Why isn’t my item in the paper?
It’s a question I deal with regularly in my job as editor. We’re fortunate here in the Cowichan Valley to on most days have a long list of stories to pursue. We make decisions every day about what needs to be given priority at any given time. I make decisions all the time about what’s going to go into each edition of our print paper.
As you might imagine, not everyone is always happy about the outcome of these decisions. From story tips to submitted items about events, or photos, to what is going to go on the front page, a big part of my job is to sort and distribute and prioritize. And then it’s not uncommon for a last minute wrench to get thrown into the works — otherwise known as breaking news.
Our last edition looked significantly different when I first came in on Tuesday morning, for example, than it did when it hit the street Wednesday morning. A court date, an assault, and information on a truck crash on the Malahat all had to be accommodated in the final layout. Do I chop half the text out for print? Not use the photo that went with the story? Which items do I remove and save for a later date to make room? The answers aren’t always simple. At times I know they’re going to disappoint someone, or even make somebody angry.
Often when somebody sends something to the paper it’s about the most important thing that is going on in their life at the time, whether it’s an award they’ve won, a problem they’re having, or an event they’re organizing. To them, there’s no good answer as to why it’s not immediately printed. To them, it is vastly more important than anything else that did get chosen for print first.
Usually, when an item isn’t printed immediately it’s just because it has a bit of a longer shelf life. It will still be of interest to people if it goes into the next paper, or even an edition next week or next month. And it’s not that I don’t think the item is important. If I didn’t think people would want to read it, we wouldn’t consider publishing it at all.
On rare (bad) occasions something ages out (often a date of event goes by or something similar), and it doesn’t get in the paper. I feel badly every single time this happens. Fortunately, with the prominence of our website now, I can get things online, even if they don’t see print.
Letters to the editor are a whole other kettle of fish and another column altogether.
But I ask that you remember this: every item is the most important thing in the paper to someone.
