Editing skills prove valuable in all kinds of jobs

December 17, 2014 Leave a comment

Whatever kind of journalist you aspire to be – reporter, photojournalist, designer, multimedia producer, broadcaster or editor – you’ll need to develop editing skills to succeed.

Editors work for all kinds of organizations on many different platforms (print, broadcast, Web, mobile). The goal of editing is clarity, regardless of platform. Editors help readers navigate through information by distilling messages. Editors work for small and large newspapers, broadcast outlets, magazines, book publishers and newsletters. They hold communication jobs for corporate, academic and nonprofit organizations. Editing skills are valued in public relations and advertising. Regardless of where they work, editors increasingly are responsible for work published on the Web.

Since 2011, beginning editing students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln interviewed editors from a variety of places to ask them about their jobs, their advice for journalism students and their insight into how journalism is changing. Although the editors the students chose worked in many different jobs, many editors offered similar suggestions.

Their advice included: Read all different kinds of writing, master the basics of usage and grammar, get internships and college publication experience, learn the Web and new technologies, and be open-minded about the future.

Click on the links below to read their reports:

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For John Teti, well-rounded skill sets are key in modern media industry

December 14, 2014 Leave a comment

By Drew Preston
University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Working for “The Daily Show” bored John Teti.

headshot_teti

John Teti is a senior editor at the A.V. Club. Photo courtesy of The Gameological Society, Teti’s former companion site to the A.V. Club.

Teti is a senior editor at the A.V. Club in Chicago, a title and position he invented for himself when he started working there full time in 2013. The A.V. Club is an online entertainment publication owned by The Onion, Inc.

“It’s a title that I invented when I came out here. We knew what I wanted to do, and we sort of slapped this title on it. I do kind of have a managerial role,” Teti said in a phone interview. He was comparing his duties at the A.V. Club to fellow senior editor Sean O’Neal.

Teti is a graduate of Dartmouth University, where he completed his master’s degree in 2005. He worked for the school’s student newspaper, The Dartmouth, through all four of his undergraduate years. By his senior year, he was the editor-in-chief.

Many aspire to work where Teti found a job immediately out of school. After finishing things at Dartmouth, he was hired as an associate producer at “The Daily Show.” Through college, he thought that he wanted to work in the television industry, but he learned through experience that that was not the case.

“My job was in the field department; my job was basically to come up with ideas for field segments that we did. When Jon Stewart would approve any of them I would help find characters we would interview, set up a location and whatnot to help produce it. I did that for a couple years, and it just got boring. I felt like I was doing the same thing over and over again and I felt like I didn’t have as much creative input as I wanted,” Teti said.

Teti was done with “The Daily Show” by the end of 2006. From there, he was involved in improv and standup comedy. Meanwhile, he was constantly writing, posting on his blog Geek Out New York.

“From there, I happened to meet someone who worked on the business side of The Onion. And I said to him, ‘Hey, I’d love to write videogame reviews for the A.V. Club.’ And I got in touch with the editor there, and he liked some of my clips from the blog and I started doing that more.”

He gradually worked his way into his position at the A.V. Club. He began freelancing for the publication in 2008 and began working for them full time as the games editor in 2012. In November 2013, he moved from New York to Chicago to assume his current role.

Teti enjoys his job immensely, partially because of the variety that every day presents him.

“Each day really is different,” Teti said. “Every Thursday we have a meeting of all the staff in the morning. That’s sort of our time every week to get those more collaborative things underway, and also to check in with everyone, see how everyone’s coming along, what difficulties and challenges everyone’s encountering.  I wrote a newswire. You know, I usually have to write. A few times a week I need to write a newswire or a ‘Great Job, Internet!’ or some little thing, just to pull my weight. I spent the rest of the day working on my weekly football column, which goes up on Fridays.”

Being a senior editor, Teti has more duties than just writing.

“One of the nice things about working at the A.V. Club is that some days I’m really doing a lot of managerial work, helping people get pieces going, editing pieces as they come in. You know, handling publication stuff in the CMS and making sure things look right on the site. Some days are more dedicated to just me writing. One of the reasons I love it here is that it changes from day to day; it stays interesting for me.”

Another thing that makes his job enjoyable at the A.V. Club is its status as an online-only publication. Teti says that there are a number of benefits to working with online publishing platforms.

“For me, what I like about working on the Web as a medium is that I can make connections in my criticisms and I can illustrate them in so many interesting ways,” Teti said. “I know how to cut together a video clip, or I can tweet or Instagram. I think if you took a lot of my columns and printed them out, you’d still be getting a lot out of them, but you’d only maybe be getting 80 percent. You need the multimedia experience.”

The A.V. Club is an example of the shifting landscape of media, with more and more publications moving from print to online. Even in this shifting landscape, there are certain skills that Teti sees remaining important.

“One thing I’m shocked that people don’t work on is the pure craft of the English language. Really, you’ve got to be: A) a voracious reader so that you’re processing the language all the time and getting it into your bones, and B) you’ve got to be ruthless with yourself in terms of grammar and style. It’s those little things that make such a big difference to editors.”

Teti has one important piece of advice for students looking for jobs in the media industry: Be ready to do things on your own.

“I taught myself how to edit video and how to program HTML and CMS. I love computers, so maybe that’s something I would do because I’m a weirdo. But you can acquire each skill. Learn how to do as much of it as you can by yourself because you do have to do everything. To me, that’s only going to become more so in the five-to-10 year timeframe. You need to be able to put together a sentence, like I said, but you have to have skills beyond that so you can offer yourself as a package, not just one thing, to a media outlet.”

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Susan Veidt builds on experience, becomes leader at FleishmanHillard

December 14, 2014 Leave a comment
Susan Veidt manages the Midwest region of FleishmanHIllard

Susan Veidt manages the Midwest region of FleishmanHIllard

By Nicole Emanuel
University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Each day is different for Susan Veidt, president of the U.S. Central Region at FleishmanHillard, a public relations and integrated marketing firm. She manages the operations of all five FleishmanHillard offices within Midwest.

She said her days are split into 15 to 30 minute increments, devoting her time to serving employees and using her experience to help them be successful. Part of her responsibilities include recruiting staff, company branding, evaluating her clients’ markets, consulting on crises and general oversight of clients in her region.

Veidt’s favorite part of her job is the interaction she has with fellow employees at FleishmanHillard. She enjoys being surrounded by like-minded people who value strong communication skills. Their shared passion and interests create a fun environment where they can build powerful communication platforms.

That shared purpose is what has kept Veidt at FleishmanHillard for almost 28 years and makes every day fun.

When Veidt was exploring career options as a journalism student at the University of Missouri-Columbia, magazine journalism seemed to be a good fit. Long-form writing, publication design, editing and reporting were all areas that Veidt enjoyed.

As she made connections, however, graduate students introduced her to publication work for organizations. As she learned more about the industry and its integrated communication, Veidt liked how it combined writing and media relations to reach specific stakeholder groups.

Intrigued, Veidt believed she was well suited for these tasks and launched her career in public relations. After 12 years working as a publicist, writer and project manager, Veidt joined FleishmanHillard in 1986 as an account executive.

Veidt has several years of editing training and believes it is an essential aspect of her job. She often edits her own work but recommends having a second person look over everything, not only to proofread for basic grammar and style errors, but also for content and feedback. It is vital that whatever message is sent is clear, persuasive and on target with the audience. Feedback helps prevent misinterpretations.

As a leader, Veidt believes it’s essential to set an example of good writing and editing practices for the rest of the company. She hopes that others will see her commitment to high standards and follow suit.

“We’re in the business of communication,” Veidt said in a phone interview. “Every piece that we send out, however big or small, is important.”

Social media is a central platform in every aspect of Veidt’s work. Personally, she networks on sites such as LinkedIn. Professionally, she monitors social media channels for trends that can be used to benefit clients and uses it to listen to consumers.

FleishmanHillard uses social media to market and manage its reputation as well as to serve its clients. Online presence requires a constant education to keep learning and understanding when to engage over social media and when not to use it.

In the future of public relations, some things will never change. Veidt highlights the importance of being able to understand people and knowing how to apply communication skills to tell persuasive stories.

But one of the changes is the proliferation of channels. The communications industry is growing more reliant on tools for research and monitoring that allow businesses to listen and react in real time. Analytics and research to collect data will partner with public relations to become a larger part of the industry in the future.

The speed in which an organization communicates and reacts has become more important and will continue to be vital for successful public relations. With the 24-hour news cycle the work is never done; learning to manage that and react accordingly will be crucial. Veidt sees that as a big change.

Staying relevant in a radically changing communications field is a challenge for Veidt. Managing her time well and finding the most effective way to communicate with different people are also areas where Veidt works to improve.

Working with clients in several different industries can be another difficult task. She is required to have an understanding of unfamiliar businesses and to do so quickly to best serve each client.

Veidt’s advice for students is to never stop learning, even after graduation, and to never be content.

“If you’re doing things the way that you did them 12 or 18 months ago, you’re probably screwing up because our field is changing and evolving so rapidly … know that your training is a lifelong process and embrace that.”

Given Veidt’s career experience, she would have taken more business classes in college. Knowing how her clients’ businesses operate and being able to speak in their terms helps her to be a more effective communicator. Another area Veidt wishes she had more knowledge in is social sciences. She feels that understanding psychology and other mental triggers are important because they can be used to target audiences and engage with people. With degrees in journalism and English, Veidt said her background in liberal arts has served her well.

One of Veidt’s favorite projects that she has worked on, and her firm still works on, goes back over 20 years. The “Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery” program, sponsored by Energizer batteries, partners with local fire departments to encourage people to change the batteries in their smoke detectors when they change their clocks for daylight savings. It is rewarding to be part of a lasting national program that not only sells batteries, but also saves lives.

Veidt said one of the compelling things about public relations is that the best times are ahead and the most exciting projects are the ones she is working on now.

Veidt reminds students that everyone has a brand. She encourages people to be conscious about cultivating a brand of excellence and approaching everything as an opportunity to surpass expectations and add original ideas.

“Think ‘How can I distinguish myself as someone who is known for excellence and the ability to make great things happen?’” Veidt said. “If you approach your work with that degree of commitment and passion then more opportunities open up to you. You get better assignments, you get promoted faster, you get greater rewards and your work becomes more fun and success follows.”

Categories: finals Tags: , ,

Editor believes journalists have the power to defeat evil

December 13, 2014 Leave a comment
Jim Brock, editor of the Nebraska City News-Press (Photo courtesy of Nebraska City New-Press)

Jim Brock, editor of the Nebraska City News-Press (Photo courtesy of Nebraska City New-Press)

By Madison Wurtele
University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Jim Brock, the editor of the Nebraska City News-Press has an undeniable passion for sharing the news. It shines through every one of his words. In an email interview, Brock shared his passion and what he has learned from his experience in  journalism.

Brock’s career took an unconventional path. He majored in history instead of journalism.

But he became an intern for his hometown paper in the Memphis, Nebraska, area, in 2002, making journalism his career. He began working at the Nebraska City News-Press when he was transferred there by Gatehouse Media.

“The best part of my job is knowing I can effect change on a daily basis. That is why I do what I do. I certainly don’t do it for the money,” Brock said.

A typical day for Brock consists of distributing assignments, planning budgets, attending to social media, updating websites and looking over the operations for the three different newsrooms he is in charge of.

Brock recognizes that working for a small publication does have disadvantages. He must balance giving readers the information they need to know with wanting to increase ad sales. He says it can also be a struggle when important members of the community try to influence the content of the newspaper.

“The purpose of a newspaper is to inform the community it serves, whether said community wants to hear the news or not. In today’s world, the focus has shifted to making money at the expense of journalistic integrity,” he said. “You cannot pick and choose what stories to run based on public reaction and whether or not an advertiser will withdraw its ads. Unfortunately, that is the reality of working for a community newspaper.”

Since beginning his career, Brock has seen the role of editing change and develop. He thinks professional writing has become more casual. He also sees himself starting to write more like he speaks. Brock says he has started using prepositions at the end of sentences and constructing sentences with no verbs. Brock sees this type of change continuing. He believes the world will always need editors, but they are the middlemen who will eventually be removed as the popularity of citizen journalists groups and self-editing reporters increases.

However, even with the ever-changing journalistic environment, Brock continues to have the utmost faith in the power and importance of the media.

“I have learned that the press is powerful enough to save an entire community from overreaching governments, high-society mandates, archaic city ordinances and racist law enforcement officials,” he said. “If done correctly, reporters and editors can effect more change than elected officials. That is why it is so important that newspapers survive.”

Brock’s hope for aspiring journalists is that they recognize the power of their words and persevere through this business’s many challenges.

“Never forget that your job is more important than most. And remember, you are going to mess up,” he said. “You will get a story wrong. You will mix up the facts, and you will misspell someone’s name. It is as inevitable as rain and snow. In fact, this will follow you until you retire. Just get back on the horse and keep riding. You are the Knight in Shining Armor. Don’t ever forget that.”

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Journalism 2.0 with email marketer Jessica Best

December 13, 2014 Leave a comment
Jessica-Best-300px

Jessica Best is a Digital Marketing Evangelist with Emfluence: Digital Marketing. “The subject line of an email is like a headline, but you only have 40 characters to get the job done.”

By Emily Wicht
University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Digital Marketing Evangelist Jessica Best considers her role at Emfluence: Digital Marketing to be Journalism 2.0 because in strategic communication, she uses both her journalism and creation skills in equal parts. Emfluence is an email platform that clients can use to create marketing campaigns.

Before diving into the world of strategic communication and email marketing, Best attended the University of Missouri-Columbia as an elementary education major, then a nursing major, then computer engineering major before graduating with a degree in journalism/strategic communication in 2005.

After college, Best began writing ad spots on the radio, which helped land her a job with Theater League, a touring Broadway presenter, where she marketed season tickets. It was during her time with Theater League that Best got her first taste of learning about email and how to use email to its full capacity.

Best was also on the Board of Direct Marketing Kansas City, when she began using Emfluence first as client. After becoming an enthusiastic fan and advocate of the Emfluence platform, a fellow board member offered Best a job as an advocate and marketer for Emfluence.

At Emfluence, Best wears many hats.  She act as an educator on the power of email and social media in the office, but she also works with clients to help them see what new and creative ways they can use things and how to build up and manage their email lists.  She helps manage the Emfluence Twitter and Google+ accounts and works as an account rep of sorts for the marketing association. Best also works with trade clients and clients that Emfluence sponsors.

In addition, Best also works on email nurture campaigns, the Emfluence newsletter and writes and edits for two Emfluence blogs. “It [my job and strategic communication] makes me feel like my own small business agency,” she said. Best says that her favorite part of her job is the strategy portion because email marketing is “an avenue where [clients] can make sales using something they already use [email].”

Email marketing is unique because it is completely data driven. As Best said, “you are mining for people who you know use something.” You know they will use it because you know they already buy it, which increases the return on investment.

One goal of email marketers is to “send an email to 200 people but making it feel personal,” Best said.

Her journalism degree has been helpful. She wants wants students to know that advertising, public relations and marketing all crossover. She believes that it is more about getting the technical education to implement your skills that is important. “A catchy headline is a Tweet,” Best said.

Becoming a professional can be intimidating, but Best said it was important to know that even when you are a professional “you are still not a grown up. There is never a point where you are grown up. You never stop changing your mind; You never stop learning.”

The best advice she has ever received was: “You have to be OK with failing and understanding that you will be learning something.”

She said, “You are more apt to learn if you are willing to fail.”

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‘If anyone tells you that you can’t do something because you didn’t go to college for it, that’s just a bunch of crap’

December 13, 2014 Leave a comment
Kati and Levi Hime, owners and editors of Wyoming Lifestyle magazine.

Kati and Levi Hime, owners and editors of Wyoming Lifestyle magazine.

By Avery Sass
University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Kati and Levi Hime of Laramie, Wyoming, have owned and edited their own magazine,  “Wyoming Lifestyle,” since 2010.

Originally from Kearney, Nebraska, Kati Hime always loved writing but thought she could not make a living from it. So she pursued a career in medicine, thinking she’d become a physician.

After realizing she wasn’t cut out for medical school, she became a registered sonographer.  But at 25, she knew she wanted something more.

In high school, the couple had been active in many things including Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). Later, the Himes led the Wyoming State Junior Miss program for a few years. Kati also coached cheerleading at a local high school and was part of Job’s Daughters, a Masonic-sponsored youth organization for girls and young women.

They still have many interests. Levi Hime volunteers with the Boy Scouts. The couple also own a local dance studio that was supposed to close a few years back. Both of their children dance there, and the Himes did not want to see it close.

“Levi and I can never really decide what we want to be when we grow up,” joked Kati, looking back on all of their unrelated-to-the-job community service and involvement.

“If you would’ve told me back then we would have a magazine and publishing company, I would’ve laughed and thought there’s no way, I’m not qualified for that,” she said. “You create your own path and sometimes things happen that you never anticipated and life is a continual learning process. And if anyone tells you that you can’t do something because you didn’t go to college for it, that’s just a bunch of crap. You can figure it out and learn it and understand it. Don’t be discouraged at all about that.”

Levi graduated with a degree in geology but had a knack for computer technology and design. He worked 50 hours a week as a groundwater geologist, but Kati worked fewer days and had a more flexible schedule. So the two decided to put their hobbies together to create a wedding magazine called “Wyoming Weddings,” in 2009.

One year later, they realized that once people who read their magazine got married, they wouldn’t pick up the wedding magazines anymore. So the couple decided to create a magazine with broader appeal. That’s how Wyoming Lifestyle began.

They split duties at the magazine. Levi does the backend work: Web design, Web updating, and information technology.   Kati does most everything else: the writing, editing, ad sales, financial work and getting issues ready for print. They have contributing writers and photographers, ad sales representatives and a graphic designer.

Kati and Levi then personally deliver the papers all around the state within two weeks, four times a year, which is one of Kati’s favorite parts.

“People get really excited when the magazine comes in, and I see these people four times a year and so it’s nice to connect and ask them how their kids are and what they’re doing. Connecting with people and getting to see the entire state, it never gets old. The magazine has been an incredible experience.  It’s taken us to Wyoming and experiences around Wyoming we never would have had.”

But there are challenges too.  “The hardest thing about starting and building something is when you start off anything new you get really excited about it, you throw yourself into it, you’re passionate about it and when the hard work starts happening and it’s 2 a.m. and I’ve just come home from being on the road all day and have to get up at 6 to do it all again,” she said.  “Or I’ve been working to sell ads and have made 30 phone calls and gotten 28 nos, and you’re looking at your budget realizing you have got to sell a certain number of ads and you feel a panic moment. It’s moments like that where it’s not easy and you have to go back to that thing that got you excited and you have to go back to your passion.

“And it’s stuff like that that goes on for a year or so and that is when people want to throw in the towel. It takes time to start a business. They feel discouraged and the biggest thing is you just got to see it through and remember what got you excited and have faith in it,” she said. “We’re five years in and are just seeing a profit. Some days were very discouraging those first couple years. You have to see it through, and it’s tough. But it’s the biggest test of your will power in those moments and no one can make that decision to keep working but you.

“And there’s the biggest pride in that when you get to the other side and start seeing the benefits and know that you saw that through; that’s a big powerful moment. That takes courage.”

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Want a dream job? Internship experience may get you there

December 13, 2014 Leave a comment

By Jeff Chesnut
University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Lonna Kliment University of Nebraska-Lincoln Athletics

Lonna Kliment
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Athletics (Photo courtesy of Huskers.com)

Lonna Kliment is the director of ticket marketing for University of Nebraska-Lincoln Athletics. She has been working with the university for three years and has been in the marketing business for more than eight years.

Kliment, a Nebraska native, says it’s her dream job.

But she tells students they should go out of state to broaden their experience if they want to ultimately land a dream job like hers.

“Even if it’s only for one year,” Kliment said in an interview, “find a way to venture out and bring ideas back to Nebraska.”

Kliment, a UNL graduate,  got her first experience with marketing and editing for the Lincoln Stars, a minor league hockey team.

After graduation, she took a job as an account executive for the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals. Unfortunately for Kliment, the NFL lockout occurred after a disagreement between the National Football League and its referees. NFL games were suspended, so there was no need for Kliment in the organization and she was let go.

Although it may not have ended the way she wanted, Kliment was able to learn new marketing strategies that she would not have learned by staying in Nebraska. After leaving Arizona, she returned to Nebraska where she applied for a job posted by UNL athletics. Kliment got the job and has never looked back.

A typical day for Kliment is trying to come up with ideas to promote ticket sales for Husker sports. The main sports she works with are baseball and volleyball. To reach audiences, she uses social media, the Lincoln Journal Star and the Huskers online website.

All these posts must go through the approval editing process before she can send them out. The editing process is quite complex at the university.

“The post must first go through the marketing department, then the sports information director for that sport, then the senior associate AD that’s in charge for that sport, then the final person that gets to see it is Chris Anderson who is in charge of all communications for the athletic department,” Kliment said. Anderson is the final proofreader and has the final say before sending  posts off.

Once the post is approved, she has interns start working on the script to send out. Some promotional ticket campaigns can last anywhere from four to six weeks. It’s a never-ending process as Husker sports are ongoing throughout the year.

“Just when you think it will slow down once football and volleyball are over,” Kliment said, “you’re hit with basketball and baseball season.”

Social media has become one of the most important mediums in Husker sports as well with any other sporting business. The Husker’s athletic account alone has more than 150,000 followers. Each sport has its own Twitter account as well. Each sport’s Twitter account is often retweeted by the official Husker account to give that sport more followers and fans.

Kliment says social media “is one of the biggest ways we communicate with our followers and fans.” Nebraska has even devoted a room in the stadium to social media. Kliment calls it the “Corn Crib,” which is a social media hub, that’s full of TVs where people monitor everything that people say about Husker sports.

“Social media will continue to grow with sports and media,” Kliment said.  “It’s going to be vital to have proper organization to reach your maximum audience potential.”  

Without proper editing, promotions could fail very easily. Because fewer people are reading print newspapers, a lot of advertisements now run online. If  someone notices a mistake, it can easily be corrected. She often finds mistakes in promotions created by interns either in logos or words.

Even though the process is long and tedious, the mistakes are always caught since there are so many approval layers.  Typically a promotion takes three days to get approved before Kliment can post it.

Research is also one of the most important aspects of advertisements. To be on the cutting edge of social media, she said,  you must research what’s working and what’s not working throughout the country.

Schools watch other schools and find out why they’re being more successful than others.  Nebraska is one of the smallest schools in the Big Ten, so the marketing department is not as big as others. For the marketing department at Nebraska to compete with other schools, it must find alternative ways to attract audiences to the university. This can be difficult at times with a university like Nebraska that values old school traditions.

Kliments admits mistakes happen but says they can be a learning experience. Even professionals like Kliment make mistakes.

“I ordered 8,000 black T-shirts and I was going to black out the Bob Devany Sports Center for the volleyball game,” Kliment said. “The T-shirts were ordered and going to get printed and I didn’t ask enough people for approval and it got shut down. So I had to return 8,000 black T-shirts.”

You have to learn from your mistakes. And experience helps you do that.

The advice Kliment gives to students who want her job is simple:

“Intern, Intern, Intern.”

The more experience you have on your resume the better, she said. Experience is something that can’t be taught.

“It’s important to intern wherever you can,” she says, “because there are people who may have their master’s degrees ,but it’s going to be the experience you have that separates you from other people.”

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