Wilmette Beacon provides information to the public through on-the-ground experience that coincides with independent journalism. The organization helps the public to understand the world better by providing truthful information to give the reader’s life richer and more fulfilling while contributing to a stronger and more just society. The current managing editor of the Wilmette Beacon is Eric DeGrechie, who is the second-in-command to the executive editor (Kludt, 2016). Therefore, it is important to comprehensively understand the various roles of the managing editor at the American-based news media company, Wilmette Beacon.
Introduction of the Managing Editor
Eric DeGrechie became the managing editor of the Wilmette Beacon, serving as the second-ranked official in the newsroom. Previously, he served as an assistant editor for 22nd Century Media LLC before the Wilmette Beacon reinstated him as the new managing editor. Therefore, DeGrechie has worked with the company for about 3 years since the Wilmette Beacon revived the title of the managing editor when he succeeded the current executive editor, Dean Baquet (Ember, 2016).
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The Managing Editor
The role of the managing editor is to review, revise, and proofread written content before its publication. Professionals in this position also train and evaluate writers to ensure that the polished work is polished and proofread. Additionally, he/she ensures that the written work and all other information including images and videos have been properly sourced. Although the managing editor is in a leadership role, he/she is still tasked to report to the editor-in-chief of all media publications (ASA, CSSA, and SSSA, n.d). However, the editor referred to here can as well work from home on a freelance basis, as well as in newsroom and magazine offices if not independent contractors.
Specifically, the managing editor develops a content strategy that aligns with the big picture of the media company goals. He/she must ensure that the content strategy is short, simple, and is flexible to facilitate growth in the company and its staff fraternity (ASA, CSSA, and SSSA, n.d). For example, it is upon Eric DeGrechie to identify the audience for the Wilmette Beacon, the big ideas they are interested in and which should be put forth, the different channels for disseminating news. In this regard, he/she must predict what the audience’s reactions will be towards the content offerings. This implies that the managing editor must measure the success of his/her content offerings, in the long run, to ensure that the company can leverage available data to evolve its content strategy. Therefore, he/she administers the everyday operations of any publication from the organization or its website upon generating story ideas like planning, assigning, and editing content.
Other than editing the works of the writers, the managing editor also writes original content and publishes all contents generated by the company’s employees. For example, DeGrechie writes original content for publication without entirely depending on the information from other journalists in lower ranks. The contents from the managing editor are usually in the form of letters, blog posts, and articles. The contents are published to the Wilmette Beacon’s platform, for instance, and the audience can access them when reading the information on the websites, blogs, social media platforms, podcasts, and even emails. However, the managing editor must have the value of connection in mind to ensure that he/she creates contents that resonate with the audience, as well as their expectations. Similarly, the choice of where to publish and promote content offerings is important in maximizing the impact of the message (ASA, CSSA, and SSSA, n.d). Therefore, the editor’s strong writing and editing skills are critical facets that ensure the overall success of the company in the long run.
Further, the managing editor collaborates with the sales and marketing leaders within and beyond the organization. Connection with individuals from other organizations helps in building a cohesive brand for the organization and its products and services. However, decision-making should not be completely autonomous but instead, the managing editors should consider the pieces of advice from other facets of the organization. The idea behind such a consideration is to ensure that the organization hears every voice of individual players; hence, pulling the voices together promotes the creation of more engaging and unique content. Collaboration ensures that the managing editor develops strategies for setting up the editorial board for successful content marketing (ASA, CSSA, and SSSA, n.d). By so doing, the company will efficiently handle all content-related requests and issues through its editorial board to facilitate accurate and timely content distribution based on an amplification strategy.
The managing editor decides big ideas that align with the goals of the organization. For instance, the most critical part of this role is thought leadership, which gives the editor the authority for being the content’s gatekeeper. For the case of Wilmette Beacon, the organization relies on DeGrechie’s big ideas to propel its goals and long term objectives forward (ASA, CSSA, and SSSA, n.d). Therefore, DeGrechie leads the whole Wilmette Beacon’s team to communicate vital information to the world. The managing director is ever focused on the company’s goals and it has been gaining followers through compelling content leadership since appointing DeGrechie in 2016.
Planning is another important role of the managing editor of any media company. It involves strategizing on how to communicate big ideas. The professional at that position must be a master of language since content marketing requires much more than just producing glorified ads. Therefore, the managing editor must plan on how to communicate big ideas to propel the organization forward and lead its team in succinctly communicating those big ideas to the rest of the world. Planning requires a focus on content marketing and designing calendars for those contents while clarifying complex issues while maintaining the personality and chances of new information within the digital context. In Wilmette Beacon, Eric DeGrechie considers the worst in the company and strives to be the best by taking risks to achieve their long-term goals. Additionally, he creates editorial calendars that facilitate the implementation of content strategies. He first schedules thematic and relevant content that attract and benefit its audiences from across the globe and this sometimes involves stepping back and streamlining content offerings. Therefore, all products and services offered by the Wilmette Beacon are of topnotch quality.
Also, the managing editor manages the entire process for obtaining all pieces of content created. For Wilmette Beacon, managing the process means that Eric DeGrechie has to oversee a full content team of writers, the organization’s editors, it designers, as well as marketers. Beside such tasks, the managing editor creates content and ensures that all roles pertaining to his/her position are filled and the whole team is working together seamlessly. Notably, these roles are based on analytical skills, especially when there is a need to interpret content performance and make informed decisions that can drive the organization’s ambitions forward. For example, curating contents that resonate with the audience requires a critical analysis of available data to pinpoint what is most relevant for the audience. It is appropriate to apply data mining techniques to identify the trends of contents usage based on old information and revamping older pieces of information to meet the needs of the target audience. Also, the managing editor must brainstorm story ideas to create and introduce the most interesting story ideas that writers can flesh out. For the Wilmette Beacon, it is the role of DeGrechie to hire and train content writers, as well as assign them stories depending on the number of words that each piece of content should contain. Therefore, he determines the need for links and supplemental media to make overall communication more appealing, reliable, and dependable. Moreover, the managing editor’s main role is to manage the day-to-day operations of any publication while determining all budgetary and staff requirements. The editor must have unparalleled people and planning skills to eliminate possible bumps on the road and ensures that he/she meets the needs of the public no matter how stressful the situation is.
How to Approach the Editing Process
Having in mind that the purpose of editing is to tell the story in the fewest words possible, edited content is usually clear and free from intricate sentence structures. It uses familiar words that involve the forceful expression of ideas accurately without factual errors that can disfigure a good story. Therefore, when I receive content for editing, it is appropriate to first listen to hear the ideas communicated by the writer before responding. And because it is the writer’s story on one and the editor’s on the other, it is appropriate to respect the writer’s ideas because the reader is equally interested in the message. The following step is to revise the content by highlighting unclear and somewhat ambiguous concepts in pencil or ink while drawing attention to doubtful concepts that have a marginal note (Punjab Technical University, n.d). After the highlights, it is reasonable to send a legible copy back to the writer to check and revise appropriately. The third step is the text’s structural reorganization to restructure the whole write-up to bring forth the most important arguments and sections. However, the editor must explain to the writer the purpose of the reorganization. The structural reorganization is usually followed by expansion to provide in-depth experimental evidence while providing the missing materials. Therefore I would ask the writer to provide possibly missing arguments in the content. Also, shortening is a vital step that must not be overlooked at the editorial office. Shortening the content involves cautiously selecting the sections, paragraphs, and tables to delete and identifying the parts to condense (Punjab Technical University, n.d). Finally, shortening includes selecting marginally relevant themes to cut out. Last but not least, I would revisit the title, which is the main message of the content that should be conveyed in very few words. Therefore, I would re-title the story if necessary. Lastly, I would check the spellings to attain consistency and ensure that the content uses either American or British English. In case I note any inconsistencies, I would change the spelling to the most common version that is preferred by a larger percentage of the market.
Hardest and Easiest thing about the job
Editor’s triage is the hardest thing about the job, especially at the age of digital transformation. There is a voluminous flow of submissions, which increases every day and the editor has to organize the information based on the order of urgency and importance. However, many contents can only be processed at once given adequate financial and human resources, as well as time. The editor ends up rejecting enormous content and suspends the processing of some of them at a later date. Therefore, dealing with the interests of several writers who wait for their content to be published without wasting time is a challenge (Jawaid & Jawaid, 2013). To avoid backlogs, the editor can simply thank authors whose contents have been rejected and inform them that the information they presented for publishing has low priority; hence, may be suitable for a local publication. However, the easiest thing to do as the managing editor of a company is to screen content for plagiarism (Jawaid & Jawaid, 2013). The idea is simply to upload written pieces to software from CrossCheck to check plagiarism. For example, the editor must crosscheck contents before sending them to the public.
Public image
Yes. I have a public image that enables me to maintain and enhance a positive image and brand of my media organization. The public image signals the general public, customers, and global investors that I care about my organization and this helps me to improve trust. Notably, the public image helps me to cooperate with high-level executives of various media firms to align my activities with how the company wants the public to perceive it. Achieving such a goal depends on a special focus on the right message and strategizing on the right campaign that will best disseminate the information.
How my work experience prepared me for this position
Having worked in a publishing environment, I have gained enormous pre-entry experience that can help me to edit and publish school magazines, websites, and publications. This implies that I can work in bookshops and public libraries as well. Additionally, I have gained enormous experience in both editing and proofreading that enable me to correct both spelling mistakes and grammatical errors (Prospects, 2019). Therefore, I can resolve potentially libelous sections while overseeing both marketing and content activities based on my IT skills.
Advice to writers who want to pitch stories to my publication
Have a clear idea about the direction of your story
Present comprehensive stories and never stop where the story begins from
Use succinct and captivating headlines.
References
ASA, CSSA, and SSSA. (n.d). Chapter 1: Editorial Responsibilities. Editor’s Handbook, WI 53711-5801. Madison. Retrieved from https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/files/publications/editor-handbook/chapter-one.pdf
Ember, E. (Sept. 16, 2016). The New York Times. New York Times Reinstates Managing Editor Role and Appoints Joseph Kahn. The New York Times. Retrieved form https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/17/business/media/new-york-times-reinstates-managing-editor-role-appoints-joseph-kahn.html
Jawaid, S. A. & Jawaid, M. (2013). Are the Editors faced with e-problems performing their duties and responsibilities satisfactorily? Pak J Med Sci., 29(5): 1087–1092. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3858938/pdf/pjms-29-1087.pdf
Kludt, T. (September 16, 2016). CNN Business. New York Times names first managing editor since 2014. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. retrieved from https://money.cnn.com/2016/09/16/media/new-york-times-joe-kahn-managing-editor/
Prospects. (2019). Prospects. Job Profile: Publishing copy-editor/proofreader. Graduate Prospects Ltd. https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/publishing-copy-editor-proofreader
Punjab Technical University. (n.d). Editing: Concepts & Processes. Retrieved from http://www.nraismc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/105-EDITING-CON. CEPT-PROCESS.pdf
