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An editor’s job description I
Jim Coggins
As editor of the MB Herald, one of my main tasks is assembling the “feature” section – those teaching articles at the beginning of each issue. I am frequently asked how this section is put together. In answering, I refer to what I call the “editor’s job description” in Ecclesiastes 12:9-11. There are several aspects to this job description:
Purpose: “The Teacher imparted knowledge to the people.”
Through the feature section, the Herald takes part in the teaching ministry of the church. In an era when even church members know less and less about the Bible and issues are more and more complex, teaching is increasingly important.
Furthermore, the Herald is intended to teach “the people”. It is sent to every Canadian Mennonite Brethren church member. Unlike many other denominational magazines, it is intended for average members, not leaders, and it is often appreciated more by average members than by Conference and local church leaders.
Method I: “The Teacher pondered.”
Some of what an editor does may not seem very productive. The editor thinks, reads (we receive about 100 other periodicals in our offices), studies and talks with people. This takes time. It is almost as if the Herald editor is getting a free education at the expense of the Conference. However, as Herald editor, it is vital that I learn to know and understand Mennonite Brethren people, MB churches, the church generally and the world. I must know these things in the present but also in the past so that I can put the present into perspective. I must learn all of this, and keep on learning, so that I know what is relevant, what the members need to be taught. Above all, an editor needs discernment, and discernment comes from study, consultation, Bible knowledge, spiritual maturity and prayer.
Method II: “The Teacher sought out many proverbs.”
The editor must look at a variety of articles and choose which ones to publish. I estimate that I reject 90-95% of the articles that I look at. (Keeping up with the correspondence with writers is an overwhelming job, one which I don’t think any Herald editor has been able to do completely.) Some articles are so good that they are accepted right away. Others are so poor that they are rejected right away. The ones in between take the most time to evaluate, and while the ultimate decisions are mine, I sometimes seek an evaluation of an article from managing editor Susan Brandt or other Conference leaders.
Where do the articles come from? Many sources. Sometimes we know of a topic that needs addressing, find a person with knowledge about that topic and ask that person to write; this is called “commissioning” an article. Sometimes, in conversation with someone, I hear a testimony or an idea that I think should be turned into an article, and ask the person to do so. Sometimes I hear a formal testimony or sermon and ask the speaker to turn that into an article. Sometimes I read a good article in another magazine or book and ask for permission to reprint it. Many articles are sent to the Herald without us asking for them; these are called “freelance” submissions. Some come from professional or aspiring writers. Others come from people who aren’t necessarily “writers” at all but who have something to say. We benefit greatly from a “tradition” or common understanding within the Mennonite Brethren Church in Canada that if you have something to say, you should say it through the Herald. The Herald thus becomes the vehicle through which Canadian Mennonite Brethren teach and encourage each other. We also have encouraged submissions by posting a list of upcoming themes on our Web site (under “Future Issues”) and passing out the list to writers who request it. The list of upcoming issues is developed six months to a year ahead, and is constantly being revised as articles come in, issues arise and needs change.
Method III: “The Teacher set in order many proverbs.”
Once we have decided which articles to publish, I “set them in order”, decide which article to publish where. Many periodicals publish primarily long articles. We publish some longer articles, but most are about 1500 words (two pages in the Herald) or 750 words (one page) or even less. Instead of trying to find comprehensive long articles which look at an issue from all sides, we often put together 8-12 shorter articles which together may look at an issue more thoroughly than any single article could. People’s attention spans are getting shorter (due to the influence of media such as TV and the hectic pace of life), and it seems easier to read several short articles than one long one.
Method IV: “The Teacher searched to find just the right words.”
Once the articles are selected and put together, they must be edited. “Searching to find just the right words” is an apt description of what editors call “copyediting”. Everything that appears in the Herald is edited, and it is only inexperienced and overconfident writers who expect that their articles will be published as originally written. (Good writers, on the other hand, give the editor the right to edit, and sometimes find that the editor changes very little.)
Copyediting takes time. I routinely go over an article at least three times and sometimes six or eight times. I edit heavily, sometimes cutting more than half of the words out of an article. In some articles, an important theme is obscured by a lot of side comments. In this case, the editor’s job is to reveal that central teaching, like chiseling a gold nugget out of a rock. I have even been known to pull out a good illustration and throw the rest of an article away, turning it into a short article (short articles that go with and illustrate a longer article are called “sidebars”). Occasionally, writers are upset by the amount of editing I have done. While I freely admit that sometimes I make mistakes in editing, generally I respond that the Herald is published for readers not writers. I leave in what blesses the readers not what will flatter the ego of the writers. In this I follow the advice of former Herald editor Harold Jantz, who saw himself as a servant of his readers.
Above all, we strive to make the Herald readable, using short articles, short sentences and everyday words, just as magazines such as Reader’s Digest do. People are busy today, and we dare not waste their time with excess verbiage. An article with the best message in the world will do no good if it is not read.
Continued next issue
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Last modified January 30, 2001.
© 2001 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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