Mitzi Perdue

If you’re an old hand at this, please skip! You know everything that follows. But if you haven’t worked with someone from the media, here are some tips that will make the relationship smoother.  

Let’s start with something I’ve learned over the years: “the Driving Force of the Universe isn’t love, sex, power, money, or world domination: it’s the desire to change someone else’s copy.” When you’re given a chance to review a story, you will have a powerful urge to make changes.

The other half of this is, only a few writers are OK with having their copy changed.  I always laugh when I think of the economist and writer Thomas Sowell, who claims he has personal proof that the death penalty is an effective deterrent: he says he’s never yet murdered someone who tried to change his copy.

I think those two quotes, and the tension they reveal between editors and writers, explains why most columnists don’t let their subjects see what the columnist has written until after it’s in print. 

However, there are also other reasons for not showing their work to their subject. A big one I hear from my colleagues is, the subject may not realize that it’s important to get back to the writer promptly. The subject may think, “I’ve got a lot of things on my plate, I’ll deal with it over the weekend.”   

In my case, (and I’m writing this wearing my hat as someone who sometimes has stories written about her,) when a writer emails me, inviting me to make corrections, if possible, I drop everything and answer the email immediately. I know that the writer has a job to do and is up against deadlines, and until I answer him or her, I’m blocking the person.

This brings me to point number two. When a writer allows me to review a story I’m in, I can answer rapidly, in a matter of two or three minutes because it’s not my role to re-write the story the way I would write it.  If needed, I’ll correct inaccuracies, such as a  person’s title or a date, and then I’ll send it back to the writer. It shouldn’t take longer than five minutes.  If I’m tempted to take longer, I ask myself, “Am I trying write the story as if it were my story?”

Another factor to keep in mind is, in most cases it’s not a good idea to add material.  The problem with that is, the longer the story, the fewer the readers.  

In my own case, (I’m wearing my hat as a writer now), for a 600-word story, my first draft might have been 1400 words. I’ll have put a lot of effort into cutting it down.  When I’m revising my story, I’m checking that every word, every sentence, and every paragraph is contributing to the main point of the story and has a rhythm that carries the story forward.  I’m looking for conciseness and brevity, keeping in mind the generalization that the longer the story, the fewer the readers. I’m also on the lookout for stylistic breaks that interrupt the flow of the story.Writing a column is not about cramming in facts, it’s about the painful process of eliminating what doesn’t keep the story sharp and in focus.

To summarize, unless I’ve told you otherwise in the cover letter, best practices include: answer in a timely way, make factual corrections but don’t re-write, and in most cases, it’s best not to add material.  However, I’ll value our collaboration whether you follow this advice or not!