Dynamics of Media Editing

As traditional newsrooms staffed by journalists and managed by experienced editors become less and less common, there is an even greater need for all types of professional writers to be fluent in the editorial process. Dynamics of Media Editing emphasizes the broad value of editing as both a tool for journalistic management and an essential skill for individual writers of all stripes. Author Vince F. Filak recognizes editing as an essential process for improving the quality of published writing, something that is relevant and essential to investigative journalists, social media interns, celebrity bloggers, and everyone in between. By organizing the book around skills and by platforms, Dynamics of Media Editing shows students how the basic principles of good editing work across disciplines and media platforms.  Key Features The emphasis on transferrable skills and multiple platforms shows students how to use the basic principles of good editing for journalism, PR, advertising, or social media marketing. The book takes a broad approach to editing, demonstrating that it’s not just a skill for managers at newspapers, but rather an essential process for improving all aspects of published writing. This addresses a critical course challenge, in that many students don’t see the relevance of editing in their planned careers. The audience-centric method emphasizes the need to engage one’s audience in order to be a successful writer. "Helpful Hints" boxes provide easy-to-consult lists of dos and don’ts for good writing. "Thoughts From a Pro" boxes allow media professionals from a variety of backgrounds to demonstrate the essential function of the editing process in the workplace.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgments About the Author Chapter 1: Audience-Centric Editing Editing for an audience VIEW FROM A PRO: Brody Karmenzind Media users today How to define your audience HELPFUL HINTS: How to Figure out Who Is in Your Audience What attracts an audience? The Big Three Chapter 2: Editors as Leaders and Managers Preparing to be an editor The job of an editor HELPFUL HINTS: Checklist of Important Skills VIEW FROM A PRO: Penny Fisher The editor as a manager HELPFUL HINTS: Define Your Leadership Style Coaching writers The Big Three Chapter 3: Law and Ethics Freedom of the press and common misconceptions of it Libel VIEW FROM A PRO: Frank LoMonte Techniques to avoid libel concerns Defenses against libel HELPFUL HINTS: How to Determine if Something Is Opinion Communications Decency Act Invasion of privacy Copyright Online limits to liability HELPFUL HINTS: The Steps Under Ocilla Creative Commons Ways to Avoid Copyright Concerns The Big Three Chapter 4: Ethics Ethics defined Models of ethics Audience standards and the Breakfast Test Establishing rules and guidelines HELPFUL HINTS: Defining Types of Information and Sources Management and ethics VIEW FROM A PRO: Allison Hantschel Sansone Working with staff members The balancing act Visual ethics An ethical thought process The Big Three Chapter 5: Punctuation End Marks That Stop Internal marks that pause HELPFUL HINTS: Defining Key Terms VIEW FROM A PRO: Brian Cleveland Specialty marks that explain HELPFUL HINTS: The 5-Minute AP Style Guide The Big Three Chapter 6: Improving sentences and using proper grammar How to tighten writing HELPFUL HINTS: Weak Adjectives and Adverbs HELPFUL HINTS: Empty Phrases Correct usage VIEW FROM A PRO: Chris Drosner Irregular verbs Problem pronouns Prepositions The Big Three Chapter 7: Editing for the bigger picture Editing for the bigger picture HELPFUL HINTS: Questions Regarding Accessibility The editing process Editing versus fixing The first pass The deeper edit VIEW FROM A PRO: Reed Fischer Cutting copy Filling holes How to criticize effectively The Big Three Chapter 8: Headlines How headlines work HELPFUL HINTS: How to Write an Audience-Centric Headline HELPFUL HINTS: Basic Terms of Headlines The core of a good headline HELPFUL HINTS: Headlines and Style Things to do before writing a headline VIEW FROM A PRO: Lindsay Powers Key Elements of Writing a Headline HELPFUL HINTS: Mistakes That Can Lead to Bad Headlines Things to do after writing a headline HELPFUL HINTS: Headline Checklist SEO and headlines The Big Three Chapter 9: Photography Elements of a quality image HELPFUL HINTS: Shots and Values Working with photographers VIEW FROM A PRO: Will Vragovic Improving images as an editor HELPFUL HINTS: Types of Photos Caption writing The Big Three Chapter 10: Information Graphics Basic Things a Graphic Should Do HELPFUL HINTS: The Anatomy of a Good Graphic The spectrum of graphics VIEW FROM A PRO: Kori Rumore The Big Three Chapter 11: Publication Design Basic principles associated with design Design considerations for color and background HELPFUL HINTS: Color Theory Type HELPFUL HINTS: Type terms VIEW FROM A PRO: Kyle Ellis Photos, graphics and other visuals HELPFUL HINTS: Gestalt Principles Creating your pages HELPFUL HINTS: Design disasters to avoid The Big Three Chapter 12: Editing for News Important editing issues related to news VIEW FROM A PRO: Amy Fiscus Story assignments HELPFUL HINTS: Beat Reporting Content consideration Hyperlinking HELPFUL HINTS: Thinking about Linking Basic rules for linking The Big Three Chapter 13: Social media Social media defined Why Is Social Media Valuable? Building a social media audience HELPFUL HINTS: Tips for Tweeting Social networking sites Social news sites VIEW FROM A PRO: Kelli Bloomquist Web comments Disadvantages of social media The Big Three Chapter 14: Editing for Public Relations What Is PR? Microediting in PR VIEW FROM A PRO: Elizabeth Connor Editing to accentuate the key elements of persuasive writing HELPFUL HINTS: Key Elements to Include for News Releases Advocacy The Big Three Chapter 15: Editing and marketing Marketing basics Editing for copy writing Marketing your own organization digitally HELPFUL HINTS: A Look at Analytics VIEW FROM A PRO: Eve Peyton Search engine optimization How to optimize your site Social media marketing The Big Three Glossary Notes Index

About the Author :
Vincent F. Filak, Ph.D., is an award-winning teacher and scholar who serves as a professor of journalism at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, where he primarily teaches courses on media writing and reporting. Prior to his arrival at UWO, he served on the faculty at Ball State University and also taught courses at the University of Missouri and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He also previously worked for the Wisconsin State Journal and the Columbia Missourian newspapers. He was also unanimously voted and selected as the next editor of Journalism & Mass Communication Educator by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. The Associated Collegiate Press honored him as part of the organization’s inaugural class of Pioneer Award Winners in 2022. The Scholastic Journalism Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication presented him with the Educator of the Year award in 2021, a year after he was honored by the National Society of Leadership and Success with an Excellence in Teaching award. In 2019, he received the Friend of KEMPA award for his work with high school journalism students through the Kettle Moraine Press Association. In addition, he has received awards from the College Media Association (CMA) and the National Scholastic Press Association for his work as a college media adviser and a mentor to high school journalists. As a scholar, Filak has received thirteen top conference paper awards, including those from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, the Broadcast Education Association, and the International Public Relations Society of America. He has published more than thirty scholarly, peer-reviewed articles in top-tier journals, including Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, the Newspaper Research Journal, the Atlantic Journal of Communication, Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism, the Howard Journal of Communication, Educational Psychology, and the British Journal of Social Psychology. He is also the winner of CMA’s Nordin Research Award, which goes to the best research paper completed on a topic pertaining to media advisers within a given year. He has published several textbooks in the field of journalism, including Dynamics of Media Writing (SAGE), Dynamics of News Reporting and Writing (SAGE), Dynamics of Media Editing (SAGE), Convergent Journalism (Focal), and The Journalist’s Handbook to Online Editing (with Kenneth Rosenauer; Pearson). He also blogs about media-related topics at DynamicsOfWriting.com. xxivHe lives outside Auroraville, Wisconsin, with his wife, Amy, and their daughter, Zoe.