Name: Diane Goldie
Job: Editor
What are your responsibilities? Oversee amNewYork, a free commuter daily in Manhattan, its website amNY.com and a national entertainment website NYMetromix.com
What's a typical workday? Most days I get to work by 10:30 or so. Check several newspapers and websites. Check the wires. Ask editors if we have any stories that could lead the paper. Check with the web staffs. Pitch in if necessary. Handle administrative tasks: hiring, reviews, new initiatives, design and advertising issues. Preside over the 12:30 staff meeting, where a different staff member critiques the paper each day. We decide on the cover and map out the paper. Talk about photo and graphics needs. Hold many meetings to plan coverage – we usually plan our back-of-the-book (dining, eating well, books, style …) 4-6 weeks in advance. Meet with our design team to tweak the sections. Meet with the web staffs to coordinate coverage: videos, photos. Work with staffs to plan special sections. Meet with editors/reporters to plan hard news coverage. We like to have a couple of evergreen projects in the can as well as cover stories. Hold a 3:30 p.m. meeting with 4-5 editors to see how the pages are coming and if we need to change course. Hold a 4 p.m. meeting with the amNY.com staff to discuss how we want to program the site overnight. Check pages as they are completed. Occasionally edit stories; look for wire photos and briefs for the editors. Help post stories and pull photos for the website if they need help. Sign off on the cover and try to keep the pages flowing so we meet our 8:30 p.m. deadline. Leave between 8 and 9 p.m.
What do you like/dislike about the job? I enjoy the pace of the newsroom, especially with the immediacy of the web. Integrating print and online has been a challenge, but almost everyone on both staffs write stories, shoot video and photos, edit them, post them on the site and blog. Getting a reaction from the public – on serious stories that help people or silly stories that merely entertain, is rewarding. I dislike the long hours. They can wear you down.
Background: Worked on daily newspapers in New Jersey, Florida, Colorado and New York for 25 years. Spent about 15 years as a reporter (courts, govt., general assignment), before becoming an editor. Papers include: NY Daily News, Rocky Mountain News, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Newsday and amNewYork. Began focusing on the Web in 2001 at Newsday.com. Moved to amNY (which Newsday owns) in 2005.
What are the skills young journalists need today? Solid writing and editing. Blogging. Ability to program a website is a plus, as is video shooting and editing, and photography. Knowledge of Photoshop and other web programs will give job candidates a boost. Must be curious, energetic, have a good attitude and willing to work long hours. Must be accurate and have a competitive spirit.
Any advice to aspiring journalists? Find another profession that pays more and doesn’t dominate your life. If you insist on this career learn as many of the aforementioned skills as possible. Keep up with the news and technology. Read top journalists and authors. Have a good attitude. I’d rather work with a reporter who is a little less talented, but who has a good attitude, than someone who is always grousing, not going the extra mile or watching the clock.
Any additional comments? Good luck!
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