12.21.17: Readers want you to decide
AS AN EDITOR and designer, you’re faced with many decisions–in each issue.
Do I play this photo…or that one? What’s my lead story? Should I jump that piece on the school levy? Have I overplayed/underplayed that article on the Christmas parade? Did I do justice to the photos of the high school scholarship winners?
Yes, many decisions, but it’s your job to make them.
Don’t waste your time second-guessing yourself, asking over and over again if you did the right thing. Make your best decision, given your experience and your effort to be fair, balanced and a servant of your readership.
Your readers expect you to make those decisions. They want you to decide what the best story is…what the best photo is. They trust your judgment. They respect you. They want you to decide.
And…they’ll occasionally disagree with a decision you’ve made.
It’s OK. That’s how it works.
From more than 50 years ago, the words of Sgt. Klein come back to me from a sweltering summer day at ROTC camp.
“Decide!” he said. “Decide right…or decide wrong. But, dammit, decide!”
Yes. That’s how it works.
Thanks for this, Ed. I needed to hear it today. And I need to pay attention to it and stop worrying about the details.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
You’re welcome. At times, we all need to be reminded of the frank but friendly bond between the reader and the editor.