Getting a story right

So, I covered a meeting last Tuesday evening, came home and wrote a story about it. It was a complicated meeting, with lots of cost estimates, proposals and background information. By the end of it, I couldn't imagine how I would write it up. But, back home, the story came easily and I knew (thought I knew, anyway) that it was good. I sent it off to my editor and hit the hay.

The next morning, I had an email in my box from my editor. He said it was a good story but that he was holding it for the following Monday. He questioned, though, the lede of my story and wanted to discuss that. At first, I was annoyed. It was a complex meeting, I'd written a good story and it wasn't going to run. But it was the day before Thanksgiving, a terrible day to run a story of real substance. And, beginning of the week stories get more play online. Still, I didn't want him to be right about the lede. Mine was the right one.

We argued about it and I even told him I wouldn't revise it. But he talked more and I realized, much to my frustration, that he was right. My angle was good, but his was better and the bigger truth. It always comes down to not loving your words so much that you can't or won't change them. The story didn't run today (Monday), but will run tomorrow. It's better for all the hassle.

Covering elections

There are few more exciting nights for a daily reporter than election night. That was true as a Providence Journal copy editor too. When I was copy editing at the Journal, there was a buzz on Election night that I'd feel as soon as I entered the newsroom.

Of course, the strange thing is that there is always this waiting waiting waiting that has to happen. Then the news, all fast and compressed and crazy. And you work and work and work and hope that your work is halfway decent.

This year, I worked the primary solo. My editor was out of town on another work assignment. The videotaping was great - I was happily surprised to find so many willing participants. But by the time I was writing up my stories at the end of the night, I felt woefully unprepared. Why hadn't I compiled a list of the candidates? I was scrambling for the most basic information and feeling foolish. I vowed to be better prepared come the regular election.

Well, I was. Pretty much.

Still, once the returns were announced, I found myself jerking between video, still camera and notebook, trying to figure out what to do first. In the end, the video camera at Town Hall was a bust. No real point to it (although of course you never know ... ). It would have served me better to be ready with the camera (I almost was!) and worry about quotes later.

Writing was harder than I thought it would have been. I sat there, beer and notes nearby, unable to put a sentence together for a while. Finally, the words started coming. Maybe I got a good angle on my particular story. Or maybe not. But, as my editor says, you've got to feed the beast. It got fed. Still, I hope I'll be more prepared next time!