Case Study 3

In class Wednesday, we discussed a story that changed the gender of a person quoted. The editor assumed that a person's name meant they were a specific gender. This served as an example of the importance of calling the reporter before making a change.
Conversing with the reporter on stories one edits is essential to the success of the story. In this story, published by the Alligator, the editor would need to double-check all of the numbers and statistics with the reporter because numbers are so easily changed and overlooked in news stories.
Telling a story in the age of the Internet is becoming more and more of a team effort. Reporters must speak with photographers, editors and website personnel about how the story can best be presented in all forms of communication the news organization has. A photo paired with a story online may be different than a photo paired with a story for print. The headlines may also be different because of search engine optimization techniques. Thus, all of these people must be in constant communication to not only present the story but also to make sure all of the details - even the slight changing of a "she" to a "he" - won't be lost in translation.