Things Are Different Now
Some of you probably know that my job is as a newspaper copy editor. I won't say exactly where -- because my company forbids me to do that -- but it's somewhere in a Blue State.
I often work from the "wire desk," which is where the stories from the wire services -- Associated Press, et al -- get routed into the newspaper. It's my job to recommend a dozen or so of them for the front page of the next edition (the news editor makes the ultimate call on that) and to fill up the inside A section pages with the best of the rest.
There are usually far more good news stories than there is space to run them. So, on inside pages, I usually trim off the byline of the story and just run the dateline with the AP credit. In other words, at the top of the article, instead of:
I'd just run this:
Bylines are nice, but I used to think of them as just a reporter's vanity plate. My thinking was that most people are interested in a story about Ukraine (or wherever), and didn't give a hoot who wrote it. So if it was a choice between getting in three more lines of the Ukraine story or getting in the reporter's name, I went for the "more story" option.
The exception was reporters whose bylines had special information, along the lines of "AP Political Reporter" or "AP Business Reporter," which seemed to convey something that a reader might want to know. The other exception was AP's Nedra Pickler or NYT's Gina Colata, but that's just because I get a kick out of their names.
That was then. Now, I'm aware that people are reading the media more closely than ever. They are beginning to know the names of the writers for the big outlets and to sense the difference in their coverage. So, now, especially when printing an Iraq story or a political story, I always make an effort to leave the byline on. For those who read and pay attention.
***
And I realize the importance of reading in this manner when I read the suggested headlines on stories like the one today about the decision of Marwan Barghouti to not seek the Palestinian Authority presidency.
Even the sympathetic BBC acknowledges that "The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade possibly sealed his fate when it issued a statement in 2002 claiming him as their leader." In fact, Barghouti described himself as the organizer of the al-Aqsa movement in a 2001 interview with the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat.
On May 20, 2004, the Tel Aviv District Court convicted Barghouti of three terror attacks in which five Israelis were murdered, and also of attempted murder, membership in a terror organization and conspiring to commit a crime. He was acquitted of 33 other murders with which he was charged, because of a lack of evidence. On June 6, 2004, Barghouti was sentenced to five consecutive life terms and 40 years.
So, he's a terrorist, convicted in a civilian court in a democratic country. He has his chance to appeal and overturn the verdict. So far, he hasn't done so. So he's a convicted terrorists, like it or not, just like Mumia Abu-Jamal is a convicted cop-killer, whether you like it or not, and Jonathan Pollard is a convicted spy, whether you like it or not.
The job of a newspaper is to tell you what is, not what the editors think it ought to be. But gods forbid the news organizations should stray anywhere near the "T" word.
And, my favorite...
Which is sort of like a headline identifying Hermann Goering as a fighter pilot or Hitler as a landscape painter and part-time author. Wouldn't you feel just a bit deceived by that? "Lee Harvey Oswald, textbook warehouse worker."
I often work from the "wire desk," which is where the stories from the wire services -- Associated Press, et al -- get routed into the newspaper. It's my job to recommend a dozen or so of them for the front page of the next edition (the news editor makes the ultimate call on that) and to fill up the inside A section pages with the best of the rest.
There are usually far more good news stories than there is space to run them. So, on inside pages, I usually trim off the byline of the story and just run the dateline with the AP credit. In other words, at the top of the article, instead of:
By ALEKSANDAR VASOVIC
Associated Press Writer
KIEV, Ukraine —
I'd just run this:
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) —
Bylines are nice, but I used to think of them as just a reporter's vanity plate. My thinking was that most people are interested in a story about Ukraine (or wherever), and didn't give a hoot who wrote it. So if it was a choice between getting in three more lines of the Ukraine story or getting in the reporter's name, I went for the "more story" option.
The exception was reporters whose bylines had special information, along the lines of "AP Political Reporter" or "AP Business Reporter," which seemed to convey something that a reader might want to know. The other exception was AP's Nedra Pickler or NYT's Gina Colata, but that's just because I get a kick out of their names.
That was then. Now, I'm aware that people are reading the media more closely than ever. They are beginning to know the names of the writers for the big outlets and to sense the difference in their coverage. So, now, especially when printing an Iraq story or a political story, I always make an effort to leave the byline on. For those who read and pay attention.
***
And I realize the importance of reading in this manner when I read the suggested headlines on stories like the one today about the decision of Marwan Barghouti to not seek the Palestinian Authority presidency.
Even the sympathetic BBC acknowledges that "The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade possibly sealed his fate when it issued a statement in 2002 claiming him as their leader." In fact, Barghouti described himself as the organizer of the al-Aqsa movement in a 2001 interview with the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat.
On May 20, 2004, the Tel Aviv District Court convicted Barghouti of three terror attacks in which five Israelis were murdered, and also of attempted murder, membership in a terror organization and conspiring to commit a crime. He was acquitted of 33 other murders with which he was charged, because of a lack of evidence. On June 6, 2004, Barghouti was sentenced to five consecutive life terms and 40 years.
So, he's a terrorist, convicted in a civilian court in a democratic country. He has his chance to appeal and overturn the verdict. So far, he hasn't done so. So he's a convicted terrorists, like it or not, just like Mumia Abu-Jamal is a convicted cop-killer, whether you like it or not, and Jonathan Pollard is a convicted spy, whether you like it or not.
The job of a newspaper is to tell you what is, not what the editors think it ought to be. But gods forbid the news organizations should stray anywhere near the "T" word.
New York Times: PALESTINIAN POLITICIAN, IN ISRAELI PRISON, AGREES NOT TO SEEK OFFICE
Knight Ridder: Jailed leader says he won't seek Palestinian Authority presidency
Washington Post: Jailed Palestinian Leader Opts Out
And, my favorite...
Associated Press: Uprising leader will not run in Palestinian election, giving support to Abbas
Which is sort of like a headline identifying Hermann Goering as a fighter pilot or Hitler as a landscape painter and part-time author. Wouldn't you feel just a bit deceived by that? "Lee Harvey Oswald, textbook warehouse worker."
