How to Pitch the Associated Press
Jon Resnick, Donna Cassata and other editors from the Associated Press explain what they’re looking for in a pitch for a video story. Basically: Do your homework, know why the story’s newsy, describe characters, write tight.
It’s solid advice for any pitch. Watch below.
Client Work: Travis Fox Films
I was asked to design a logo and website for video journalist Travis Fox, whose “10 Golden Rules for Video Journalists” continues to be a popular post on this blog.
The site’s been in soft launch, but as of last night, it’s now fully operational, with new “Films” pages, showcasing Travis’s work for The Washington Post, Frontline and other outlets.
Since some of you have asked, the site fonts are served by Typekit.
Visit the site at travisfox.com.
Once a Copy Editor, Always a Copy Editor
Lori Fradkin used to copyedit for New York magazine. As a former full-time copy editor myself, I think her essay, “What It’s Really Like To Be A Copy Editor,” captures the trials of the job and the personality required to do it.
Copy editors will often say the role is invisible and thankless. Like most jobs, it defines who you are all of the time. But unlike, say, being a lawyer or a teacher, it tends to inspire uncomfortable and sometimes dorky conversations with strangers.
Fradkin writes:
No one will look at an edited article and think, I am certain that, once upon a time, there was a double quote where there should have been a single, and a wise person fixed the issue for my benefit. But if you let a “their” slip through in the place of a “there,” you are a complete moron. And if you are working online, commenters will let you know so. Then your boss will let you know that the commenters are saying so in case you didn’t see it yourself. Also, people will want to talk to you—outside of work—about grammar. Aside from the guy who called me “awkward, in a cute way,” I think the worst line I’ve heard was from the dude who asked my thoughts on the serial comma.
Nevertheless, those of us attracted to the job and who stay in it for a while are special. In a good way. After all, as I once wrote in my farewell note to my colleagues at the L.A. Times, I saw the job as “readers’ advocate and writer’s champion.” In other words whether you create the story or see the finished product, we’ve got your back.
Read Lori Fradkin’s full essay at The Awl.
Thought for the Day
“Enough already with this hyperactive behavior, this techno-tyranny and nonstop freneticism. We need to slow down and take a deep breath.”
—Bob Herbert
From his New York Times op-ed, “Tweet Less, Kiss More“
How to Turn Off Lancaster New Era Obit Paywall
A tipster to my blog discovered an easy way to get around the Press+ paywall, which recently launched on the Lancaster Online obits page: Turn off JavaScript.
I tested this on several browsers yesterday, and sure enough. It works.
LancasterOnline has not yet responded to my inquiry, but this morning, David Brauer of MinnPost received a reply. Basically, LancasterOnline is not worried. Obit readers and the tech savvy do not meet in their Venn diagram of online readership, they say.
While this may be true, anyone who plans to use Press+ to make money should be aware of the easy methods for circumventing the tool that’s meant to bring in extra revenue and take into account what kind of hit their profit plans could take, should people get the hang of changing a setting or applying a script.
