Library:The Organization of Work in an Editorial Office

The Organization of Work in an Editorial Office
Author	S. V. Tsukasov
Publisher	International Organization of Publishers
First published	1979 Prague
PDF	https://archive.org/details/editorial-office-organization-tsukasov_202311/mode/2up

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Our age, the twentieth century, is called the age of the atom, the space age, but it is also called the information age, and not without reason either.

Changes affecting the whole globe occurred after the Great October Socialist Revolution. The coming into being of a new social order, socialism, and its transformation into a world system, the fall of colo- nialism following the Second World War and the appearance of the young liberated countries in the international arena, the development of the communist and workers’ movement and the growth of the pro- gressive forces have given rise to the unprecedented heightening of the self-confidence and activity of peoples. Millions upon millions of people have become aware of their own personal involvement in the struggle for peace, democracy and socialism, and for a better future. This awareness has made them strive to imagine the course life takes not only around themselves, but also in whole regions, countries, and on our planet, and gives meaning to it. On the other hand, the scientific and technological revolution has opened up opportunities to disseminate information on a wide scale through the mass media. All this has led to the “information explosion”, including the enormous growth in the demand for periodicals and magazines.

As one of the complex types of intellectual acti- vity, the press requires particularly efficient forms of collective work. Although the creative activity of each individual journalist is in itself individual to a consi- derable extent, a newspaper editorial office, like an orchestra, needs definite all-round organization, allocation of the specific executive roles, and constant qualified management. It is not just a creative body of people, but also a productive one, the pressing

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nature of its obligations means that it must pursue a unified plan and the efforts of each journalist must be subordinated to a common task and fall in with an overall rhythm.

Today’s experience shows that a newspaper Can only be run efficiently if a scientific approach is taken in organizing the work of the groups of journalists. In short, such an approach means a comprehensive, systemic solution to all the main problems arising in the editorial office. It is primarily a question of the rational structure of the editorial office and the correct arrangement of forces, of efficient methods of planning and publishing a newspaper, of develop- ing constant contacts with authors who make regular contributions and with readers, and of rational forms of organizing creative activities in the editorial office and of training the staff.

Of course. with publications of different size the ways of tackling these tasks are determined accord- ing to specific conditions and opportunities. Much depends on the type and purpose of the newspaper, its volume and frequency of issue, the staff of the editorial office, the traditions and the specific features of the readership. But the methodological principles according to which the activities of the editorial office are organized, remain common ones; one must be familiar with them and proceed from them if the editorial office is to be run efficiently. The essence of these principles becomes particularly clear in large editorial offices with a ramified organizational struc- ture, and it is precisely this experience of a higher order that is used as an instructive example in this educational aid.

I. The structure of the editorial office

Management Principles

An editorial office is a body of journalists, a staff of specialists with a sound political, professional, and literary training. Their activities are not, however, just subordinated to the laws of creativity, but also to the implacable demands of the production process, to the firmly enforced schedule of the newspaper's publication. Therefore their work must be of a parti- cularly efficient and planned nature, which cannot be achieved without a definite division of labour and the creation of a single system of work.

If this system is to operate successfully, the edi- torial office must be efficiently managed. The follow- ing provisions form the basis of this management:

— centralization, which means personal ma- nagement of the body and its subdivision, the unified, disciplined character of the staff’s activities, the compulsory nature of the instructions of the editor- in-chief, executive secretary, department editors, senior correspondents, and so forth;

— democratism ensuring the collective discussion of creative questions, participation of all the journa- lists in the preparation and publication of the news- paper, maximum utilization of the editorial office’s creative potential;

— the effective structure of staff allocation, pre- cise definition of the duties of each member of the staff, skilled organization of the interaction of the various subdivisions, the correct ratio of creative to technical workers, journalists of the central organs and of the correspondent’s network;

— encouraging free-lance authors, worker and rural correspondents, and readers to make contri- butions to the newspaper on a wide scale, and the

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development of social work in the activities of the editorial office;

— the continuous inflow of information necessary for the understanding of matters, the planning and the taking of decisions in all links of the editorial office’s apparatus, the free and rapid circulation of this information among the staff “from top to bottom”, from the managers to the executors, and vice versa,

The Editorial Office’s Subdivisions

The concrete structure of each editorial office is de- termined by the size of the newspaper and its specific features. Depending on this, a varying number of departments and services of diverse composition take shape, and certain operations are expanded or cut down. A similar type of change in the structure of the editorial office staff may occur within the bounds of one editorial office, too, if the concrete circumstances obtaining, the tasks and the conditions in which the newspaper operates, change; this means that it must be made to function more efficiently and the most important sectors of the staff must be built up. Here, however, we shall not discuss the multitude of dif- ferent alternatives, but the general principles govern- ing the rational organization of the editorial office’s structure.

The editorial office is made up of three component parts. Firstly, there is the creative sector. In this sector the staff are engaged in management and edi- torial activities; they supervise the publishing of the newspaper, they plan and prepare the material for its issues, they work with the authors and deal with letters from readers. As can be seen from this cursory run-through, this part of the journalistic staff, in turn, forms the management and executor subdivisions. The editor-in-chief, his deputies, the members of the edi- torial board, and the secretariate supervise the work of the executive, seeing to it that the departments, columnists, and special correspondents work towards a common goal, and organize their joint effort in put ting out the newspaper. |

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The second main part of the editorial office staff is the network of correspondents. Perennially away from the editorial office, in the various regions of the country or abroad, the correspondents themselves, figuratively speaking, act as the newspaper’s “eyes and ears”, continuously supplying the newspaper with fresh information, articles and other contributions; they keep up contacts between the editorial office and authors and, when necessary, carry out other commissions with regard to the checking and prepa- ration of materials.

The third part of the editorial office apparatus is the various technical services aiding the journalist in his work and ensuring that the newspaper comes out in time. These services are provided by the publishing group, the proof-readers, the typing pool and the ste- nographers, the checking department or office, the reference library, the editorial office’s archives, the technical editors, and others. They are engaged in auxiliary, but extremely important work.

Of course, in small newspapers where the staff is limited, one or several members of the staff may work in the individual sections of the editorial office, but the principle of the division of labour always remains the same. It is precisely this that determines the role and place of each member of the staff in the editorial office. The allocation of their responsibilities as indicated in the list of staff members should be clearly designated by regulations, instructions, or another official document. This allows each member of the staff to have a clear idea of the extent of his responsibilities and helps the editorial office managers to correctly appraise the work done by staff members, to give them incentives and promote the better ones among them, the most capable, the most enterprising, and the most diligent.

Understandably, the arrangement of the staff depends, to a large extent, on the fields in which the workers in the editorial office specialize. Some of them have a better knowledge of economics, others of international affairs, yet others are good reporters, and so on. If the editorial office is to operate effici- ently, it is vital that the choice of staff members

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should be such that provision of the editorial office | structure with the necessary specialists is ensured as far as possible.

Let us dwell briefly on the characteristic features — of the main components of the editorial office staff,

The Editor-in-chiei

The head of an editorial office staff is as a rule ap- pointed by the publisher, the political party or public: organization, and bears all responsibility for the policy | pursued by the newspaper and for all of its work. The peculiar features of newspaper publishing, of both its creative and at the same time production aspects, make specific demands on the editor-in-chief. He is called upon not only to be a politician, an organizer, a conductor of the editorial office orchestra, but also an editor in the direct sense of the word, well able to appraise a journalist’s creative work and to make the necessary corrections in it. This is not all, how- ever. The editor must always be prepared to write himself, setting his colleagues and subordinates an example of efficient work when there is a pressing and socially significant reason for doing so. Without this personal participation of the editor-in-chief, of course, on the most important occasions the editor’s work is net of full value for the collective and even for the newspaper’s readers, who quite rightly wish to see in its head the best or, at least, simply a bril liant, well-known publicist. r

An important side of the editor’s activities is his contacts with the publisher, the Party, state or public organs, constant study of the information coming in along all channels and the corresponding interpretation of it for the practical work of the staff. In this sense. it may be said, that accumulating the extensive inflow of information, the editor acts like a generator 0 ideas and the organizer in putting them into effect.

If the head of an editorial office is to run] efficiently, he must know how to employ his assistants the heads of departments and other employees, te

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advantage. He who tries to do everything himself is unlikely to be able to cope with the tremendous amount of responsibilities in the editorial office, not to mention the fact that this lack of trust in others usually causes them to lose their sense of responsi- bility with regard to the sector they are in charge of. The well tried principle in managing staff, trust but check, is especially applicable in editorial office practice. While giving the other managers of the newspa- per extensive opportunities to take the initiative, the editor supervises their efforts and daily examines the course their work is taking. Of course, if one is to do this, one has to know people well, to be aware of the possibilities and capabilities of each of them, and to act with advice, with conviction, and also, if need be, with direct administrative instructions based on the principle of one-man management. Consequently, it is a question of flexibility in management which com- bines the right to have the final say and an awareness of the importance of taking cardinal decisions only after listening to the advice of others. Only high-prin- cipled matureness can serve as the basis for a system of work combining the efforts of all the staff, for the _ rational combination of forces. First and foremost, this _ matureness ensures the correct choice of staff and also everyday, purposeful contacts between the editor _and other employees, and his active participation in _the editorial office’s general forums, creative discus- ‘sions, and instructive meetings.

$ ’ as a rule, grows in importance, and this determines the further development of its collectivist foundations. Ih many bourgeois publications, however, the editor loses all independence in taking decisions on cardinal questions concerning the newspaper, and increasingly becomes just a manager, a publisher oriented to his political and financial interests. There are quite a few

€xamples where the publishers of such newspapers take the editing of the paper directly into their own

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hands, the editor thereby becoming merely the exe cutor of their will.

Assistant Editors

Depending on the type and size of the newspaper the editor-in-chief usually has one or several deputies, — These are the editor’s closest assistants in managing — his staff, in the preparation and publication of the newspaper, and in organizing the overall work of the editorial office. When the editor-in-chief is away, the © asistant editor takes over; if there are several de- puties, then one of them is appointed senior assistant . | editor and he replaces the editor-in-chief, when ne- cessary.

Participating in the management of the editorial — office apparatus, the editor-in-chief’s deputies are usually in charge of groups of departments or certain fields of work such as economics, ideology, inter- j national affairs, and so forth, on the basis of the purposeful allocation of duties. The assistant editor does not take decisions on concrete questions for the department editors (the heads of departments), but he helps them to draw up long-term and current plans, to check that plans are being fulfilled, taking into account the tasks facing the editorial office as @ whole, and looks at the most important materials be- forehand. In a daily newspaper the assistant editors. take turns being in charge of an issue, supervising the duty editors in charge of releasing the issue; they read the urgent materials and the made up type pages, take effective decisions with regard to the publication: of newly incoming information, and with their sig- natures release the ready issue for the press and for the world.

In smaller newspapers one of the assistant editors frequently carries out the duties of the head of an especially important department or the head of the correspondents’ network as well.

Assistant editors are, as a rule, competent and experienced journalists who constantly make contri butions to the newspaper, and they also take part im

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the joint preparation of the most complex materials, supervise creative groups, editorial office meetings and discussions. They represent the editorial office in official and public organs, at various types of top- ranking forums and readers’ conferences and on trips abroad. As regards the allotment of duties among the assistant editors, each of them is, moreover, in charge of a certain sphere of the organizational work, for instance, the economy, the finances of the editorial office, the personnel department, and so forth.

From what has been said above one can see how important it is that the editor and his deputies should share common views on the principles of running a newspaper and should agree in their approach to the main questions concerning the management of the staff. In large newspapers this management nucleus, which also includes the executive secretary, constantly operates as the main editorial office, daily collecting for examination pressing questions that are coming to a head, working out unified recommendations, and preparing the meetings of the editorial board.

The Editorial Board

In newspapers whose management is based on the principle of democratic centralism the editorial board is the embodiment of its highest form.

The editcrial boards are of two types: depending on the nature of the publication they may either act as an organ bearing full responsibility for the news- paper’s content and policy, for all aspects of its acti- vity, or as a consultative organ assisting the editor-in- chief. In the case of the former the issue of the news- paper usually goes to press not signed by the editor but by the editorial board; this emphasizes the joint nature of the management of the newspaper. Precisely this alternative is preferable whereby the part played by the editorial board and its responsibilities are most consistently revealed.

In an organ constantly in operation, which includes the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, his deputies, the

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‘executive secretary and the heads of the main de- partments, the editorial board is appointed by the publisher and works under the leadership of the editor-in-chief.

The sole supervisor of the newspaper’s activities, the editorial board, is primarily called upon to deal with the newspaper’s content. Can such joint work and collective responsibility be ensured in practice in a daily publication when the issue is put together | piece by piece and new materials and fresh inform- ation are coming in all the time? Yes, it can be done, but only if three indispensable conditions are observ- ed. Firstly, preliminary proofs of the materials that are not urgent, that are planned for coming issues, are made in advance, and are read by the members of the editorial board. Secondly, if the editorial board meets every day not only to approve the plan of the © issue, but also to discuss in principle the materials prepared for the issue, only then is the genuine, and not just formal, collective influence over the news-_ paper’s content and the creative participation of all — the members of the board in the common effort ensured. Thirdly and lastly, when there is a rota) system whereby the editors take turns being in> charge of the issue and can, on behalf of the editorial board, take decisions on pressing questions and are i personally responsible to the board in doing so.

In the course of everyday practice in the editorial office important demands are made upon the editori- al board. First and foremost, this applies to the plan- ning of the newspaper; members of the editorial board are also required to appraise materials and, if ne- cessary, complete them, and to improve individual articles and even the issue as a whole. It is precisely here that the joint political and professional expe- rience of the leading journalists who form the edi- torial board should be most manifest. But most of them have enough to do in “their own” fields. How can they get to know about the materials in other departments and how, in these circumstances, can they avoid bureaucracy and order of precedence? This can only be done if the work is well organized; on the day before the main sections of the next issue

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take shape “in reserve” in the form of dummies (to be dealt with in more detail later) and before their daily meeting all the members of the editorial board receive these type pages, which have been put to- gether and worked out as far as possible. Lastly, proofs frequently have to be composed again, taking into account new events and the input of new ma- terial. However, the fact that the editorial board’s members are familiar with the newspaper’s content in essence completely justifies the time and labour expended and even facilitates work with the issue at subsequent stages.

Of course, this work cannot by any means deal with all the editorial board’s duties. Besides the short daily meetings devoted to discussion of the issue, two or three planned meetings are held every month. At these meetings any corrective amendments are made in organizing the editorial office’s activities, and plans and the extent to which they are being carried out are discussed; accounts and reports are given by the departments and other subsections, the correspondents and employees of the apparatus, decisions with regard to the staff are taken and so forth. To direct this work, combining current matters and future tasks, each question must be well prepared beforehand, and this is usually done by the secretariate, the editorial board’s executive organ. The board also examines proposals to set up temporary subsections (for ex- ample, interdepartmental groups to wage long cam- paigns) with regard to official instructions, regulations and other norms concerning the editorial office in general, to hold competitions in the editorial office, to make studies of readers and their interests, and other questions, too.

All these principal questions are not just intro- duced into the discussion Spontaneously, but are included in the editorial board’s work schedule, which is usually compiled for three months at a time under the supervision of one of the assistant editors and is approved by the board itself. As a rule, the plan indicates who is responsible for preparing one question or another. This practice makes it possible to analyse the question beforehand, to think over its

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formulation and to jointly work out the necessary decisions without wasting time in long debates.

The Secretariate

An important link in the management system of the © editorial office is the secretariate or the co-ordination and planning department as it is called in some news. | papers. However, the secretariate actually does much more than simply ensure the normal interaction of | the journalists, and of the editorial office’s creative — and auxiliary subsections. In seeing to it that the decisions of the editorial office and the established norms are observed in practice, it acts as a planning © centre for the whole editorial office, the organizer of the newspaper’s publication and the headquarters of the body’s creative activities. It is therefore ex- tremely important that the employees in the secreta- riate should be experienced, qualified and competent journalists with a propensity for organizational and creative work. ,

The secretariate includes the executive secretary of the editorial office, his assistants, the number of whom depends on the size of the newspaper, and in some editorial offices literary secretaries as well who ensure that the literary standard of materials is satis- factory. |

As a planning centre and organizer of the inter- action of the departments, the secretariate is in charge of preparing long-term and weekly plans, working out campaigns and rubrics for the entire editorial office, compiling the plan of the issues, ge- neralizing the applications of the departments and putting forward its own proposals for consideration by the editorial board. At the same time, planning is closely related to controlling and checking on ful- filment of the plans and ensuring that the necessary creative forces are there to carry out the planned programme. 4

One of the secretariate’s main tasks is that 0 organizing the publication of the newspaper, and in practice the duty assistants of the executive secretary

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are engaged in this under his supervision. This means peing familiar with the materials and information coming in, their selection and correction, working out a dummy of the type pages, the choice of illustrations, making preliminary proofs and signing the newspaper. At each of these stages the secretariate acts as the conductor of the part of the editorial office “orchestra” which is directly involved in putting out the newspaper.

A third general trend to which the secretariate must apply its efforts is that of encouraging journa- lists to take the initiative, and of seeking new ways of improving the newspaper. It is a question of work- ing out creative norms, joint discussion of plans and projects, of elaborating newspaper campaigns, the pre- paration of various types of reviews and competitions, the provision of material and moral incentives for employees and professional instruction for the young staff. This involves a whole range of things connected with an analysis of reader reaction to the newspaper, frequency of publication of the the main sections and columns, the “geography” of circulation, the author’s social background, and other data describing the efficient creative activity of the body, without which it would be difficult to impart to it the necessary purposefulness. The activity of journalists and utiliza- tion of the editorial office’s potential to maximum advantage depends to a great extent on the correct

_ organization of all these different jobs. Besides its own main functions the secretariate is usually responsible for the preparation of the leading articles, which in most cases are written by the _ employees of the departments, but finalized and cor- ‘rected by the secretariate workers in accordance with , the requirements common to the whole editorial _ Office. The executive secretary’s duties also include giving final approval to authors’ royalties for the _ publication of materials, taking decisions on business trips for journalists in the editorial office, and also Management of the services in charge of publishing

_ the newspaper. The secretariate answers directly to the editor-in- Chief and works on his instructions in its operations,

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put on the whole the editorial board constantly and actively participates in this management, It approves the staff for the secretariate, gives them long-term commissions (for example, to ensure that readers’ letters are published in every issue, to prepare a Cam- paign on a topical subject, and the like} and urgent tasks connected with discussion of current plans, the content of impending issues, dummies of the type pages, and others. If the secretariate is to ‘operate efficiently, one of the indispensable conditions is that its employees should be well informed on a wide range of questions concerning the running of the newspaper. The participation of all the assistant exe- cutive secretaries in the daily working meeting of the editorial board enables each of them to be informed of the requirements and tasks facing the staff that day, and to familiarize himself with incoming inform- — ation in the editorial office as far as is necessary.

bounds of their competence. For relations between personnel in the editorial office and the organization of a friendly staff, it is important that such commis- sions and recommendations should be not so much of an administrative character as of a creatively persu- asive nature.

The Departments The specific content and standard of the materials in

the newspaper depends to a great extent, if not first and foremost, on the main link in the editorial office,

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the departments. Today it is customary to build them up according to a_ sectoral principle (economics, science, culture departments and the like} and genre sections {information, feuilleton, letters and other departments}. Studying their given subject in depth according to a certain trend, the departments plan their work, select authors, and combine the creative efforts of their own correspondents and active con- tributors to ensure a supply of materials for the news- paper, prepare them for the press and take part in publishing each issue.

World press experience shows that as a news- paper grows and has more complex tasks to deal with, the network of departments has to be developed and their independence and responsibility built up.

The possibility of setting up interdepartmental groups and special brigades, whose creative activity either Covers the range of interests of several depart- ments or brings about their “meeting up” subjectwise, does not mean that these main links are underrated or replaced. Firstly, the practice of setting up these groups is of a narrow, temporary nature, so as not to be a strain on the department for long; they are an exception called forth by special circumstances rather than the rule. Secondly, since not more than one group is set up in the editorial office at a time, its activities contribute to the work of the departments with regard to a definite trend, which is important for a certain period, without disparaging their role.

What should the departments be like? One can only answer this question properly if one is familiar with the specific type of publication. The combination of various principles in organizing the departments, depending on the interests of the editorial office, _ justifies itself without any doubt whatsoever. But in each case the allocation of duties in the editorial Office and the number of employees require special ‘consideration. It is difficult to manage a large depart- ment with ten or twelve people in such a way that the staff have every opportunity to work creatively. This means that the editor usually has to have one or even two deputies. But small departments with three or four people do not work efficiently since most of the

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time is taken up with duties, with urgent “everyday matters”. The optimum number for the main creative subsections in a large editorial office is seven or eight journalists. As a rule, besides the heads, the staff in a department usually includes reviewers, special cor- respondents, literary experts, and a technical secre- tary.

The department’s main output is materials for the newspaper throwing light on a whole range of ques- tions connected with its particular subject. The editor (the head) of the department bears complete respon- sibility for the fullness, topicality, consistency, effec- tive nature and exactness of entries on these ques- tions. He organizes intradepartmental planning, work with contributing authors, with his own correspon- ; dents, deals with letters to the editorial office, and — distributes the department’s forces. The practice of setting up public or author’s councils under the de- — partments has justified itself. Bringing together quali- p fied specialists and people who enjoy working with the newspaper, these organs help to finalize plans, — to wage campaigns, give advice on the content of. materials where necessary, and take part in discuss- ing the most complex of them. The specialization of permanent staff members in the department facilitates the organization of these activities; each of them becomes more involved in given subjects and areas and is responsible for the preparation of entries on these subjects. : .

The department maintains constant contacts with the Party, state, scientific, and public organs concern- ed with its subject; they obtain the necessary inform- ation from them and are put in the picture by them. Members of the department participate in conferences, meetings and other forums which are of interest to the newspaper. The department checks on the effec- tiveness of its publications, on readers’ comments, and holds meetings with active contributors on the spot,

office dealing with a certain range of problems. At the same time, each department works strictly within the framework of the traditions and rules common to the editorial office as a whole, obtaining the ap

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proval of the newspaper’s managers with regard to its most important actions. Of course, it carries out the duties that every department is bound to fulfil: it takes part in waging large-scale campaigns, in com- posing special issues, in preparing leading articles for publication, in dealing with readers’ letters, in getting together information, critical and bibliographical ma- terials, and so forth. Representatives of the depart- ment are daily on duty as part of the all-round brigade (the shift) which prepares and sends the issue to press; they carry out the tasks set by the editorial board and the secretariate, work on the fresh mate- rials that are coming in from the telegraphic agencies, from the newspaper’s own correspondents and other channels, ensure the necessary substitutions, abridge- ments, and changes in the galley-proofs and page proofs, and carefully read through the materials put out by their own department.

Besides the main functional departments carrying out all these duties, the editorial office also has a number of departments of a specific nature. The let- ter department in a big popular newspaper, which receives a large amount of correspondence, may be very large and have as many as several dozen people working in it. More often than not this department consists of three groups: the technical group, which receives the letters, registers them and keeps track of them while they are being dealt with in the editorial office; the reading group, which makes a careful study of each letter and decides its “fate”, whether it is to be prepared for publication or not, whether it is to be sent to the corresponding organs outside the editorial office for consideration, or whether the author should simply receive an authoritative answer; and the li- terary group where experienced journalists write re- views, publicistic and other entries on the basis of letters. The department of local correspondents super- vises the activity of the newspaper’s own correspon- dents. All the tasks are sent to them through this department and the editorial office’s wishes and intentions are expressed through it. It makes sure that the correspondents fulfil their plans, keeps records thereof and registers them accordingly, and works

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out unified recommendations and normative re- quirements with regard to all the newspaper’s own correspondents in the network. The illustrations de- partment ensures the planned activity of the press photographers and selects graphic materials and other illustrations for each issue. The press agency depart- ment, which exists in a number of publications, pre- pares articles for local publication on a wide range of general political, economic, scientific and other — complex subjects, thereby facilitating the improvement of the standard of the local press. The administrative and economics department takes care of the equip- ment and supplies for the editorial office, ensures — normal working conditions for the journalists, and carries on the newspaper’s management. | In one editorial office or another various depart- — ments of a similar nature may be formed.

Editors

Editors form the leading creative force of each edi- | torial office and need to be properly organized. From a creative point of view, these are the most outstand-_ ing journalists who are ready to do any job without delay. Developing as one of the forms of organization in the newspaper, in large editorial offices the body ef editors is made up of two categories: the editors attached to the secretariate and those of the depart-

The editors attached to the secretariate form the most privileged group of workers in the editorial of- fice from a creative point of view and are the most prestigious of the journalists. Therefore there is a. tendency for their number to increase. However, the secretariate is not in a position to manage large de- tachments of editors efficiently: subject and genre repetition occurs, petty themes crop up, and this, objectively, belittles the authority and role of the special editors as a whole. The establishment of

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a reasonable ratio between the number of editors in the two categories, taking into account the special features and opportunities of each editorial office, means using their possibilities to greater advantage. Thus the idea of staff promotion depending on the creative results is, in principle, an important one: an editor from the departments who appears at his best may be moved into the secretariate group, while, on the other hand, one who has shown himself not to be up to the general editorial office standard, may find it heipful to work in the departments for a while. Thus, the very system of organization stimulates creative competition among the journalists.

Many factors contribute to the fruitful work of an editor. When selecting journalists for this work, not only their high qualifications should be taken into account, but also their different specializations and their wide range of professional interests. The work of editors must be organized according to a plan, and this is facilitated by their dealing with definite topics and by frequent meetings with the heads of the edi- torial office and departments and also in the secreta- riate. Here the editors’ plans are regularly discussed, the way in which they are being fulfilled, the results of their business trips, and the quality of individual materials, and there is an exchange of opinions on pressing problems, i. e. the principle of joint creative work is upheld in practice.

Flexible and constant supervision of this detach- ment of leading journalists is of considerable signi- ficance for the efficient activity of the editorial office.

The Newspaper’s Own Correspondents

The newspaper’s own correspondents form an extreme- ly important link in the organization of the editorial Office. The newspaper’s plenipotentiaries on the spot, they make a thorough study of the state of affairs in their own regions which helps in passing on inform- ation to the editorial office and in planning entries in the newspaper; they are anxious to increase the num- ber of authors contributing to the paper; acting both

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as a commentator on current affairs and as an orga- nizer, they ensure that the materials are prepared according to plan: they investigate readers’ letters, and so forth. The correspondents form a link between the editorial office and the local organizations and press and wide circles of readers.

The number of each newspaper’s own correspon- dents at home and abroad, and also the regions in which they work and their location are determined by the editorial office, proceeding from its possibilities and needs. Large newspapers have at their disposal a — widely ramified network of correspondents: the newspaper “Pravda”, for instance, has 60 of its own correspondents in the Soviet Union and 45 abroad, © “The New York Times” has 32 journalists abroad, and | so forth. .

The main thing in work in an editorial office with correspondents is unified management. The plans, the — orders for materials, and the counter proposals of the correspondents should ali go through one channel, | and the demands made on them should be equally high. This direct supervision is carried out by the department of local correspondents, and the inter- national department (or international departments for their topics and regions} is in charge of the foreign correspondents of the newspaper. These de- partments ensure that unified creative criteria are used in appraising work, they inform the correspon- dents of the newspaper’s main tasks in good time, and send out systematic instructions. Frequently, em- ployees of the editorial office’s central apparatus are sent to help the newspaper’s correspondents in jointly preparing the more complicated entries.

By virtue of the specific nature of their position the local correspondents act in isolation from the rest of the staff, but they consider themselves full members of the staff, responsible for the whole newspaper, if they are constantly encouraged to take part in the creative activities of the editorial office as a whole, in working out new ideas and newspaper campaigns This is facilitated to an even greater extent by the holding of zonal meetings of the newspaper’s own correspondents, by their reporting on their wotl

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to the editorial board and the annual meetings of the entire body of correspondents. These corres- pondents’ period of practical work in the editorial office is of tangible benefit to them, allowing each of them to take a wider view of his own activities, to appraise them from the standpoint of the general editorial office demands, and to gain more profession- al experience.

The Editorial Office’s Services

A number of technical services ensure uninterrupted work in the editorial office. Among these a special place is held by the subdivisions directly connected with the production of the newspaper.

In daily newspapers, which come out in several issues, i. e. Which have a lengthened production cycle there must be an issue release service. Built up on the basis of each person (technical editor} releasing not more than two type pages simultaneously, this service composes the preliminary proof of the current

issue, the “left-over” pages for the next issue (re- gular issue), and typesets the materials the editorial _ office has in reserve. Usually the work of this service _ is organized according to a brigade shift schedule which allows each shift, supervised by a senior re- _ lease editor, to be on duty every other day and to be completely in charge of the entire cycle of preparing the newspaper and making a dummy run, and bearing full responsibility for it accordingly. _ The efficient activity of the issue release service, connected with the issue’s dummy run, is daily super- vised by the editorial office’s duty assistant executive ‘Secretary. If this service is to work efficiently it is extremely important to draw up precise principles with regard to the actual publishing of the newspaper. __ The proof-reading service is headed by the head of the service and his deputy who supervise two Shifts, acting simultaneously as the senior auditing prooi-reader, each on his own shift. In organizing the Work of this specific service there must first of all be a precise interaction with the other subdivisions of

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the editorial office, ensuring the publication of the newspaper according to a single schedule, the instal- lation of effective modern proof-reading equipment, and the establishment of a creative, informal attitude - to matters. | By mechanically restricting himself to the original, as is frequently still the case, the proof-reader nar- rows down his possibilities to participate in the col- lective process of publishing the newspaper to the full extent of his knowledge and experience, to bring about the elimination of blunders in meaning, logic and style which occur more or less in the conditions resulting from the strict rhythm of work on the issue. On the other hand, the proof-reader’s unauthorized inter- ference with the text, even when done with the best of intentions, is fraught with serious consequences, The whole point of the creative approach is that the proof-reader should naturally consider it necessary to go carefully and exactingly into the sense of the text and, and if it is not all right, to pass on his commela and well founded suggestions through the head of his shift to the duty editor in charge of the number. T ig cannot be achieved without an extremely attentive attitude to this kind of signs, without encouraging reasonable perspicacity and, last but not least, with out a respectful attitude to the complicated Joby of proof-reading. The checking bureau (service) occupies an im portant place in the newspaper publishing system Truthfulness and irreproachable exactness both ip important and in unimportant articles are a guarantee of the newspaper’s prestige. Carrying out the function of an inspection organ of the editorial board, the checking bureau ensures the cleanness and cor rectness of data, references, names, and quotations: and everything that needs to be checked. The depart ments whose materials are going into the issue, are obliged to present the necessary corroboration here cite their sources and suchlike. Among the other auxiliary subdivisions there i

the intra-editorial office information service. Usual in large newspapers this is a reference library oré reference and bibliography department, but in som

Cl

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al “

newspapers it is an international reference and biblio- ‘ graphy service or department. Systematizing and grouping the incoming information according to _ topics, sections, and personnel, they also make a _ synopsis of it and prepare it for use by the journalists _ (this applies to literature, periodicals, reference books, materials from agencies, and so forth). Sometimes this is quite a large editorial office subdivision equipped with modern technical means of storing and _ supplying information.

Ww od we

Thus, the structure of the editorial office orga- nization appears as a single complex consisting of “management, executor, and auxiliary links ensuring that the journalists can do their job. The rational ties between all the subdivisions in the editorial office, and the unity and purposefulness of their action achieve the efficient organization of their joint work. The planning system plays the most important role

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2. The system of editorial office plans

The comprehensive approach

Planning is a necessary element in managing joint activities in any sphere. This completely applies to the press as well. Rendering it concrete in the form spe- cific to journalism, the modern approach to planning © means, firstly, a systems view of work in the editorial — office; secondly, the skilful combination of long-term and current efficient planning; and, thirdly, its © optimization, that is raising the efficacy of planning

as an instrument of efficient organization of work. :

The various organs of the press choose different ways of carrying out these tasks in practice. However, acknowledging the indisputable right of each editorial — office to its own variants of plans, which answer to- its activities as far as possible, one can obviously pick out common positive trends in planning the work of the press today. Generally speaking, they boil down’ to an intensification of their comprehensive character. These trends include: q

— the affirmation of planning as an uninterrupted process enveloping all the links of the editorial office staff and all stages of its creative activity;

— a combination within the framework of 4 single system of long-term, short-term, purposeful and subject-oriented planning;

— selection of the main, leading forms of plan- ning and the auxiliary forms ensuring that these plans are put into effect;

— the balanced, real and effective nature 0 f planning. a

Let us take a look at the system of editorial office plans as it appears from the point of view of years of experience and the modern practice of the pro- gressive press.

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Any system is the division and interconnection of various links. In the scheme of general editorial office planning two main dividing parameters are clearly marked which, if the system is presented in the form of a table, may appear as lines running vertically and horizontally: divisions according to the content of plans and the period that they are in effect. We notice, however, that like any scheme this division is quite relative: one determines the other, both sides indis- solubly connected appear in practice as an organic unity.

The Development of the Newspaper

Before examining the complex of plans revealing the content of the publication, the creative work of its staff, we should mention such an initial, very large- scale link in editorial office planning as the long- term planning for the development of the newspaper. This, in fact, is a question of looking into the future for five years or perhaps even more, of a plan embracing all the main aspects of the activity of a printed organ.

The development plan may follow four main trends:

a) a change in the newspaper itself, that is in its volume and long-term model;

b) a change in the readership depending on what circulation and what type of reader the editorial office is counting on, and what kind of subscribers it is trying to attract additionally. This includes the system of studying readers’ interests and measures that make it possible to attain the given target;

c) a change in the structure of the editorial office, its composition, and, accordingly, determination of its needs in journalistic personnel and ways of training

them;

oa. d) provision of the material means and equipment ss for the newspaper’s development.

We shall deal with each of the trends of such a

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plan in more detail so as to render concrete its role and possibilities.

The newspaper’s appearance. At a certain stage when the newspaper is faced with new, more complex tasks, it may be necessary to change its appearance considerably, to create a new long-term model includ- ing a number of extremely important elements. What does the concept “long-term model” involve?

Firstly, there is the approximate subject structure of the newspaper, both of sets of the newspaper as a whole and also of its main sections, and even of the individual issue.

Secondly, the scheme of the lay-out of the ma- terials on the type pages. Proceeding from the specific conditions of its work, each editorial office tries to find an optimal way of using the newspaper’s space. Without a scheme of this type there cannot be any distribution of materials, and, of course, a long-term mode! of the publication.

Thirdly, there is the system of rubrics, which set a certain trend in preparing materials and determine their interconnection on the newspaper’s pages.

Fourthly, a rough scheme of publication of the permanent sections according to the days of the week.

And fifthly and lastly, the principles of making dummy runs and preparing the newspaper which are determined by each editorial office, proceeding from — its own concrete tasks and interests. It is no accident that, when you take a look at any newspaper page, you can unerringly say from which publication it caine.

All these are elements that often cannot be chang- ed or the newspaper will lose its appearance. Con- sequently, when it is a question of modelling, then — the long-term period of the effect of a system is com-_ pulsory, and the creation of a new model of a printed — organ is only necessary at a certain stage in its de- velopment and should be planned beforehand.

The improvement of the long-term model and the working out of concrete norms are quite another matter. Practice shows that more precise definition of the principles governing the lay-out of materials,

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the modernization of the rubrics, of elements of the preliminary proofs, and suchlike, are periodically necessary, taking into account the accumulation of experience, the new tasks and circumstances, It is best to do this comprehensively, shall we Say, on the threshold of the next year, thereby creating on the basis of the long-term model a concrete variant of it lasting for a year.

The newspaper and the reader. An extremely im- portant trend in development planning directly con- nected with the previous plan is that of determining the approximate dvnamics of the interrelation between the newspaper and its readers.

Every editorial office is interested in the growing influence of its publication over a wider range of readers and above all over the readership on which it counts. This is why it is necessary to quantitatively increase circulation and, in addition, to attract a certain category of subscribers as well. Here planning is of paramount importance. What is it really all about?

First and foremost, it is a question of knowing who makes up the army of readers and What their opinions and wishes are. Readers’ conferences, meetings of journalists with active contributors, and letters to the editorial office give a good idea of what they are like. However, for the efficient organization of interaction in the chain “reader — newspaper” these data are insufficient: although comments, pro- posals and recommendations expressed in writing or

orally are extremely important, one should not forget »

that they are of a very narrow selective character. Only sociological research can reveal a true picture of the dynamics of the composition and need of readers.

Similar extensive research provides valuable initial material for long-term planning, if this work is hot just a flash in the pan and is conducted according to a definite system, allowing the outcome of actions taken after the first survey, the changes in the nature of the readership and its interests, to be traced suf- ficiently fully. In particular it is a question of the

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possibility of getting a scientifically founded idea of the dynamics of the social and demographic compo- sition of the readers, of the special features of the development of their contacts with the newspaper, of the popularity of individual sections, rubrics and authors, of readers’ needs, and of the place of the newspaper in the complex of mass media and propa- ganda. This type of research should be envisaged precisely in development plans.

Further, having established the desirable level of © circulation and the category of reader, on whose — account it is particularly important to ensure this level, the editorial office can plan its actions in this direction over a long period. This means making the © necessary corrections in the newspaper’s content and placing the necessary accent on organizational and — creative work. Let us suppose that it has been estab- — lished, that the readership of a given newspaper is- getting older. Or let us say, the comparable indices © testify to the fact that the circulation of the news- paper in a given region of the country is less than in another region. In both cases, so as to influence this state of affairs, a whole programme of measures must be planned and put into effect: a number of topics must be dealt with more extensively in the newspaper, - the form of presenting the materials must be improv- ed, the ties with certain groups of active contributors

must be consolidated, work with the people must be: organized accordingly, and so forth. A system of similar measures aimed at building up a readership is the second trend in the five-year development plan.

of a long-term view of these problems, of the well- founded basis and working out of their planning: in the final analysis, the entire future of the newspaper depends precisely on the journalistic staff, on the efficient organization of work and on the correct utilization of creative potential in the editorial office.

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All the same, of the many factors with a long-term effect what actually gets caught up in the planning orbit?

Naturally, one cannot consider the structure of the staff in the editorial office as something definite once and for all; it should constantly be improved in accordance with new demands and new experience. This means the more effective distribution of em- ployees and the possibility of creating additional sub- divisions in the editorial office. The main structural changes of this type should be prepared and planned on a well-founded basis.

An extremely important question is the selection of personnel for the body of the editorial office. The development plan should envisage a definite system of retraining employees, of organizing intra-editorial office instruction, practical work in the editorial office for journalists from the local press, introducing the institution of taking on probationers, and suchlike. It is wrong to think that a real personnel reserve can be created, or that the creative growth of the jour- nalists and of the staff of the editorial office as a whole can be ensured without a planned, carefully thought-out system.

The material and technical base. And, finally, an integral part of the five-year plan is the further de- velopment of the publication’s material and technical base. This means its typographic equipment, intro- duction of the principles of scientific labour organiza- tion in the editorial office, and also the installation of modern machines and equipment, the speeding up of newspaper deliveries to readers, and so forth. Each of these points implies planning the many-sided preparatory work.

Thus the development plan is a comprehensive document which embraces the organizational, creative, social, material and technical aspects of the news- paper’s development over a considerable period.

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Long-term Planning

Long-term plans are the basis of the creative life of a body of journalists. This is the main stage, the basic link in all further planning of the publication’s con- tent. In the daily press long-term plans are, as a rule, compiled for a quarter, and in weeklies for six months or a year.

The editorial offices of a number of large organs of the press also consider it a useful practice to plan their policies with regard to main topics for a long- term period. This applies above all to long-term ge- neral newspaper campaigns. Certain specific features are evident in working out long-term campaigns: one must take into consideration its stages, its temporary features and not only ensure its breadth, but also consistency in the development of its problems. In this connection, the experience gained in management- by-results planning is highly significant. What is the essence of this form of organizing the editorial work that is being developed in compliance with the basic trends cf the quarterly plan?

Selecting one of the general subjects (campaigns) from the large range of topics dealt with by the publication, the comprehensive programme aims, firstly, to concentrate the creative efforts of the © entire editorial office or of a number of its sub- divisions on it, or secondly, to determine the most — important policies in developing this subject over a relatively long period; this is then rendered concrete in the course of ordinary long-term planning. Such a programme is worked out according to a scheme oriented not to the departments, but to the main policies ferming a subject complex; then, as a rule, it is consolidated by the setting up of a certain creative organ (groups, councils, commissions) which supervises and co-ordinates enactment of the given programme.

The comprehensive purpose-oriented programmes serve as the basic instrument in raising the efficiency of long-term planning. But in daily newspapers the main form it takes is the quarterly plan. Why does 4 period of three months appear to be the most accept-

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able in the conditions obtaining in these publications? It is sufficiently short for the actual possibilities to be obvious and is not taken up with planning for the sake of planning. On the other hand, it is a sufficiently long period for the main trends in the newspaper and campaigns planned by the editorial office to be rendered concrete.

The long-term plan is a synthesis of the subject- oriented elaborations of projects and of the most im- portant, urgent subjects on each of these main policies. Otherwise, it is simply unreal: how can one possibly foresee all the subjects of entries for three months, and even more so for six months ahead? A purely subject plan of long-term character becomes a “thing in itself” having little influence on the organization of the editorial office work, although much time and effort are spent on compiling it. The most important subjects here disintegrate among subjects of secondary importance; they do not stand out and it is difficult to check on them. This prevents one from seeing the long-term prospects, and stops the plan from becoming an instrument of an efficient newspaper organization. On the other hand, naturally, long-term planning cannot be restricted solely to the designation of rubrics and subject policies. A document like this will be a desiccated, dead scheme, and also be of little benefit in editorial office practice.

The key to success is the combination of the sub- ject-oriented character of the long-term plan with the concrete designation of the main topics which will on the whole determine the efficient execution of the tasks planned by the editorial office. The plan will thereby clearly reveal the panorama of the news- paper’s content and at the same time differentiate what is most essential and requiring most attention, While remaining compact and convenient to work with.

This approach opens up big opportunities to improve organizational and creative practice. The long-term plan is the basic link in the system of plan- ning the newspaper’s content, and by dividing up its Main subjects, it serves, by virtue of its subject-orient- ed character, as a sound basis for current planning,

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for the purposeful work of individual subdivisions of the editorial office, and of the body of journalists as a whole.

It is appropriate to mention the auxiliary elements of the long-term plan from which elaboration of the plan and its fulfilment proceed.

Among them the rubrics, the lighthouses on the immense sea of newspaper topics, hold an important place. These are distinctive, and when used rationally, strong instruments in organizing creative work. The nature of rubrics in a newspaper is of a dual cha- racter: among them there are trend-oriented, long- term ones, which determine the newspaper’s main policies, but there are those which emerge for a comparatively short period and serve the interests of | an advantageous presentation and the organization © of material in the newspaper. There should not be too many of the former, otherwise the attention paid to the main item becomes dispersed and chaos is rife in the planning. As regards rubrics of a more precise ~ character or introduced during a swift campaign, then there is no need to worry that there will be too many of them. As mentioned above, the newspaper’s rubrics — as a whole are usually inventoried and renewed once a year, defining individual ones more precisely or introducing new ones when necessary.

The quarterly plans of the departments ensure the successful preparation and fulfilment of the general editorial office long-term plan. They provide a more concrete elaboration not only of the main entries for one regular section of the newspaper or another, but for all their planned entries.

The personal plans of the special correspondents and the newspaper’s own correspondents are of the same nature. They are, as a rule, part of the depart- ments’ plans, but they contain a number of addition- al subjects and proposals of a long-term character. —

Altogether in their content and the volume of their subject orientation, each “lower-lying” plan should overlap a “higher one”: the correspondents’ plans, the plan of the departments and the latter, in turn, the general editorial office plan. Without this it is impossible to ensure a constantly growing reserve

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of materials, their strict selection and making good use of them in the everyday urgent work.

Plans of short-term campaigns serve as an auxiliary instrument in the long-term plan: discussion of some comparatively local question, throwing light on seasonal subjects, and suchlike. Covering a line or several lines from the quarterly plan, in such auxiliary elaboration by the department (groups of depart- ments), they should find concrete dynamics of action with regard to subject and term, having in mind a precisely defined phase in the campaign.

The organization of a newspaper campaign is a lively affair. There can be no single recipe, blind copying or a set pattern. At the same time the scien- tific approach to planning demands a thorough study of the key moments in discussion {some call them stages]. What are these moments? The beginning of the campaign, its development and culmination, and its finale. Consideration has to be given to the period over which the campaign is to be waged, for the tempo of discussion and its dynamism depend on this.

Naturally, a campaign does not exist in a news- paper all by itself, and the choice of its subject is made within the framework of the chief tasks form- ing the main work of the editorial office staff. The theme of the campaign may be prompted by an eco- nomic policy, by the social development of society, or by moral problems. A sense of contemporaneity, cor- respondence to the spirit of the times, is the main requirement in determing the theme of a campaign, which forms an integral part of the editorial office long-term plan.

When the theme has been chosen and the purpose determined, the conversation turns to its start. How should one begin it? For much depends on a suc- cessful start: the circle of participants in the discus- sion, its standard, and the achievement of the set tasks. _ A newspaper campaign can be developed in different _ Ways. However, in any case it is important to draw _ special attention to the fact that the first material should evoke interest, should stick in one’s memory, and the questions put in the campaign should make one think and express one’s opinion. The editorial

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office should have an exact idea whom it is address- ing. The initial material is the campaign’s flag. In it the questions should be formulated which determine the trend in discussion. The invitation to talk will be accepted if there is food for thought, subtlety of for- mulation of the question, the possibility of discussion and exchange of ideas in the introductory material, The newspaper’s starting-point may be a specially effective article or answers to questions put by the editorial office, or simply letters to the editorial office.

Thought has to be given to the form in which the campaign is presented. A permanent rubric has to be found which allows the subject to be defined precisely. The heading of the initial entry is usually taken as the rubric. Many periodicals open their camaigns on the first page, addressing an appeal to their readers — to take part in them. This is justified.

A campaign should proceed with growing interest, — at a good rate, and in close connection with its — headings. The circle of authors of entries who are competent to make judgements on the given probiem | may be determined beforehand. But the most im- portant thing is not the number of articles, the amount of correspondence and letters, but how to throw light on the given question in the most effective way. This is why the initial plan may be changed. This is inevi- table because it is impossible to foresee everything. Moreover, there are, as a rule, a number of sugges- tions in the first responses. Naturally, this only helps to improve the campaign. It is important to take into consideration and value the opinion of participants in the discussion. |

In developing discussion there should be a certain tone to it, new turning-points in the subject and internal ties between the entries. When the problem has been examined sufficiently widely and conti- nuation of the discussion brings nothing new, then comes the culmination of the campaign, after which: it should be concluded. Sometimes one or two mate rials are still printed before the completion of the campaign but they should certainly be accompanied by breadth of views on the problem, a tendency t0

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review, and well-founded analysis and _ reflection.

Just like its beginning, the finale of a newspaper campaign needs especially careful planning. The re- sults of the discussion should be summed up, the social significance of them should be revealed and the way in which the questions posed are being resolved should be pointed out. For this purpose, entries by prominent state and public figures, reviews of the letters received, and other forms of materials may be planned. The completion of any campaign, however, does not mean that the newspaper does not return to this subject and that there is no need to plan it. A campaign comes to an end, but the problems considered in it are further dealt with; life goes on, and these problems attract the attention of the public over and over again.

Yet another two elements may form integral parts of the editorial office’s long-term plan. But, as we learn from experience, they justify themselves better in the form of independent plans, contributing to and ensuring fulfilment of the main plan. To begin with, we shall talk about the plan of intra-editorial office work — creative meetings, competitions, emergency meetings on particular subjects, the practical work of the newspaper’s own correspondents in the depart- ments and that of the department employees in the secretariate, and other organizational and creative actions. The purpose of this plan is to mobilize the journalistic forces to efficiently carry out the specific

_ tasks envisaged in the long term. _ Also of great significance is the editorial office’s plan of work with people: readers’ conferences, meetings with active contributors, worker and rural correspondent “swoops”, and suchlike. In arranging these activities, the heads of the newspaper and the Secretariate, base themselves on the letter depart- ment, attracting other departments when necessary. So, the basic link in the editorial office system of

Planning is the long-term plans with a number of auxiliary elements subordinated to them. The next link in this single system is the current urgent plan- hing, usually carried out in two stages, in the planning of the weekly work and the impending issues.

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The Weekly Plan

We repeat that the system of planning that we are examining takes different forms in the specific con- ditions of one publication or another. Let us say that in an editorial office where half-yearly planning is customary, more often than not it is considered ne- cessary to have an intermediate stage in the plan, and bimonthly or monthly plans are compiled. In weeklies this practice may be regarded as a form of current work. This also applies to local papers, which do not need to constantly adapt to new events and are, consequently, more suited to definite planning. As regards the dailies where it is almost impossible to draw up a definite plan of the issues for a long period beforehand, current planning for the week is re- cognized as being optimal. A month is too short a period to trace the development of the main subject trends in a daily newspaper and to really influence the work of the staff by planning. Detailed planning for this period does little to add to the scheme “long- term plan — weekly plan” where one results from — the other, correlating with one another like the stra- — tegy and tactics of the editorial office.

Weekly plans — subject plans are the most con- | crete. Here the main content of the newspaper’s issues — is revealed. The preparation of these plans means that — many factors must be taken fully into account such © as: the significance and topical nature of publications, ~ the correctness of their correlation according to the main policies with regard to the newspaper’s content, — in keeping with the leading campaigns, by depart- ments; the rational apportionment of materials deal- ing with problems and those dealing with current affairs, positive and critical articles, large-scale and local articles; the extent of the geography of entries, j the variety of genres, and others.

The operative plan roughly divided into issues and even type pages is a kind of dummy of the com-— ing week. At the same time, it serves as the necessary transitional link between the long-term plan and the plan of the issues, as a bridge uniting them. This is 4 a jointly thought-out, purposeful programme of the-

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most important entries in the immediate coming period. This is why the preparation of the weekly plan is becoming an extensive regular review of the re- sults of the creative activity of all the editorial office subsections, a constant and effective form of check- ing on the programme’s fulfilment by results, and also on the long-term plan, the state of the depart- ments’ portfolio and constructive means of improv- ing weak spots in the urgent everyday work.

The weekly plan is based on a number of auxiliary elements. One of them is the schedule of publication of the main sections by days of the week. In every editorial office the scheme usually operates to a certain extent; it cannot be made absolute, however. The utilization of a similar scheme within reasonable bounds, as applied to the concrete circumstances during the week, disciplines the planned work and, what is more important, it is convenient for the reader, too.

The plan of publications for jubilees and me- morable dates helps in carrying out weekly planning. Although it is usually compiled by the secretariate for a month so that the departments can prepare the entries in advance, it is also done in the interest of _ organizing weekly work rationally.

The Plan of the Issue

The next main link in the system of editorial office plans is the specific plan of the issue. This is indeed the goal of all goals, the materialization of all the previous efforts in the field of planning, organization- al and creative work. In a daily newspaper work is carried out simultaneously on the next two issues, one is being published and the other prepared for publication. Accordingly, every day the plan for one issue is being made more precise, and the one for the ext issue is taking shape. How can one choose the optimal variants at this final stage of planning?

In many editorial offices various criteria operate and different demands are made upon the content of

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the issue. More often than not emphasis is placed on the topicality of a subject, the urgent nature or read- ability of the materials, and suchlike. But any one- sided approach is insufficient, only a comprehensive view of the problem is really satisfactory.

Among the initial regulations that help to ensure that the plan of the issue is worked out correctly, the following may be noted:

— all-round account must be taken of the day’s requirements which means that the departments, the secretariate, and the managers of the editorial office must be sufficiently well informed;

— a dummy of each type page and even of the newspaper as a whole must be composed, which is improved upon, enriched with new elements, but sufficiently constant in what is the most important and essential;

— there must be an effective system of weekly planning which ensures the necessary continuity and sequence of publications from issue to issue;

— a single planning technology and concentra- tion of the practical management of this matter in the secretariate;

— the constant participatior. of the editorial board in the final examination of the plan of each number which in practice boils down to daily discussion and approval of plans for the next two issues (one, a repeat one on the basis of the preliminary proofs already made, and the next one from the secretariate’s rough draft).

The multitude of possible variants, the diversity — of requirements, the necessity of taking into account a large number of factors ranging from the variety of content to the geography of materials, the place occupied by each issue among previous and _ sub- sequent issues, mean that the planning of the final stage of work is a particularly responsible matter. This is why the plans are usually worked out at the secretariate’s planning sessions and are discussed daily by the editorial board. Only the joint experience, the attentive examination of the plan from the point of view of the entire complex of requirements made upon the issue allow really optimal solutions to be

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found which raise the efficiency of the newspaper’s work.

In summing up briefly, it may be said that the system of editorial office plans takes the form of a chain: the plan for the development of the news- paper — long-term plans of the editorial office’s work — weekly plans — the plans of the issues, taking together the auxiliary elements ensuring their reali- zation. The development plan embracing all aspects of the newspaper’s activity and not only its content stands by itself in this scheme. Even in the system of the editorial office’s main working plans, each sub- sequent link is based on the previous one, changing the planning plane: from the long-term comprehensive programmes, beginnings are taken for the elaboration of the newspaper’s main trends; these trends and campaigns are rendered concrete in the subjects of articles and, in the final analysis, determine the sum total of entries responsible for the appearance of each number.

As noted above, this system may be modified in various ways in practice in accordance with the type of newspaper, the conditions and actual opportunities of the body of journalists. But notwithstanding the diverse specific nature of practice the methodological principles are applicable to any editorial office.

Unity of Systems — Unity of Technology

Now when the bases of planning have been described, itis appropriate to talk about its technology. The unity of any system presupposes a unity of approach to work. Even when there are essential differences in the very plans and there is a variety of concrete va- riants in the organization of planning, in any editorial office it should be based on the following initial mo- ments:

— the extensive utilization of all sources of in- formation, ranging from. state, public and ma- Nagement organs, telegraph agencies, and their own correspondents to a study of editorial office post, the wishes and suggestions of readers;

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— the maximal active participation of all the editorial office’s creative staff in the planning process, from the newspaper’s own correspondents to the editor-in-chief;

— planning development “from bottom to top”, from the plan of the correspondents and special cor- respondents to those of the departments and further to the general editorial office plans, and also “from top to bottom”, from the directives of the editor-in- chief, the editorial board, to the editorial office de- partments;

— a unity of planning and checking that plans are carried out of these two extremely important aspects of everyday editorial office practice.

The system of planning touches on many problems regarding organizational and creative work, presup- poses well established ties with social life on various levels, a well organized intra-editorial office inform- ation service, a constant and effective programme of studying opinions, comments, and suggestions of © readers. Stable organized forms of planning techno- logy which ensure the realization of its principles should also be worked out. Here is a rough organized © scheme of work on the plans which can be used in other variants if the main elements are subjected to the corresponding modifications.

Long-term planning. Roughly ten days before the quarter begins the editorial office receives the re- quirements of each of its own correspondents and of the special correspondents. These requirements are carefully examined in the departments at the same time as the other suggestions of employees and active q contributors and are included in the departments’ plans. Not later than five days before the beginning of the quarter the departments, having discussed their

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the secretariate prepares the draft long-term plan, which is discussed, supplemented and approved by the editorial! board on the eve of the new quarter. The same technological scheme operates in drawing up a comprehensive purpose-oriented programme. The dif- ference is that this programme is, as a rule, worked out by a creative group attached to the secretariate with the participation of the interested departments, and is then submitted to the editorial board for dis- cussion. The auxiliary plans accompanying it are also examined at the same time as the main long-term document.

Weekly planning. Every Thursday statements are put forward by the departments with regard to the next weekly plan. They are also discussed by the assistant editor-in-chief, and then in the secretariate, which prepares a draft plan, divided into issues, for the next week, for the meeting of the editorial board on Friday, The requirements of the departments, re- gistered and amended by the secretariate, are sub- mitted to the editorial board for examination not later than the 14th and the 29th of each month for the next biweekly schedule of leading articles. The re- mimaining elements contributing to the weekly plan are approved by the secretariate.

The planning of the issues. Unlike the previous stages in planning, the departments’ requirements do not play such an important part here, they are only sent in when there are new events that could not be taken into account beforehand. The weekly plan and the operational instructions of the editorial board form the basis upon which the plan is worked out by the secretariate and, in particular, by its duty service. As mentioned above, the editorial board examines the plans for the two coming issues.

The working out of plans for special issues devot- ed to important social and political dates and events requires a Slightly different approach. Firstly, this type of plan is drawn up and approved in advance to get a clear idea of the outlook and time available for preparing frequently complicated and _ responsible articles; and secondly, one cannot draw up such a plan solely on the basis of the editorial office’s port-

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folio and even requirements. In a special issue the general sense of the issue and the newspaper’s at- tempts to bring out the main idea are the most im- portant. To determine them is a very difficult task professionally; to carry them out, it is helpful to hold a creative meeting or form a small creative group, to invite the suggestions of the newspaper’s own Ccor- respondents, and so on. Only after this, having picked out the “key” to the preparation of the issue, can the plan be drawn up in detail, taking into account the coinposition of the authors, the geography, the differ- ent genres, and other requirements.

Of course, the technological scheme of work on the plan is in itself not the main thing. It depends on the concrete conditions obtaining in the editorial office and when necessary on the precise methodology of this work with the plans at all stages. Here the following principal positions should be singled out:

— extensive discussion in each department of the requirements and proposals it is submitting for the seneral editorial office plan, thus making it possible to involve all the journalists in the practical plan- ning;

— preliminary discussion of the departments’ requirements with the assistant editor-in-chief;

— the organizing role of the secretariate as the general editorial office planning centre;

— the leading role of the editorial board, which approves the main, long-term, weekly, and individual issue plans, after which it becomes a law in the work of the staff and all its subdivisions.

In speaking of planning technology, one should emphasize the great importance of creative stimuli. The administrative efforts completely ensure the pre- cise functioning of the planning system. But other levers are needed to fill it with a creative content. A real way of improving the planning and any of its systems operating in one editorial office or another is the creation of representatives of the various de- partments of an initiatory group attached to the secretariate to work thoroughly on the individual, most pressing problems and comprehensive programmes, ihe arrangement of various kinds of collective dis-

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cussions, Competitions, meetings devoted to certain subjects, and other forms of mobilizing the journalists’ potential. It is important not to make this work fit into a set pattern, but to vary it, and to conduct it in a comradely, creative atmosphere.

Of great significance is the interconnection between planning and the fulfilment of plans, or to be more exact, control over their fulfilment. These are in fact two aspects ensuring the precise organization of editorial office work. What calls for special atten- tion here?

Firstly, in going over to subject-oriented, up-to- the-minute efficient planning the extent of the res- ponsibility of one subdivision of the editorial office or another should be specified in the plans; the executors should also be mentioned, even the surnames of employees working on the preparation of material, and also the term in which it should be ready.

Secondly, as in the process of planning, control should be continuous, which means that there should be a number of well thought, out and consistent actions on the part of the editorial board, the secre- tariate, and the heads of departments.

Uninterrupted control is primarily ensured by checking what has been done at all levels when going over from one planning link to the next regular one. Let us say, On examination of the departments’ requests for the week, the assistant editors-in-chief and the secretariate check what has been done of late and how with regard to the long-term plan, and during discussion of the plan of the regular issue by the editorial board questions arise with regard to the execution of the weekly plan. This continuous control is further ensured by constant concern for the way planned subjects are being handled at creative meetings of various scale, ranging from meetings of the department staff to general editorial office meetings. The editor-in-chief also participates in checking that plans are being fulfilled, working daily with the heads of departments. Finally, in addition to all this, a compulsory special analysis must be made of the course of work on the long-term plan, and its results discussed by the editorial board. Practice

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testifies to the fact that such an analysis and sub- sequent discussion should not be conducted post factum, but in the middle of the plan period, while it is still not too late to correct those who are caus- ing the hold-ups, to single out especially important moments, and perhaps to introduce the necessary corrections in the plan.

No matter what concrete forms it takes, the Many- sided planning of the activity of a body of journalists will only be successful if it is concentrated in the secretariate and is daily supervised by the editorial board. Attention to planning as a method of creative management and the constant improvement of this system are justified a hundredfold and should be an object of special concern in every editorial office.

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3. The system of publishing the newspaper

The publishing of the issue is the main stage in the production of a newspaper, the realization of the editorial office’s plans and of the creative efforts of the journalists. This is precisely the moment when the efficient organization of joint work is particularly necessary. In daily newspapers with several editions the entire cycle of handing over the materials, making the preliminary proofs, proof-reading, and the signing of the page proofs takes several hours. The strict schedule means that a fast tempo must be kept up and time saved wherever possible.

The process of publishing the newspaper is opti- mized in two main ways, namely during the prepar- ation of materials (proof-reading, correction and lay- out) and during the actual publishing of the issue (making a dummy run, proof-reading, the signing of the newspaper for the press and for the world). It is founded on the following organizational principles:

— maximal selection of those elements in the work on the issue that may be transferred to the period prior to making the preliminary proofs;

— improving the standard of preparation of ma- terials in all links of the editorial office and making the bulk of the corrections in the originals and the galley-proofs, thereby restricting editing of the page proofs;

— the introduction of continuous methods of work of a duty service and the installation of modern printing equipment;

— the introduction of feasible, but strict norms determining the interaction and specific obligations of all the editorial office subdivisions in the process of producing the issue;

— constant control by the secretariate and the

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editorial board to see that the schedule for the news- paper’s publication is observed.

Work with Materials

The force of the printed word, the extent of its influence, not only depends directly on the content, but also on the literary qualities of the newspaper, its language and style. The harmony and unity of literary form and content, and their mutual depend- ence on one another are two aspects of social and political journalism. It is from this standpoint that the tasks of editing the press materials should be examined.

The fulfilment of the long-term and current edi- torial office plans leads to the systematic replenish- ment of the editorial office’s portfolio with materials from the departments. Dailies with a wide coverage need to have entries on all sorts of subjects in reserve for several issues to ensure that the materials can be used to the best advantage and to promote consistency of the policies conducted in the newspaper.

The heads of departments (editors) send the ori- ginals directly for type-setting in the case of such reserves. But unity of the literary creative criteria of appraising the materials prepared by the different de- partments is then particularly necessary. It is a ques- tion of the breadth of views on the problem, of the depth of analysis and the persuasiveness of the argu- mentation, of the richness of the information, the readability, the correlation of the extent of the con- tent, of the headings, style and so on. Certain norms should be required of the different genres — the lead- ing article, the essay, correspondence, information. The working out of similar criteria is a gradual process and concerns the entire editorial board and

the body of journalists as a whole. An especially —

important role here is played by the heads of the

editorial office and the secretariate, not so much in

the organization of creative discussions, “emergency meetings” and meetings to deal with topics, as in the

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everyday practice of work with the materials of the departments and with the authors.

This is the first extremely important goal of the preliminary reading of the materials that leave the printing office every day after type-setting “in re- serve” in the form of preliminary proof blocks or galley-proofs. The materials must be read through, of course, both to familiarize oneself with each article, without which it is impossible to plan the issue effici- ently, and also, when needed, to improve the mate- rial by joint effort. The assistant editors-in-chief usually read through the materials on questions for which they are responsible, and also the executive secretary.

At this initial stage remarks on the material takes the form of comments and recommendations — con- crete instructions to the department on the desirability of shortening it, of bringing out certain logical ac- cents, of changing the heading, of improving the sense and style, and so on. These are passed on to the head of the department and the author if he is an employee of the editorial office. The reasons for the comments and the professional analysis of the material are especially significant. When it comes to large-scale entries, it is perhaps worthwhile analysing them at a meeting in the department, or the secreta- riate or at a general editorial office discussion. In all this it is vital to display an ability to appraise the material, its strong and weak points, to have plenty of tact, and to adhere to principles.

When the dummy run is being composed and every minute counts in preparing the original for type-setting there is, of course, no time now for dis- cussion and analysis. Here, in the main links of the duty service, in the editorial and secretariate link, the materials are read and the necessary corrections made. In working on the original for the issue, attention is mainly concentrated on the content, the factual side, the logic and literary make-up, and also the size of the material intended for a definite space on a con- crete type page, as well as on the correlation of the hew article to the other materials in this issue accord- ing to a wide range of indices — subject, genre, geo-

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graphy, and so on. From these standpoints the ques- tion of the heading for the material, the format and type face and the get-up are decided.

The organizational! aspect of the question plays a considerable part. Establishing and securing a single system of work with the original, which corresponds to the interests of the subject at hand, in a general editorial office document (the “Procedure for Publishing Issues” or some similar document), is something the editorial board introduces and makes obligatory for everyone. We have already mentioned the main thing in this system, namely the methods of preparing materials of an urgent nature and “left- over” materials. This also includes requirements with regard to their volume, deadlines, and manner of make-up. It is elementarily obvious, for example, but like everything that is customary, it needs to be secured in organized form: the originals are only sent for type-setting after the department editor or the person carrying out his duties has clearly marked them and endorsed them with a note indicating that the quotes, figures, surnames and proper names have been precisely defined and exactly which of the employees has checked them.

Even the technical side, such as the state of the galley-proof system, is of great significance in the complex of preliminary work. Here it is best if the secretariate, through the efforts of its own services, runs its own “portfolio” of reserve material for each department, controlling the correction of materials in accordance with the recommendations made and the extent of preparedness of the entries so that they can plan the coming issues. All these are prerequisites for the efficient organization of work in the final stage of producing a newspaper.

The Organization of Publication

The system of publishing issues varies considerably in publications of different types. True, the general principles — the establishment of a single scheme of

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norms, a schedule and order of work, the division of the process of publication into the preparatory and the main phase, the making of a dummy run of the newspaper, control over the actual printing of the newspaper and its circulation — are compulsory for any editorial office. Here we shall examine the most complex variant in publishing a people’s daily.

The publishing process. In modern practice two interconnected trends can be chosen which facilitate the publication of an issue: the change-over to the method of all-round shifts, that is the further pur- poseful division of labour among the editorial office staff, and the centralization of the publishing itself and going over to production on a continuous basis.

The essence of the all-round shift method is that each shift conducts the work on the issue at all stages in the technological chain, from the working out of plans and the composing of the dummies of the page proofs to the signing and publication of the newspa- per. This excludes the issue “in motion” from being handed over to different staff, ensures better organi- zation, heightens the executor’s sense of responsibility and helps to avoid any possible lack of co-ordination in time. The all-round shift is headed by one of the assistant editors-in-chief and includes duty editorial hoard members, the assistant executive secretary, duty personnel from the departments, teams from the checking bureau, the proof-reading department, the newspaper release service and so on. The originals of urgent materials and communications go through their hands, along with any correction, no matter who made it. The all-round shift bears all responsibility for the publishing of the newspaper on time accord- ing to schedule, for its content, the preliminary proofs and its make-up. Co-ordination of the activity of the regular shifts is ensured by the editorial board at its daily meetings and by the secretariate, which holds emergency meetings individually for each edition. It may be said that such a system is too specific and only accessible to a small circle of newspapers. This is correct if we are just talking about copying expe- rience. But the principles upon which it is based are hecessary for practice in publications of any scale.

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The method of all-round shifts presupposes mi- nimal participation in the work on the issue of those who are not directly connected with composing its preliminary proofs. Quite often in newspapers it is considered normal for the heads of departments to read through the page proofs several times, “to bring something up to scratch” or “fish something out’, and other members of the staff help them. However, this has nothing to do with the rational organization of labour: firstly, many of the forces are distracted from regular creative activity; secondly, the very pub- lication of the issue is sometimes held up. It should be organized in such a way that the heads of depart- ments, going carefully through the material with the necessary sense of responsibility, should make all the corrections immediately in the preliminary proof, if they are really necessary, and keep them to a mi- nimum. Later on, when the schedule provides no pos- sibility of doing this, the all-round shift completely takes charge of the issue (and bears responsibility for it).

The second trend, which is also based on the need to accelerate the newspaper’s publication, con- sists in the input of up-to-the-minute information and the treatment of urgent materials being concentrated in one place where the entire duty service is concen- trated, too. The principle of uninterrupted work on the issue is of considerable advantage in organizing labour and, accordingly, in saving time, especially if this organization rests on 4 sound technical basis.

The order and schedule of work. The organization of uninterrupted work and any other system of pub- lishing a newspaper presuppose a strictly defined order of work in all the subdivisions at the final stage of newspaper production. This order is set out in a document which embraces the entire complex of ope- rations — the planning of issues, the handing over of the originals for type-setting, the preparation of the regular (next) issue and work on the current issue, a schedule for handing over the type pages (for each edition individually) and the precisely regulated res- ponsibilities of the duty service. We have already

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spoken about the norms of planning and handing over the originals for type-setting. Let us dwell on the other elements.

The preparation for the edition of a regular (the next) issue begins a day before its preliminary proofs are made. Each piece of material planned for this issue is carefully read through in the departments and handed over to the assistant executive secretary of the next day’s shift in the form of pasted blocks, gal- leyproofs or originals with the necessary corrections. He reads these materials and, if necessary, edits and improves them, then hands them over to the assistant editor-in-chief in charge of the issue. The dummies of the future issue are examined and approved at the emergency meeting in the secretariate, and then sent to be made into preliminary proofs in “reserve” to- gether with the materials read. The next morning all the members of the editorial board and the editors of the departments receive the page proofs of the issue in the main, the issue now becoming the current one and being supplemented with up-to-the-minute information.

After its content is discussed at the meeting of the editorial board, work on the current issue is re- gulated in the following manner. The departments make corrections, taking into account the comments made and the need to shorten the materials. Moreover, this and any later corrections, no matter whom they come from, can only be made through the depart- ments’ person on duty, the assistant executive secre- tary, the duty member of the editorial board and the _ assistant editor-in-chief in charge of the issue, without which it is practically impossible to ensure the issue’s swift and unfailing publication. At the morn- ing meeting of the editorial board, which daily looks back on the publication of the previous issue, the sec- retariate reports on any violations of the accepted order in publishing the issue, the reason for them and the responsibility of certain staff members. This check-up serves as an effective means of improving the organization of a publication and helps to bring up to scratch departments and services that are slip- ping.

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Now let us turn to the most important elements in the single complex of newspaper publication.

The main principles. Following the planning of the issue the next links in the system of publication are the graphic composition of the type pages, that is the making of dummies of them, the reading of the galley- proofs and blocks and then making preliminary proofs. The main requirement of the preliminary proofs of a popular newspaper is that the reader should be able to understand easily the material offer- ed to him. The following are necessary for this purpose: a systematic and customary selection, the distribution of material in sections familiar to the reader without excessive complexity and mixed cha- racter, the singling out of and moderate emphasis on the essence of each article. The leading principle of the aesthetics of a newspaper page is its sub- ordination to content as a means of achieving a goal. The modern style of newspaper make-up differs in its strictness and, together with this, loudness, which ensures simplicity, clarity, and that the most important should stand out on the page and in the integral system of the issue.

We have already spoken above about the long- term model of the newspaper. The dummies serve as an integral part of this general model, reflecting the face, the appearance of the publication. What does — this appearance consist of? It is, to a decisive extent, determined by the character of the newspaper which — is not only conditional on its content, but on its ex- — ternal appearance 4s well, and depends on many — factors: the type of preliminary proof habitually used — in the editorial office as the basis for the dummy of each page; on the manner of presentation and treat- ment of the content of materials (the “window”, insets, the system of subtitles and so forth); the graphic means of singling out, uniting and dividing materials (lines, gaps, and so on); methods of illustrat- ing the newspaper, a variety of type faces and the order in which they are used. ;

All these technological details form the sphere of

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everyday organization of editorial office work and therefore deserve special consideration.

Making the dummy of the newspaper. In modern practice two main types of preliminary proofs have crystallized: the block or galley-proof and the broken one: both of them have many derivatives. The essence of the former consists in the fact that the preliminary proofs of the materials are made on straight blocks. No article has “legs”. The advantage of this type of proof is precision, the expressiveness of the graphic outline of the type page, and also the relative sim- plicity of composing the page which is of great signific- ance in publishing the newspaper. In the broken proofs the materials or selection are demarcated by proken lines, the proofs are made with recesses, “hnoots’”. A compulsory condition for such a system is the striking delineation of the materials, without which it is difficult for the reader to perceive them.

In some publications mixed types of proofs are used. It should, moreover, be taken into account that in practice both the block and the broken proof do not just appear in “pure form” but in various sub- forms — vertical, vertical with horizontal cross-sec- tions, horizontal with vertical cross-sections, symmet- rical and their derivatives.

Without dwelling on the specific features of one form of proof or another, we note that each editorial office chooses a certain system of graphic design of the type pages for the long-term model. It is the duty of the secretariate to work out this system, check it experimentally, establish it on a general editorial office scale, and keep a strict eye on it in practice until a new one is accepted.

The individual elements of the proof, within the framework of the general system, may be characte- ristic of specific pages in the newspaper, say, the information page or the letter page, which differ in their external appearance. It is only important that these peculiar features are not of an accidental cha- racter, that they are the result of a well thought out, long-term approach to the composition of the news- paper.

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Proceeding from the standard principles of preli- minary proof making, the duty assistant executive secretary, in preparing the issue of the newspaper, composes the dummies of each page, taking into account the type face and the significance of the planned materials, and also the selected illustrations. The making up of dummies is usually started with the laying out of the most essential component and sections, which occupy a more or less definite place on the page according to the scheme recognized by the editorial office. At the same time, one should not just ensure logical but also aesthetic needs in distri- puting materials, take into account the pluses and minuses of them being side by side, and see that, while retaining the invariability of the principles of composing proofs, the new type page is not like any other type page in the given and previous issues. The dummies suggested are considered and, if need be, jointly improved, and made more precise at the secre tariate’s emergency meeting. After the meeting ap- proves the dummies, as mentioned above, preliminary proofs are made of the reserve type pages.

During the publication of this issue, when it pecomes a current issue the input of new materials means that changes must be made in the dummy and new page proofs made. The executive secretary and the assistant editor-in-chief in charge of the issue are informed of changes of this type.

During the course of the work on the issue pre- liminary proofs have to be remade, and frequently not just once, but in particular from edition to edition. However, this does not mean that it is admissible to regard the making of dummies, especially at the early stages of preparation of the pages, with a certain amount of disdain. Only taking full and consistent account of all the elements in any, even an “inter- mediate”, variant of the dummy, makes it possible to speed up work and ensure its high quality.

Work with headlines. An important element in the preparation for the dummy and the preliminary proof of the type page is work on the “headings”, the titles and subtitles. This is an extremely responsible

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matter, in many ways determining the reader’s under- standing of the newspaper as a whole. The dual cha- racter of journalism as an individual and at the same time a collective process is reflected in work on the headlines. This is first and foremost the author’s task, but at the same time it is that of the editorial office, of the department which prepares the publication for press, and of the entire duty shift putting out the newspaper.

Of course, the headings are primarily determined by the essence of the material; as far as possible they should follow from the content and even to a certain extent anticipate it. However, besides this, the main thing the heading also depends on is its genre of entry and its place next to other materials on the page. One cannot indulge in a loud invocatory word, or in an abundance of metaphors or in repeats of qualifying or verbal headings. A sense of moderation and an understanding of rational proportions, and an ability to see each name in the general “orchestration” of the newspaper are particularly necessary here.

The type face and means of making it stand out. Work with type faces plays an important part in the complex of publishing an issue. The correct selection of the type face for the headings and text largely determines not only the graphic design of the news- paper; for the reader the outline serves as an obvious reference point with regard to one article or another. A rational approach is all the more important here. The secretariate and its newspaper release service work out schemes of norms for using the type faces.

As far as the type face for the text is concerned for each newspaper it is sufficient to employ two or three main sets and several additional ones, while each of them is used according to a definite system. This system, set out in a general editorial office do- cument, makes it possible to give the issue the desired aesthetic appearance, to avoid the haphazard use of type faces, an excessively mixed character and un- hecessary accents in the type pages.

The same principle may be said to be true of the title type faces. The multitude of sets, their subjective

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use spoils the integral impression of the newspaper’s appearance. Practice shows that in every printed organ it is necessary first of all to orient oneself to several sets, selecting additional ones according to the indices of similarity and contrast, and secondly, to allocate these sets to definite type pages, thereby ensuring a unity, and not a stereotype, a distinct design of their own and a dependence on the concrete content.

We might add that the outline of the type face always organically depends on the other graphic means employed —- the lines, the delineation, the tail- pieces, and the illustrations. The elements of a news- paper’s graphic model are also used according to a strictly established principle, programmed for a long- term period to harmonize with the general style of the type pages and the issue as a whole.

We note, however, that the extremely precise regulation does not at all mean mechanically follow- ing the established scheme, but presupposes extensive use of initiative by the editorial office staff who are engaged in the publication of the issue within the framework of the jointly approved system.

The lay-out of the illustrations. A particular feature of newspaper illustrations is that as they are the composition centre of the page, they are spacially perceived as more striking than the text and im- mediately attract the reader’s attention. Hence it becomes clear that, firstly, one must not indulge in an abundance of illustrations, and, secondly, it is extremely important to be strict in choosing ‘them, for illustrations are called upon to embody the main trends in newspaper work to a certain extent and to answer to its standard, both according to the quality a: of execution and professional and aesthetic indices. ;

The concept of “a newspaper illustration” em- braces various genres of photographs and drawings — executed in different ways — 4a cliché, line drawing, on a mesh and combined. When deciding questions regarding the illustrations in each number one parti- cularly has to take into account not only the subject, geography, and up-to-the-minute character, but also

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the special features of the look of the photograph (small, medium, or blown up), and also the artistic manner of the graphic work, so as to avoid monotony and a set pattern.

The system of illustrations is part of the com- prehensive concept of the newspaper’s model. First of all, it has to be established which pages should carry illustrations and what forms this should take. More- over, it is important to select certain rubrics, methods, a style of presenting the photographs, drawings or caricatures.

Printing and circulation. The precise organization of the newspaper’s release for publication is not so important in itself as it is as the basis for speeding up the printing and delivery of the newspaper to the reader.

The production conveyor should work efficiently and without hold-ups. When the pages of the first edition have gone to press and the main and reserve stereotypes have been moulded, work immediately begins on the second edition. At the secretariate’s emergency meeting the principal changes in the struc- ture of the issue are determined, new information is urgently set up, and the main assistant editor-in- chief in charge of the newspaper decides conclusively which communications, less important and less up-to- the-minute they can replace. The regular edition goes out according to its own schedule ensured by the duty shift, and the pages brought up to date are again signed for the press to meet the established deadline.

In conditions obtaining today, when many news- papers are transmitted to the place of publication by telephoto and are printed in different towns, control over the printing on the part of the editorial office is inevitably of a selective character; nevertheless it remains systematic. Exact observation of the news- paper release schedule, heightening the responsibility of workers in the printing-house and those who cir- Culate the newspaper, and rendering business-like assistance to them are all the sphere of activity of the editorial office heads and the corresponding services.

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As we can Seé, the process of publishing a news- paper today is a complex task embracing 4 number of complicated elements. This task is carried out suc- cessfully if, first and foremost, an effective system of norms is worked out in the conditions of each editori- al office, if such progressive forms of centralization of work are introduced as duty services, the continu- ous production method and the creation of all-round shifts, if long-term schedule models of the public- ation and methods of designing it are determined, and if constant concern is shown with regard to the high quality of the printing and the timely delivery of the newspaper to the readers.

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4. Newspaper — reader — newspaper

The people’s press is called upon to be society’s tri- bune. It is not just a question of having a frank talk with the reader, of influencing his thoughts and feelings, but of expressing the opinion of the masses, of listening to their voice, and of knowing how to interpret the newspaper’s word. This work, aimed at constantly building up sound, direct and two-way contacts with the readership, takes a variety of forms. They mainly involve the common practice of sending letters to the editorial office, the creation of a net- work of free-lance local correspondents, conferences and meetings with readers, and the study of their attitude to the materials in the newspaper.

Work with Letters

This is one of the most important concerns of the entire staff of the editorial office. The newspaper cannot successfully solve its own tasks if it does not deal seriously and systematically with readers’ letters.

The editorial office’s increasing mail reflects the development of the social activity of the masses, the rising standard of education and culture, of civil con- sciousness and intellectual needs. Readers frequently turn to their newspaper to ‘talk about their attitude to current events, to share their opinion on one aspect of life or another, to make suggestions or criticize negative phenomena, and, lastly, to make comments on the entries in the newspaper. Each of these letters has profound political and social meaning, for behind it there is a person, there are questions which, as a tule, worry many people. The post is the newspaper’s Wealth, its very life blood, improving the journalists’ knowledge of everyday reality. It is not without good

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reason that in many editorial offices, even those with a powerful network of their own correspondents, they call the reader the “chief correspondent”.

The efficient organization of work with letters in newspapers is based on the following conditions:

— the participation in this work by all of the departments in the editorial office and all of its staff;

— letters and materials on the letters must be printed in each issue;

_. the seriously organized study of the content of letters as a barometer of public opinion, a source of subjects, facts and addresses for entries in the news- paper, and an indicator of the readers’ grasp of the newspaper’s content;

— a single centralized order in registering letters and dealing with them in the editorial office’s appa- ratus, strict control over fulfilment of the established norms when working with them.

As mentioned above, the editorial office’s post comes into the letter department. Here the technical group registers each letter, makes up a card for it in the card-index where the name, surname, address of the author, and number of the letter are indicated and also its further progress within the editorial office. In the reading group each worker reads the post from a certain region and jots down the content of the © letter on the card and the appropriate index for the subject. He then either sends it to one of the depart- ments in the editorial office or writes an answer to_ it, and where necessary sends suggestions or an application to the corresponding state, Party, or public organs to investigate the matter and take measures, submitting such a letter for special attention in the

system like this is to function efficiently, a unified document is needed for the entire editorial office which regulates both the order and period in which the letter should be dealt with at all stages.

In preparing a letter for publication on its part cular topics, the departments proceed from the §8@

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neral editorial office rubrics, which bring the news- paper closer to the reader, to have a frank, confiden- tial talk with him. “From Our Mail’, “The Reader Continues the Conversation”, “At Your Request”, “Let- ters with Commentaries”, “The Reader’s Opinion”, “Our Post Box”, “Correspondence With Readers” — these are just a few of the permanent rubrics. Many large popular newspapers constantly put out pages of letters on given topics, run various Campaigns and discussions on various topical questions raised in the letters and of interest to the public at large. All this helps to further strengthen the ties between the edi- torial office and the subscriber: each immediately notices how much space is given over to letters in the newspaper, and even many of those who previously did not correspond with the press, take up their pens.

In this sense the newspaper page is the best organizer, and, if the editorial office wishes to receive more letters, it must first of all print more, too. How- ever, this assertion does not at all mean the matter can then be left to take care of itself. The editorial office must constantly organize the work to stimulate the reader’s interest and encourage his contributions. Among the various forms this work can take we might mention systematic correspondence with authors, the setting up of the institution of voluntary correspond- ents, especially in places where the newspaper has no correspondents of its own, and also clubs for friends of the newspaper, “swoops” by the newspaper’s active contributors, and accounts of the work of the editorial office and of readers’ conferences. All these measures on a general editorial office scale are determined by the plan for work with the readership which is ap- proved by the editorial board. The main part in this is played by the letter department with the support of the secretariate and with the participation of the best and most creative of the journalists.

In special cases the newspaper may find it justi- fiable to address the readers directly with a request for them to give their opinions on an important public Campaign, or on a topical but debatable entry, which requires further discussion.

Of great importance for the efficient work of the

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editorial office is the systematic study of the type of incoming mail according to subject and geographical indices. If carried out according to a certain computer- aided programme, even a simple analysis in accord- ance with the indices on the letters’ index cards, allows one to see quite clearly what and where public opinion is concentrated at each moment. In drawing up and putting into effect such programmes, 20—30 main topics are selected for the year and each given a certain index, which is noted on the index cards for computer analysis. As mentioned above, this work is carried out by the reading group in the letter de- partment. Of course, all this makes sense if the atti- tude to the data received is an effective one and not a passive one, if it serves as a source of information for the heads of the editorial office and departments with regard to the intellectual needs and moods of the masses, aS an important factor in planning and pre- paring concrete entries, correct from the point of view of the tasks of composing the number. In this con- nection, it is appropriate that the main question in analysing the post should be submitted to the editorial board, that corrections should be made in the plans by the secretariate and the departments, that the spe- cial and also the newspaper’s Own correspondents should be given additional tasks, and that the pro- blems arising in the letters should be discussed at creative meetings of the journalists.

Voluntary Work

The democratic press, based on the principles of its national character and its popular nature, organically combines the work of the professional journalists and the energetic voluntary activities of a wide circle of press enthusiasts. The extent of this type of activity, the climax of which is a direct entry in newspapers and magazines, is extremely varied. Besides carrying on a correspondence with the newspaper, it includes direct participation in the organizational and creative work of the editorial office through a system of free- lance departments, public councils and receptions, the

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editorial offices of pages on given subjects, of readers’ clubs and the like. In essence this is social work by means of which people realize their right to parti- cipate in managing the affairs of society through the ress.

4 Let us take a look at the main types of social work in the editorial office and the ways in which it is organized.

In some newspapers it is considered necessary to include on the editorial board not only the leading workers in the editorial office, but also public figures, authoritative representatives of workers and farmers, prominent scientists, and masters of culture. Parti- cipating in the work of the editorial board as equal members of it, they act as the spokesmen of public opinion, helping the journalists to improve their pro- fessional experience by means of their profound understanding of life’s problems and of the readers’ interpretation of the printed word, and assisting the editorial office in making judgements and giving advice. Quite often these members of the editorial board take it upon themselves to organize the news- paper’s popular events, such as the arrangement of public “swoops” and checks, the extensive discussion of topical problems, and meetings with readers. Of course, this practice is justified when each of the voluntary workers, invested with trust and responsi- bility, takes part in the joint management of the edi- torial office, and does not just play the part of an honorary representative.

In certain conditions, especially in newspapers where the staff of journalists is comparatively small, the setting up of free-lance departments is justified. As a rule, these departments are in charge of prepar- ing materials on questions outside the field of vision of the main subdivisions in the editorial office. These voluntary cells are formed of specialists, scientists, and practical workers who are interested in con- stantly working with the newspaper profession and wish to try their abilities, and reveal their professional and life experience. The specific topics dealt with by the free-lance departments may be individual branches of the economy, urban economy, questions

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of morals and law, education, the health service, sport, and the like. We emphasize yet again that they should not duplicate the work of the permanent departments, but, on the contrary, help them to extend their sub- ject matter and start new rubrics and sections.

Quite understandably, this creative group of vo- luntary workers particularly needs management from day to day. In many editorial offices this is entrusted to the deputy editor-in-chief, the secretariate or the heads of the main departments, but sometimes a jour- nalist who is a permanent member of the staff joins the free-lance department to co-ordinate the work. No matter how this question is resolved in practice, it is important that the links made up of voluntary workers should “become enrolled” as part of the body of journalists, and their activity should be directed and organized on the basis of the principles generally accepted in the editorial office. The free-lance de- partment, on a level with all the others, draws up plans, maintains contacts with the authors, submits requirements for publication to the secretariate, and prepares materials for publication. But this, of course, means that the journalists must assist the voluntary workers, that the latter must take some professional instruction and join in the creative life of the editorial office, and be aware of the precise distribution of duties.

If the newspaper regularly publishes special pages devoted to say art or new books, the history of the home area, nature conservation, the upbringing of the growing generation, and so forth, then similar types of free-lance formations are sometimes set up to issue them. They are not carrying out the duties of a de- partment, but of a voluntary editorial office of the page, although their work is based on the same prin- ciple ensuring the planning, preparation and public- ation of materials on a given topic.

Among the other forms of voluntary work the free-lance councils attached to the main departments of the editorial office are the most common. These organs unite specialists, contributing authors, and vo- luntary correspondents who are grouped in one creative link of the editorial office or another.

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This council’s function may be extremely exten- sive and varied: it may range from discussion of the department’s plans, its campaigns and most important materials to the joint preparation of large-scale entries. Frequently the specialists, who are members of the free-lance councils, take upon themselves duties of a long-term nature called forth by the need to make an in-depth study of a certain question. By way of example, the economic council attached to the in- dustry department may, over a given period, analyse the data on the efficiency of an enterprise, the ratio between output and consumption, and other topical subjects for the newspaper: the council on sociolo- gical research attached to the letter department stu- dies public opinion on the problems that come up in the editorial office’s mail. However, the main purpose of a similar type of voluntary organs is that of giving advice.

From the point of view of organization it is custo- mary for the editor of the department (the head of department) or his deputy to supervise the free-lance councils. One of the specially selected experienced correspondents constantly assists the voluntary work- ers in the direct preparations for meetings and other activities.

The editorial office’s public reception rooms play an important part in Strengthening the ties bet- ween the newspaper and its readers. Set up in large towns and cities, they operate according to a set schedule, which is well advertised. At set times any- body can go to the reception room and ask questions or hand in a letter, correspondence for the newspaper, and, when needed, seek advice, and voice his opinion. The active voluntary workers, who are on duty in turn at the reception rooms, are selected and approved by the editorial office from among friends of the hewspaper. These are people who have gained wisdom from experience of life and who are prepared to serve the public cause with their knowledge and autho- tity. They are constantly in contact with the editorial office apparatus, and acting through it and also through local authorities and public organs, they re- Solve the problems with which visitors come to them.

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The letter department of the editorial office car- ries out the methodological management of these re- ception rooms and assists voluntary workers. The main thing is that the newspaper’s own correspond- ents participate directly in organizing the complex work of the voluntary workers. This is why these re- ception rooms usually operate in centres of an area where correspondents are based.

Such a form of voluntary assistance as free-lance posts has become firmly established in newspaper practice. If an editorial office is interested in obtain- ing systematic information on any location where large-scale construction work is going on or other important events are taking place, but cannot keep its own journalist there permanently, then it selects voluntary correspondents. These are employees of the local press, specialists, workers and farmers, who are familiar with the state of affairs and disposed to journalism. They jointly take it upon themselves to be representatives of the editorial office and form its free-lance correspondents’ post. The department in the editorial office dealing with the corresponding topics supervises the work of the post, constantly maintaining contacts with the voluntary workers.

Highly significant in poosting the newspaper’s in- fluence and making its word more effective are the readers’ clubs, which are also one of the active forms — of voluntary participation in the activities of the a press. These clubs are a kind of voluntary union of a people interested in extending the newspaper’s work — with the public at large. The club which, as a rule, consists of several sections, advertises its events, organizes public discussions, holds readers’ confe- 4 rences and “oral issues”, arranges exhibitions, dis- — plays, and so forth. Of course, the editorial office — renders these clubs every assistance, gives them advice, and, when necessary, sends members of the . editorial board, heads of departments, and well known journalists to them. |

The development of voluntary work in the press testifies to its qualitative maturity and its deep ties with the masses. As an integral component of the

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concept of organization in an editorial office, this work requires constant attention, initiative, and care.

Drawing on the Reader’s Opinion

For every editorial office it is extremely important to get an idea of the reader’s opinion of the newspaper itself. Otherwise, it cannot confidently be said that its homily has been grasped, that the information reaches the people, and what changes, additions, and corrections life requires of it.

The two-way ties in the chain “newspaper — reader — newspaper” are maintained through letters and comments, through meetings of journalists with the people on the spot, through readers’ conferences and other measures involving the people. Many editori- al offices specially invite all interested persons to ex- press their opinions at a “big readers’ council’, that is to send in their proposals and comments to make the newspaper more interesting, richer in content, and more accessible to the people. Usually this appeal is timed to coincide with the new year and calls forth quite a flood of interesting and helpful recommend- ations.

However, as we _ have already noted above, although these forms of work are highly significant, it is quite clear that they only embrace the most active part of the readership and, since they are of a se- lective nature, they only give an approximate, and to a certain extent subjective, picture of public opinion. This is why a system of sociological research must be worked out to ascertain the readers’ reaction to the newspaper.

Of course, it is unlikely that research on this scale could be carried out by the editorial office itself. All the more so, since the simplest “yes” and “no” questionnaire (“do you read — don’t you read’, “do you like it — don’t you like it” and the like) is of little benefit to journalists in practice. The research programme should include a wide range of questions making it possible to obtain detailed information on

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the composition and interests of the readership, and on the actual effect of the different entries in the newspaper. Practice shows that a large-scale project of this type should basically pe carried out by 4 group of sociologists Or even a scientific institute, generally supervised by the editorial office and with the parti- cipation of its active contributors.

Using modern methods of collecting and analys- ing information, the main information is obtained in the course of research conducted by interviewing Se-

giving an idea of the newspaper’s place in the system of other mass media, then an all-round survey is car- ried out of the adult population in certain regions, the choice of people reflecting the most typical social structure of society. However, it is not out of the question that during the interview people’s answers are somewhat influenced by the fact that the reviewer is present. Therefore an additional survey must be made by post and more questionnaires sent out so that corrections can pe made in the general picture and also individual items of information defined more precisely.

The materials collected are processed with the help of a computer as art of the main flow of ques- tions put forward by the editorial office. An analysis makes it possible to obtain an objective idea of the composition of the readership from age, sex, educa- tion, social position, place of residence, Party member- ship, and so forth. It becomes clear what the News- paper’s “average” reader and the various categories of subscribers expect from their newspaper. Usually during a survey 4 distinctive “contest” of materials covering @ wide range of indices, from subjects to genre, is held, and also of the popularity of rubrics and authors. This makes it possible to authentically ascertain what people read in the newspaper and how, how efficiently its space is being used, where a gap - appears between the reader’s “Gemands” and “sup- ply’. The generalized appraisals of the main sections — of the newspaper, the effectiveness of its entries, the —

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fullness and up-to-date nature of information, of language, style, illustrations, and type, are instructive. In subjecting all aspects of the newspaper’s work to a check through the prism of the reader’s percep- tion, the editorial office obtains extensive analytical material of an objective nature which is rich in con- crete content. It clearly reveals pluses and minuses, the newspaper’s unused opportunities and, together with other data, may serve as a reliable basis upon which to take creative decisions and make the acti- vities of the body of journalists more efficient. As a rule, the editorial office sets up a number of com-

missions which are engaged in drawing up proposals

with regard to the outcome of the research. This is a question of dealing with certain problems in the newspaper more actively, of starting up new sections, of measures to attract one category of readers or an- other to the newspaper, of packing more information into the pages and making sure it is up-to-date, of the forms of presenting the materials, and so forth. The commissions’ recommendations are then con- sidered at a meeting of the body of journalists and approved by the editorial board.

Over a long period sociological research provides a strong, creative impulse for the editorial office, making it possible to collate the standard of profes- sional work with objective information on the effect- iveness of the printed word. The systematic conduct- ing of such research according to a comparable pro- gramme every five to eight years gives a true picture with regard to the dynamics of the development of contacts with the readers, is an important means of strengthening and boosting the newspaper’s influence and authority and of making its content increasingly satisfy the growing intellectual needs of the mass of readers.

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5. The system of creative work

Journalists’ work is a specific kind of work, and the successful functioning of the editorial office largely depends on the extent to which the system of staff management, of the planning and issue of the news- paper corresponds to the creative process, to the de- velopment of the employees’ initiative. The rational organization of the entire editorial office ensemble presupposes the creation of a creative atmosphere in which the professional possibilities and abilities of the journalists can manifest themselves as much as pos- sible.

Of great significance in this sense is the collect- ive atmosphere and unity of the editorial office. Only a good, healthy body of workers, business-like, har- monious team-work, a unanimity of views on the main, principal questions can ensure the fruitful work of a printed organ. It is all the more important to check

and enrich the literary practice of each publicist with —

collective thought and collective opinion.

The creative life in newspaper editorial offices is —

extremely varied. We have already spoken above about some forms that its organization takes. Also essential

are measures that make it possible to use the jour-

nalistic potential of the editorial office to greater advantage and to create an atmosphere of common

creative quest. Much depends on the professional —

training of personnel, the moral and material incen-

tives for them, and an effective analysis of everyday ©

practice.

The Allocation of Personnel

In resolving almost all these questions, the editorial office comes up against opposing tendencies, against

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the cohesion brought about by working together every- day and by the unity of interests of the groups of journalists (for example, from department to depart- ment) which is in itself of a positive nature, and against the danger of stagnation which may trans- form this cohesion into group complacency and ossi- fication. A good way of combatting these negative phenomena resulting from the deep-going division of labour in the editorial office is a flexible system of utilizing personnel.

One cannot see a definite scheme once and for all in the structure of the editorial office staff. For this restricts the possibilities of distributing the creat- ive forces effectively, makes the specialization of staff members too narrow, and creates “departmental” _ barriers to the rational organization of staff work as a whole. Using the staff to advantage, the editorial board can, when the interests of the moment demand it, build up one or another subdivision, form new sub- divisions, and create brigades to deal with urgent work or purpose-oriented groups of journalists.

A similar practice, especially when it is a ques- tion of tasks of a temporary nature, not only injects the warranted dynamism into the system of the edito- rial office organization, but also stimulates additional creative impulses, makes the editorial office more aware of the potential possibilities of its journalists, and consequently, makes better use of them. When starting on a new field, many people throw themselves into their work more, revealing themselves as being more outstanding and talented than before and become creatively enriched for further successful work.

Discussion — a Collective Affair

A compulsory element of any organization is the systematic analysis of the results of work at each stage. As applied to the editorial office this means the need to regularly hold “five-minute conferences” and _ other production meetings, for all the staff and for the individual subdivisions. At these journalists’ dis- cussions’ not only reviews of the issues for a given

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period should be considered, but also pressing pro- fessional problems: the development of the news- paper genres, the language and style of materials, the effectiveness of entries, the efficacy of business trips, and so on.

Examination of urgent questions concerning life in the editorial office in a comradely, business-like atmosphere is the very best way of working out unified positions on creative problems for the editorial office as a whole, and of overcoming the subjective judge- ments and emotional unbalanced state of individual journalists which are inevitable in creative practice.

To make sure that the role of general editorial office meetings is heightened, means proceeding from the following pre-conditions:

— “daily meetings” and other production meet- ings should be held regularly;

— a creative meeting for the editorial office as a whole should be headed by the editor-in-chief, and, when he is engaged, by one of his deputies;

_— after each meeting the comments and proposals submitted there are examined and measures are work- ed out to put into effect all that is valuable and useful, and even the editorial board takes a concrete decision on the results of the discussion.

It is beneficial to combine this type of meeting with creative meetings to exchange opinions on inter- departmental campaigns with discussions on the most important materials and with other forms of joint appraisal of what has been done, and of the search for something new. All this, however, does not pre- suppose excessive preoccupation with meetings and conferences, for which there is simply no time in the editorial office of a daily newspaper, put a well-ba- — lanced system of creative work on the basis of a single plan.

Incentives — a Stimulus to Action The moral and material incentives to journalists’ — creative work are worthy of particular attention. One of the direct forms of stimulating enterprising, self-_

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less, talented work in many newspapers is royalties which are even paid to permanent members of the staff. At the same time, it is important that the criteria used in estimating the royalties, which have been approved by the editorial board, should be applicable to all kinds of materials, thereby making it possible to give an incentive not so much for the size as for the content of the article, the treatment of the subject, and the literary merits.

Usually in editorial offices a system of incentives also operates for the best materials and fruitful orga- nizational work, allowing encouragement to be given additionally both to the executors and also the edito- rial office subdivisions, and the entries in the news- paper varying in genre. This is justified when a public commission consisting of the most authoritative jour- nalists is engaged in preparing the proposals for these incentives, and the commission’s recommendations are submitted to the editorial board for consideration. The editorial board takes note of the best materials, awarding prizes to their authors from a special fund. Often special bonuses are introduced for the most fruitful organizational work and work with letters The journalists are also offered other forms of incen- tives such as books, interesting trips, and so forth.

Checking Practice by Analysis

In the correct planning and organization of creative work, an objective analysis must be made of the news- paper’s content and its changing aspects over a period.

Let us begin with what is most obvious — the geography of the entries. This is by no means just a formal question, for blunders here may be made at the expense of politics. If a newspaper does not pub- lish any material on the life of any region for a long time, then the emergence of these “white spots” on its geographical map means a weakening of the ties between the editorial office and the readers and gives tise to their justified criticism. A system of efficacious analysis of publications helps to avert this kind of Slip: how many articles altogether on a given region

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appear in the newspaper over a definite period, what kind of articles were they, and how were they follow- ed up? The most convenient way of ascertaining these data efficiently is that of monthly schedule tables, which are, as a rule, drawn Up in the editorial office’s secretariates. If the materials published in the news- paper from day to day are marked on the tables, the entries from each region being designated in a special manner, and those on international topics noted from each country, then the dynamics of the newspaper’s geographical accents becomes quite clear. These tables can serve as a sufficiently reliable aid in the everyday work of the secretariate and the departments. However, even a well formulated account of this type does not exclude, and, on the contrary, presup- poses a more in-depth and detailed study of the news- paper’s geography over a long period, six months or a year. Such an analysis allows well founded con- clusions to be drawn on the work of the departments, of the newspaper’s own correspondents, on the neces- sary measures of an organizational and creative cha- racter (seting up a ‘iqurnalists’ brigade, senting off | special correspondents, the definite selection of ma- terials from the mail, and suchlike) or on the action to be taken by the newspaper {new rubrics, sections, campaigns}. q Approximately the same may be said with regard — to the other vital elements of the structure of news- — paper publications. The most important of them is,

into effect the publication’s main policies. Control over this aspect of matters as compared with the geographical one is made considerably easier by the fact that each department, in working on its own topics, pays attention daily to the “weak spots”. are talked about at editorial office meetings and they show up more clearly in routine planning. Neverthe- less, an analysis of the issues’ content and its chang-

nizing matters correctly. Jn many editorial offices i is believed that it should be timed to coincide with the general editorial office check on fulfilment of the quarterly plan.

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It is helpful to supplement a subject study of the newspaper’s content over a given period with a con- crete analysis of the frequency of publication of the main rubrics. On the one hand, this also helps in tak- ing note of and overcoming the restricted nature of the publication’s subject orchestration and, on the other hand, serves as a means of appraising the real need for these rubrics themselves.

| If a newspaper is to be run correctly, it is im- portant to get an exact answer to the question, on what and how does it write. Only on the basis of a structural study of a set of issues, however, can one get a sufficiently objective idea of how fully the social role of the different strata of the population and the social significance of the main professions are reflect- ed in the newspaper and whether the positive and critical accents are rationally distributed.

The composition of the newspaper’s authors con- stantly serves as a subject of analysis. Where the edi- torial office has a large, extensive group of active contributors from among the people, it becomes even more important to sensibly regulate the consistency of publications, taking into account the composition of the authors and the extent to which they are repre- sented on the newspaper’s pages. Much depends on the types of articles, on the readership, and on the publication’s main tasks. Naturally, it is primarily a question of the author’s social face, but attention should also be paid to his authority as a personality, to his creative possibilities and, finally, to his direct involvement in the subject that he raises, i. e. the extent to which he is competent to deal with the given question.

Generalizing the above, we note that the follow- ing should be considered the main principles with Tegard to analytical work on the materials of publish- ed numbers and the Changing aspects thereof or for aset period:

— the systematic manner of analysing a number

Of positions (putting into effect of the newspaper’s

Main policies, the public “face” of its heroes, the

S€ography of publications, the composition of the

authors)

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_— the formulation, when necessary, of the results of an analysis in generalized form for discussion by the editorial board to work out long-term recommend- ations;

— subject by subject consideration of the results of the analysis in the secretariate and the departments and drawing up concrete conclusions to make the work more efficient.

This sufficiently labour-consuming matter should be attended to according to certain trends to be taken care of by the employees of the secretariate.

In the Overall Complex of Mass Media

The study of readers’ opinions and an analysis of journalistic practice in itself are not the only ways of appraising the state of affairs and boosting intra- editorial office creative work. Any publication is a component of the mass media and plays a definite part in this complicated and ramified complex. It is all the more important for the editorial office of a newspaper to regulate its every step in the overall press system, thoughtfully apprehending all that is professionally valuable; this stimulates the initiative of colleagues, strengthens ties with other groups of journalists, and increases the prestige of one’s own publication.

The process of co-ordination, of mutual correct- ing of work, of enrichment with experience and a certain amount of competition is going on all the time poth in the link “newspaper to newspaper” and be- tween the different mass media. Even when he simply takes up a new issue of another publication, each iournalist, consciously or subconsciously, notices the professional successes, the finds and the slips, men- tally projecting what has been done by his colleagues to his own practice. Any example of high efficiency, the ability to discover 4a fresh topic or introduce a new rubric or campaign is called a “fuse” in everyday journalistic practice, for it sets off a chain reaction to seek something new among the staffs of other News: papers. To impart to this aspect of the matter a better

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planned, purposeful and efficient character means utilizing yet another strong lever to activize the edi- torial ioffice’s creative forces.

There is a certain subordination among the vari- ous types of organs of the press. This is sufficiently manifest, for example, in the system of press reviews, which go “from top to bottom”. However, it is by no means obligatory and moreover undesirable that the lively dynamics of mastering newspaper experience should look like this: such one-sidedness inevitably imparts to it a certain narrowness, For example, one can derive much that is valuable from the creative practice of the local press, which often acts as a scout of topically new problems and new phenomena in life. At the same time the organized, well thought out handling of the experience of the leading news- papers makes it possible to avoid imitation, blind copying of the rubrics, of the form of presenting ma- terials, and of the headings, which is of course of little benefit.

The methods of enriching the professional life of a group of journalists with similar type impulses are very varied; the choice depends on the editorial office’s intellectual needs and on its concrete tasks. Incidentally a department may even be advised to develop a subject raised in another publication, taking into account the specifics of its own newspaper, to pursue recommendations on the involvement of an interesting author and to discuss the question of the interesting practice of “neighbours” at production meetings.

The journalists’ ties with the mass media develop on a somewhat different plane. Differing in techno- logy, the activity of newspapers, television, and radio opens up less possibilities for an analytical com- parison of practices to work out new concrete creative solutions. But there are moments connected with the organization which are worthy of attention.

The special feature of the operation of the mass media today is that they complement one anither. So- ciologists’ research shows that the press is maintain- ing its supremacy in the flow of information. The Specific way in which a newspaper is interpreted,

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however, means that there is a distinctive distribution of interest among readers. From the newspapers people extract more information with commentaries, the radio “leads” in the announcement of current events and the television in the aesthetic, science and knowledge and entertainment spheres. The fact that the individual channels of the entire complex iof mass media and propaganda complement one another, fa- vours their joint creative actions, which is also one of the practical tasks in tbe editorial office organiz- ation. Joint entries according to the principle “In the newspaper in the morning — on the screen in the evening” and united press and radio campaigns have justified themselves. In developing a taste in the news- paper body for such joint activities, in establishing business-like contacts with the subdivisions of tele- vision and radio, in working out plans for and improv- ing the methods used in joint actions, the editorial office’s management facilitates the fuller realization of the ioffice’s creative possibilities.

Professional Tempering of Journalists

The constitution of a really creative atmosphere, of a united editorial office ensemble facilitates the edu- cation of the staff in a spirit of awareness of their great responsibility for the matters entrusted to them, of pride in their profession, of collectivism, and of a respectful attitude to work and to the opinions and suggestions of their fellow workers.

The personal side of interrelations in an editori- al office is extremely important. This is a factor that also determines the successful work of the body of journalists. A printed organ cannot be run fruitfully if its staff cannot listen to the views of their col- leagues and investigate other people’s arguments tho- roughly, without spiritual purity, sincerity, and mu- tual understanding.

The instilling of high moral, political and profes- sional qualities in journalists, especially in young ones, is a difficult, subtle process demanding an in- dividual approach. The editorial board and all the

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heads of the departments and editorial office services are constantly paying attention to this.

An essential role is played by the planned edu- cation of journalists. Their growth professionally is primarily ensured by their lively, everyday work in the body of journalists, by their participation in edi- torial office discussions, and by exchanging experi- ence. But direct forms of instruction are also neces- sary. Lectures by experts on economics, science and culture, and international politics are of tangible be- nefit to the journalists, especially if these lectures are conducted within the framework of a definite system. Purposeful seminars, the creative patronage of more experienced newspapermen, practical work in the secretariate or being sent temporarily to correspond- ents’ points, are of great assistance to young jour- nalists. One of the indispensable components of pro- fessional instruction is the mastering of the office equipment and machines which are becoming more and more common in editorial offices.

Democracy and Discipline in Editorial Office Life

By virtue of its character, intra-editorial office orga- nization embodies democratic principles, centralized order, and strict discipline. The activity of the editori- al office as a creative organism can only take place successfully when there is an organic unity of these two principles: democracy without discipline would cause disorder in the very system of putting out the newspaper which is unthinkable without precisely organized conditions, and discipline without demo- cracy would lead to red tape and the smothering of initiative which is also alien to journalism.

We have already described in detail the character of editorial office planning which is collective in spirit and content, the organization of putting out an issue and of creative work which embody democratic management principles. All the main subdivisions in the editorial office, from the editorial board to the departments and services, and also the body of jour- nalists as a whole, work in an atmosphere of free,

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comradely exchange of opinions and unhampered dis- cussion of problems that arise. This ensures a Com- munity of views, serves as a guarantee of the deve- lopment of creative initiative and unily of action, of mature decisions, impregnated with joint experience, but only when there are two indispensable conditions,

First of all, the norms and rules worked out on a collective basis must be observed. The particular feature of creative work, the uneven nature of the work, the interrupted pattern of the working process, which goes through busy times and lulls, does at times have a negative effect on the fulfilment of plans, schedules and on the demands on the newspaper’s equipment. This is why the very concept of “editorial office discipline” lies mainly on this plane, and its affirmation is, to a considerable extent, connected with well organized, concrete, business-like work check-ups.

This applies first and foremost to the secretariate. The efficient activity of the secretariate is in essence exactly the organization of the fulfilment of planned programmes and ensuring the precise functioning of the system that puts out the newspaper. This end is served by its daily reports to the editorial board on examination of current plans and discussion of the issues, regular meetings with the heads of depart- ments on questions of the structure of the editorial office’s reserves, On the putting into effect of the newspaper’s policies and on appraisal of materials, and the work with the duty editors.

No less important, however, are the direct spe- cial forms of control over discipline regarding the execution of work, such as the check-up on the pro- gress being made in the long-term plan on a general editorial office scale and on the main trends, an ana- lysis of the activities of one department or another, the results of journalists’ business trips, and so forth. The efficacy of this work depends on the ability to assert discipline in doing the job in a creative, inform- al sense of the word. An arithmetical approach ac- cording to the principle “ve fulfil — we do not fulfil” brings little benefit if it is not accompanied by 4 sub- ject discussion of the causes of the derangment of

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work, of ways of solving editorial office tasks, and of new ideas arising out of the interpretation of the failure.

Simple negligence, violation of technological discipline, a hold-up in the publication of the news- paper, a mistake or error resulting from obvious lack of conscientiousness, are all quite another matter. In this case, simply an exacting and severe reprimand, even discussion of the question by the editorial board, is natural.

The second extremely important condition with regard to the effectiveness of editorial office demo- cracy, of its integral combination with discipline, is the high level of criticism and self-criticism. In edito- rial offices there is a constant process of analysis of what has been done, of overcoming the old and the outmoded, and of quests for new creative ways and solutions. The creation thereby of a general atmo- sphere of creative “dissatisfaction” with what has been achieved requires business-like, objective criticism. This only comes out in full force when the criticism is levelled at the person who made the mistake, no matter what position he holds, all the more so since respect for rank and the formal recognition of autho- rity is alien to the very spirit of a creative body.

The affirmation of this approach primarily de- pends on the editorial office’s management. It can be said without any exaggeration that the example of their attitude to criticism, their ability to take even the most stinging remarks correctly, to draw the ne- cessary conclusions for practice, while retaining a re- spectful attitude towards the staff and displaying principled exactingness, in itself serves the develop- ment of editorial office democracy and the improve- ment of conscious discipline.

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The many-sided creative work aimed at uniting the body of journalists, is an integral part of the or- ganization of an editorial office’s activities. The com- prehensive system of this work should be well thought out and rendered concrete, and each newspaper should arm itself with it.

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Conclusion

We have only dwelt on the main elements of the or- ganization of work in an editorial office. Understand- ably, practice inspired by the actual experience of many newspaper bodies is much richer and many- sided than is presented here in generalized form, However, even what has been said makes it possible to draw a number of conclusions, which are essential] for journalism. In an attempt to formulate them briefly, we must select the main ones.

The efficient organization of an editorial office’s activities is based on a systems approach. Precise systems of planning, of releasing the issue for public- ation, of work with letters and of studying readers’ opinions, and of creative life, should be worked out in each body of journalists. The approval of these systems, their elements and norms is the prerogative of the editorial board and the secretariate, which are called upon to increasingly encourage the body’s creative forces to work out optimal systems of edi- torial office activity and constantly improve them.

For a progressive scheme of planning organization in a large newspaper one should recognize a con- secutive system of the main links: development plan — long-term plans — current plan — plans of the issues with the necessary total of auxiliary elements providing for them.

As the circulation and number of editions of the newspaper increases, it becomes more and more im- portant to improve the organization and cut down the time taken to release each issue. Ways of bringing about this optimal situation are the further division of current and future work in the editorial office, a change-over to the method of overall duty shifts and a system of uninterrupted production of the news paper, whereby the activity of all the subdivisions

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connected with the hewspaper’s production is cen- tralized.

An extremely important role in the system of edi- torial office organization is played by letters from the working people, the constant Strengthening of ties with the readership. This requires additional efforts on the part of the creative sector of the editorial office, the introduction of a rational system of analys- ing the content of the mail, and also an in-depth study of readers’ needs.

Creative methods of managing the body of jour- nalists lie at the basis of editorial office organization. These methods are aimed at stimulating the _ initi- ative of all employees to actively seek new ideas for the newspaper, new ways of working up the topics and fresh ways of presenting the materials. This is achieved by a flexible system of utilizing the editorial] office staff, holding creative meetings and discussions at various levels, regular instruction for journalists and raising their qualifications.

The successful work of any newspaper, its ideo- logical standard, its popularity and prestige and its tomorrow depend to a decisive extent on the state of affairs in the editorial office and on the skilful com- bination of the political, literary and organizational activity of the creative body of workers. It is the purpose of this educational aid which chooses the main principles with regard to the organization of a hewspaper to help editorial office personnel to work out the best solutions in each specific case which answer to this task. However, the principles are only the foundation upon which each editorial office staff, drawing support from its OWN experience and tra- ditions and thoroughly taking into account the existing conditions, builds up, strengthens and improves an efficient system of work. In journalism, just as else- where, there should not be Set patterns and outmoded stereotypes, for the very organization of a newspaper is also a creative activity.

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S. A. Tsukasov, Chief Secretary of ,,Pravda“, lecturer at the Faculty of Journalism, Moscow Lomonosov University

Ss. V. Tsukasov:

The Organization of Work

in an Editorial Office

Lay out and Cover: Jan Jiskra

Editor in Chief: Oldfich Bures

Published by the International Organization of Journalists Prague 1, Pafizska 9

Printed by Severografia — Most

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