from reporters, feature writers and photographers
• How to handle the situation if you don't get the story you want

Editing copy

• When should you edit a piece of unsatisfactory copy yourself and when should you hand it back for additional work?
• Editing a news piece effectively

Keeping ahead of rivals

• Keeping reporters keen and sharp
• The role of the news meeting
• Finding off-diary stories

Questions and answers