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The Editor at the Gate
Lauren Passalacqua - October 17, 2007
The American Society of Newspaper Editors lists among its priorities ”awareness for the First Amendment and the role of the press in society … freedom of information … [and] accurate, fair and complete news reports.” The ethics policy commits editors and their staff to the role of informing citizens. Given this value system, one wonders why the American public considers the news media “less professional, less accurate, less caring, less moral and more inclined to cover up rather than correct mistakes” than in years past. Readers are well served by editors’ perspectives of not only how they make decisions but why.
An editor’s responsibilities vary with the publication she works for and the topic she covers. Caryn Shinske, local news editor for the Courier-News, assembles a “comprehensive news report” while “managing a staff of reporters, meeting the needs and demands of my editors and getting it done on time” (Shinske). Nadine Heintz, former associate editor at the business magazine Inc., “devised a story line-up … assigned the stories, edited them and helped” with the layout (Heintz). Aside from their managerial role, editors determine how the publication handles particularly complex information. Two instances demonstrate editors’ control over a story’s appearance and placement in the newspaper.
The news coverage preceding the 2003 invasion of Iraq has become a topic of analysis, as Bill Moyers’ Buying the War makes clear. The documentary confirms that the news media resounded a “drumbeat from Washington.” The front pages of the New York Times and Washington Post confirmed the Bush administration’s specious accusations against Saddam Hussein and Iraq. However, some journalists did not jump on board the Bush bandwagon, including the Post’s Walter Pincus. He cut through official scripts and wrote reports skeptical of Iraq’s weapons capabilities. In a piece that appeared just two days before the invasion Pincus and colleague Dana Milbank revealed that some evidence had been “hotly disputed” or “refuted by subsequent discoveries.” The column was buried on A13.
Pincus speculated that his and similar stories were buried not because of fear of the White House, but rather for “worry about sort of getting out ahead of something.” In Howard Kurtz’s review of the Post’s prewar reporting, editors offered their own reasons. Former assisting managing editor, Karen DeYoung conceded, “caution and questioning was buried underneath the drumbeat,” referring to “the war preparation story.” Liz Spayd, assistant managing editor for national news said that because the national desk was inundated with “stories … competing for prominence,” some were overlooked. Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. recognized that “stories about dissenting views about pre-war WMD intelligence were not displayed as prominently in the newspaper as, in retrospect, they probably should have been.”
These acknowledgements remind readers of editors’ humanity. Heintz pointed out that journalists do their “best to produce good work despite … constraints.” She added that with so many different levels to every story, it is “difficult to portray a purely truthful version of any person or event” (Heintz). Yet, as gatekeepers, editors determine whether stories are published and, if so, where they appear. These are the decisions that most affect the public’s knowledge. Balancing these challenges is the editor’s primary task.
Bill Keller, executive editor of the New York Times, cited this responsibility when the paper revealed the existence of a covert national security program. In June 2006, Eric Lichtblau and James Risen reported that the Bush administration had “gained access to financial records from a vast international database” known as Swift. Though “administration officials … asked The New York Times not to publish this article,” Executive editor Bill Keller did not yield. The column ran on the front page. Both the Bush administration and news industry reacted. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow questioned the Times’ decision to expose the program and render it ineffective. Keller responded to the criticism in a Times' op-ed that underscored the editor’s duty: “Our job, especially in times like these, is to bring our readers information that will enable them to judge how well their elected leaders are fighting on their behalf, and at what price.”
These cases, interviews and testimonies reveal how editors’ decisions are primarily bound to public service. Editors will be wrong, their choices will be controversial; but they must remain committed to those who they seek to inform. For Shinske, this final point is a professional standard: “the daily newspaper must constantly look at their obligations to the reader … any editor who does not keep the reader in mind sets a dangerous precedent” (Shinske).
Sources
Heintz, Nadine. Email Interview. 16, October 2007.
Shinske, Caryn. Telephone Interview. 16, October 2007.
The American Society of Newspaper Editors lists among its priorities ”awareness for the First Amendment and the role of the press in society … freedom of information … [and] accurate, fair and complete news reports.” The ethics policy commits editors and their staff to the role of informing citizens. Given this value system, one wonders why the American public considers the news media “less professional, less accurate, less caring, less moral and more inclined to cover up rather than correct mistakes” than in years past. Readers are well served by editors’ perspectives of not only how they make decisions but why.
An editor’s responsibilities vary with the publication she works for and the topic she covers. Caryn Shinske, local news editor for the Courier-News, assembles a “comprehensive news report” while “managing a staff of reporters, meeting the needs and demands of my editors and getting it done on time” (Shinske). Nadine Heintz, former associate editor at the business magazine Inc., “devised a story line-up … assigned the stories, edited them and helped” with the layout (Heintz). Aside from their managerial role, editors determine how the publication handles particularly complex information. Two instances demonstrate editors’ control over a story’s appearance and placement in the newspaper.
The news coverage preceding the 2003 invasion of Iraq has become a topic of analysis, as Bill Moyers’ Buying the War makes clear. The documentary confirms that the news media resounded a “drumbeat from Washington.” The front pages of the New York Times and Washington Post confirmed the Bush administration’s specious accusations against Saddam Hussein and Iraq. However, some journalists did not jump on board the Bush bandwagon, including the Post’s Walter Pincus. He cut through official scripts and wrote reports skeptical of Iraq’s weapons capabilities. In a piece that appeared just two days before the invasion Pincus and colleague Dana Milbank revealed that some evidence had been “hotly disputed” or “refuted by subsequent discoveries.” The column was buried on A13.
Pincus speculated that his and similar stories were buried not because of fear of the White House, but rather for “worry about sort of getting out ahead of something.” In Howard Kurtz’s review of the Post’s prewar reporting, editors offered their own reasons. Former assisting managing editor, Karen DeYoung conceded, “caution and questioning was buried underneath the drumbeat,” referring to “the war preparation story.” Liz Spayd, assistant managing editor for national news said that because the national desk was inundated with “stories … competing for prominence,” some were overlooked. Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. recognized that “stories about dissenting views about pre-war WMD intelligence were not displayed as prominently in the newspaper as, in retrospect, they probably should have been.”
These acknowledgements remind readers of editors’ humanity. Heintz pointed out that journalists do their “best to produce good work despite … constraints.” She added that with so many different levels to every story, it is “difficult to portray a purely truthful version of any person or event” (Heintz). Yet, as gatekeepers, editors determine whether stories are published and, if so, where they appear. These are the decisions that most affect the public’s knowledge. Balancing these challenges is the editor’s primary task.
Bill Keller, executive editor of the New York Times, cited this responsibility when the paper revealed the existence of a covert national security program. In June 2006, Eric Lichtblau and James Risen reported that the Bush administration had “gained access to financial records from a vast international database” known as Swift. Though “administration officials … asked The New York Times not to publish this article,” Executive editor Bill Keller did not yield. The column ran on the front page. Both the Bush administration and news industry reacted. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow questioned the Times’ decision to expose the program and render it ineffective. Keller responded to the criticism in a Times' op-ed that underscored the editor’s duty: “Our job, especially in times like these, is to bring our readers information that will enable them to judge how well their elected leaders are fighting on their behalf, and at what price.”
These cases, interviews and testimonies reveal how editors’ decisions are primarily bound to public service. Editors will be wrong, their choices will be controversial; but they must remain committed to those who they seek to inform. For Shinske, this final point is a professional standard: “the daily newspaper must constantly look at their obligations to the reader … any editor who does not keep the reader in mind sets a dangerous precedent” (Shinske).
Sources
Heintz, Nadine. Email Interview. 16, October 2007.
Shinske, Caryn. Telephone Interview. 16, October 2007.
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