1. Editing and the news process
News editing is the journalism craft that involves news processing and packaging.
Selecting copy for publication
Editing selected copy
Designing news pages
Editing is the filtering stage of news processing to ensure that errors which slip through reporting do not escape the editors.

2. What an editor do?
As editors prepare copy and art for publication, they are continually selecting, rejecting, determining and arranging what is to appear in the publication.

3. Following these qualities, the editor:
Evaluates the work of reporters, ensures they obey standard usages, and he designs effective news pages.
Filters news to ensure that only the appropriate information gets through to the reader. Errors of all kinds are barred from slipping through editing.
Has a knack for detecting faults.
Remarks error whenever detected, and teaches reporters to care more about making writing free of strain
Does not fetch the story, but stands in-between the reporter and the reader to help the former safely deliver story ideas to the latter.
Making inquiry to know what is wrong with text, and using his editing tools.
A professional hired by a business, and is not immune to occasional mistakes for which he should constantly get updated.
Writes and rewrites. The editor’s flair for writing gives into a penchant for improving on any piece of writing.

4. The News process Fetch the stories and type them at the computer.
The stories are stored in a computer memory, from where they are called up by the copy editor, who edits and schedules them for publication. A story may be discarded at this point (killed) if found unworthy of publication. It may be stored for future use if it is a timecopy– not easily perishable.
Headlines are written, photos are selected and cutlines are written.

5. Stories then go to the composing room, where high-speed computerized photocomposition machines convert electronic impulses into images and words. Strips of photographic papers are used in printing the stories.
In the camera room, a photograph is taken of the pasteup, which appears like the finished copy. A negative photograph results from this process, and is burned unto a plate, ready for press runs. Here a lithographic machine shines ultra-violent light through the negative onto the plate. The light goes through the clear parts of the negative, exposing only the printing areas of the plate. The technician attaches the plate to one of the cylinders of a large printing press. The plates are fed into an offset press, capable of producing more than 60,000 copies of a 65-page paper per hour.

6. Functions of the editor?
Creative
Managerial
Police functions.

7. Creative functions
Judges the day’s news and decides how to present it.
Compiles singles stories from materials originating from a variety of sources.
Checks for errors and corrects faulty language: this demands sense of news judgment, story pace and story polish.
Writes headlines, captions and cutlines that are clear, vigorous, factual and as complete a summary of the story as possible.

8. Managerial Functions:
1. He directs the work of art/graphic designers in photo selection and display 2. He is responsible for copy fitting 3. He keeps time copy and filler. Time copy is a story that is not easily perishable, which can be kept for future use (e.g., how to make a good home). When it is used to fill up excess space, it is called filler. Fillers are usually small in quantity.

9. Police Function: The copy editor:
Guards against libelous content
Assures objectivity (to guard public confidence), fair play and good taste
Clarifies the news and makes it meaningful by improving the flow and correctness of language. He
cares about:
o Spelling o Grammar
o Sentence o structure
o Style o Taste
o Fact o Incongruities
o Repetition o Unnecessary detail
o Overlooked facts
o Advertising in disguise (puffery)

10. The news editor and the copy editor
Copy editors do the following (1) News text editing: (a) improving on news text and writing headlines (b) proofreading, fact checking, grammar checking, spellchecking –usually done by entry- level copy editors (c) editing for style and content (d) editing briefs –briefs are tightly edited stories of two or three paragraphs from local reporters as well as national and global news wires. Briefs are getting popular because readers like them and that’s the style on websites. (2) Design and layout editing: creating pages, graphic displays on World Wide Web pages, photo and cutline writing, laying out pages with copy, headlines and art.

11. THE NEWSPAPER ORGANIZATION
Editorial Division
Editor-in-chief: heads the editorial department.
Editorial page editor: directly under the editor-in-chief. The editorial page editor reports directly to the editor because newspapers try to separate opinion from news to the greatest extent possible.
Managing editor: The managing editor is a relatively powerful figure who hires and fires staff members and supervises various sub-editors.
City editor: The city editor (or metropolitan editor) works for the managing editor and is responsible for local news coverage, including assignments for local reporters.

12. Desk editors: Depending on the size of the paper, other news sections such as sports, business, entertainment and features will have editors supervising them.
News editor: Also working for the managing editor who is responsible for preparing copy insertions into the pages. The news editor supervises copyeditors (who edit stories and write headlines), oversees the design of the pages, and decides where stories will be placed.
Wire editor: The wire or news service editor edits and coordinates the national and international news from the wire services, such as the Associated Press (AP).

13. Reporters
These are the first gatekeepers in the series of gatekeepers in the editorial department. While on the field, they make decisions on the aspects of a story to spotlight.
a. General assignment reporters
b. Beat reporters
c. Specialist reporters

14. Business Division
A general business department handles such things as accounting, personnel, and building maintenance. Three major areas: - advertising - circulation - promotion.

15. Production Division
Filming, plating and mechanical press runs; that is, printing out the papers on the press.

16. Review Questions 2. Paint a portrait of the editor.
1. What is editing?
2. Paint a portrait of the editor.
3. What are the police functions of the editor?
4. What are the divisions of a newspaper organization?
5. Articulate the functions of various editorial staff.