Public Administration and Development’s Post

The Collective Effort Behind Every Article Each article is a team effort, involving journalists, editors, and other staff. Editors have the final say on content. Understand that an editorial board may override other departments, ensuring editorial integrity, even at the risk of losing advertisers. Align your story to these dynamics. #EditorialIntegrity #Teamwork #MediaIndustry

I'm beyond excited to start my next chapter at Value Add! Value Add is a #research journal focused on the #operations side of #privateequity, a little-covered topic in the #tradepublication space. I'll be managing the brand's editorial output, which includes a free weekly #newsletter and in-depth trend reports, executive interviews, case studies, and more for paying subscribers. Check it out: https://lnkd.in/e6utVW_J But I'm not done with infra! Value Add will be my main gig as I pursue a full-time #freelance career. I will be writing for a variety of outlets, including CleanTechIQ, in the months to come on many infrastructure-related topics, and I’ll continue to show face at events and keep tabs on the industry. So, what does this mean if you're a #PR looking to #pitch me? For my work at Value Add, feel free to connect me with executives involved with portfolio operations for #buyouts strategies or executives of #PE-owned firms. Outside of Value Add, I'll take intro calls and story pitches on anything related to #privatemarkets, #infrastructure, #energy, the #energytransition, #cleanenergy, #digitalinfrastructure, #AI, #climate, and more. You can either send pitches to isabel.obrien@valueaddpe.com or xisabelobrienx@gmail.com. (And, if you're an editor, know I'm available for hire for any of those topics above. My rates are flexible depending on the topic, article length, and size of publication. I also am available for panel moderation work, events consulting work, and podcast production work.) Going freelance is something I've wanted to do for years. As some of you know, I left Infrastructure Investor/PEI in May. While I love infrastructure, I knew there were many more stories I wanted to tell that fell outside of our editorial gamut. I'm incredibly grateful for what I was able to build during my tenure at II. I was the third most-read author of 2023, and by the time I left in May I was tied for most-read for that quarter with my editor. And, most importantly, I forged hundreds of connections, becoming an expert myself in a dynamic and growing industry through my conversations with all of you. And expanding my beat means I’ll be able to have even more of these conversations! I’ll be setting up coffee meetings and Zoom catch-ups in the weeks to come. My inbox is open to connections both old and new — if you don’t hear from me, please do reach out!

The Editor’s Role in Story Selection The reporter is not the only person to decide. If a journalist is interested in your story, they will pitch it to their editor. Editors decide the story’s merit and article type. Journalists gather information, compare companies, study market stats, and consult experts. Knowing this process helps you provide valuable information to journalists. #MediaStrategy #EditorialProcess #StoryPitching

Have you heard of an impact editor? I loved this session from Miriam Wells with Richard Addy. Less than 50% of audiences think that journalism makes a difference vs over 90% of journalists thinking they do. All journalists want to make a difference in the world. Yet we can’t make a difference all on their own. Journalism is part of the ecosystem of change. But, journalists aren’t activists... Yet we say journalism is crucial to democracy or holds power to account, but does that only do half the job? We need to be intentional about making sure change happens. How do we bring our journalism to play a role in the ecosystem of change? People need to be able to take your work and use it to drive change, how do you feed into that so that it makes an impact. Is the solution an impact editor? Can we afford not to have a role that shows the value of our journalism? That plans the partnership, connections, timings that help make change happen. My question is... how are we getting readers to be part of that change too? What does that look like? Is it solutions journalism? Is it by giving people more a voice on a trusted platform? I like to think so. Want to see the session? Listen to the end (min 27) to hear a quick example of how a report about Deliver and their pay policies made an difference thanks to an impact editor: #writtenbyahuman

PR people, don't say "Oh, yes, please mention this company in connection with my client" and then go complain to an editor as if you hadn't done that when someone yells at you. And then come back and say to an editor, "Can I get coverage for this client which hasn't gotten much notice from you," and then I do a search and find multiple mentions since 2020. Just assume that there are journalists who will doublecheck claims and who will put you on the do-not-trust list. Good way to burn yourself with a number of people simultaneously with immediate results.

As I approach my third month at The Baltimore Banner, I have been thinking a lot about defining success. A mentor offered the following thoughts: For reporters, it is much easier to define success. Editors often need help seeing that their goals should be quite different than their reporters'. They need to see each of their reporters as individuals with different strengths and weaknesses. So editors need to meet each reporter at a different place and help them improve, and hopefully, thrive. Sometimes that means focusing on reporting or writing skills, sometimes it is helping a reporter figure out how to cover a beat, or how to distinguish their work from the competition. Editors of course are key to guiding coverage, whether it's breaking news or a more conceptual beat, when the goal has to be finding the front edge of the topic (for an education reporter, that might be new trends in teaching and for the city hall reporter it might be who are the emerging power brokers.) When it comes to editing copy, editors have to avoid rewriting stories, which can completely demoralize reporters, but they also can't send along stories that are confusing or take too long to get to the point. It takes awhile for editors to figure out that sweet spot between improving copy but not just rewriting it the way they would have written it. The hardest part of editing is probably dealing with difficult reporters and there is no easy answer for that. The only part of running a newsroom that I could advise on is running the coverage and for me, that was always driven by focusing on the big news of the day. You have to make sure that editors have put enough staffers on the big stories and are looking across the news cycle, e.g. what will we have to publish first thing tomorrow, and make sure some people are trained on the bigger, deeper questions that take a few days to report. If you are clear on your top priorities each day and the newsroom aligns behind those, then the smaller stories will take care of themselves. You will be judged by how the Banner did on the big things, not the small things.

We’re coming out of quarterly reports season, and some folks asked for a “Tips on writing quarterly letters” type of post. But instead I’m going with a “Tips on NOT Writing Your own Quarterly Letter” post. Oh sure, it needs to be filled with your data, analysis, observations, and, most importantly, be in your own natural voice. But who says you have to write it yourself? It’s as simple as jumping on the phone with one of our specialists for a securely recorded+transcribed call, and then letting them get it outlined and drafted while you run your company. And since the report will be based on your own words from that conversation, this isn’t ghostwriting, it’s more like editing, which is something EVERY writer needs. And if you’re one of those rare people who actually enjoys staring at the blank screen and feels like you do your best thinking on the page? Great! Keep on writing your reports. But maybe hire an editor. Because if the likes of Warren Buffett, Robert Caro, and Toni Morrison need editors, you probably do too. Funny enough, Caro and Morrison had the same editor…   https://lnkd.in/eNiUhcG5

Journalists should not be mistaken for experts. I’m not saying a reporter can’t have deep and specific knowledge. Most actually do. Everyone I meet in Journalists Club, for instance, has expertise on their beat. The pitfall comes when journalists position themselves as experts, as if the job title alone means they (we) know what they’re talking about. That changes the gig and misses the mark. Without humility, it’s harder to keep curiosity as the North Star. The best reporters I’ve met are those who are comfortable with how little they know. Any expertise a journalist may glean from reporting should be in service of translating and communicating — not moralizing or grandstanding. Semafor, for one, is great at differentiating between a reporter’s opinion and the facts. It’s helpful and transparent. But this practice isn’t the norm. It’s not unusual for legacy outlets to blend reporting and opinion without clarifying what’s what. And one consequence of putting “spin” on a story is the suspicion of future spin. To that point, Gallup data shows Americans’ trust in media is at record lows. For me, I’d like to believe I have a solid grasp on markets and investing after several years covering Wall Street. But I’d never say I’m a financial expert. I do my best to allow the gaps in my own knowledge to guide my reporting, rather than what I think I already know. I learned this working with great editors Max Adams and Jason Ma at Business Insider. The best stories come from good questions. The best questions spring from blind spots, not certainties. Some things I aim for when I write: → Interrogate all assumptions → Let readers draw their own conclusions → Communicate, rather than dictate → Meet readers where they stand (or, don’t write from the Ivory Tower) It’s not as if the profession comes with some intellectual high ground. If being a journalist meant being an expert, it would blur the meaning of even-handed reporting. And that’s just not the gig.

This is a perfect example of why public servants have an inherent distrust of the media. Stephenie Price was selected after a nationwide search by a top national recruiting firm that yielded 94 applicants. The selection process included input from citizens, city council and staff members. There are so many other headlines that could have accompanied this story that could have been positive and uplifting, or at the very least, neutral, for example: - Price will be appointed Beaufort’s first female police chief; or - Price selected from 94 applicants to be Beaufort’s next chief; or - Price edges tough competition for Beaufort’s top police job; or - Internal candidate selected; Price will be Beaufort’s next Chief. But instead, the Island Packet defaults to a negative spin on a headline to resurrect a tired narrative so they can continue selling clicks. To say I am disappointed is an understatement, but to say I am surprised would be patently false. In my 15 years of public service in the Lowcountry, I have come to accept this type of trash journalism as the norm from this media outlet. The nature of the headline expressing that “Former Bluffton Police chief gets 2nd chance,” to me, implies that she was fired from a previous chief’s position. This is something upon which Robert York, an editor the Island Packet, and I disagree. I know, because we have spoken, and the conversation was not pleasant. The fact that one of their editors fails to see the headline for what it is, or will admit to what it is, should tell one all they need to know about the Island Packet’s bias. My unsolicited advice is that the editorial staff spend less time on clickbait headlines and more time on proofing copy. This particular story, like most, was ridden with misspellings and typos.

Most companies' problems with thought leadership content (poor-quality, erratic ideas; few, if any, editorial systems; writing for their marketing department not the reader; inability to stick to deadlines) could be solved (or halfway solved) by spending a few days in a decent newspaper/trade mag newsroom. And by then applying those journalism techniques and processes to their long-form content/though leadership teams. Or alternatively, by hiring someone with a journalism background to audit your content and recommend how to improve it significantly within six months.