Job requirement: organization

I've always been told that as an editor, you need to be extremely organized. You need to know what things are coming up, what reporters are assigned to what stories, etc. While I've always prided myself on being able to juggle multiple things at once, I never realized the extent to which an editor has to be organized until Election Day.

During the weeks prior to Election Day, I watched as all the reporters and news editors at The Daily Illini would meet to discuss how they're going to cover the election. I saw the designers beginning to layout the pages, and I started coming up with potential headlines depending on the outcome of the races. But doesn't most of it come down to who won the election?

Absolutely not. Without all the organization and advanced planning, we wouldn't have printed a paper. Because design had the page laid out in advance, when the final story came in close to drop time, all we had to do was place the story and photo. Because I had an idea for headlines, we had more time to copy edit stories and had to spend less time coming up with good headlines. Because the reporters new what stories they were covering, we knew what time to expect the articles to come in.

We had a big chart in the newsroom that had the schedule for each story: the slug, the reporter assigned to it, the time it was coming in, the time it had to be designed on the page, the time it had to be copy edited, etc.

At the same time, editors have to be able to adapt and change their plan. Just because we are organized doesn't mean everything is going to run accordingly. For instance, students started flooding Green Street when news stations announced that Obama won the election. We had to adapt by sending out reporters and photographers right away and making room for the story online and in print.

Being an editor is a tough job. I think it's more like a balancing act. Be organized, yet willing to adapt to whatever happens.