Feb 28, 2005 5 min read

What exactly is the job of a newspaper editor? That’s probably the question I get asked the most.

And that’s a very good question. After all, it’s pretty easy to figure out what a reporter or photographer does. It’s the same with the people in sections such as sports, business or society.

The editor’s job by comparison is much harder to define. I watched in awe as my predecessors handled the job during their tenures, but I didn’t get a real understanding of the position until I was named editor of the Herald-Standard last February. With a year under my belt, I feel a little better about trying to explain what I do as an editor.

Let’s start first, though, by saying what the job isn’t. Many people think that the editor of the newspaper is in charge of everyone. That could be a blessing or a curse, but it’s definitely not true at the Herald-Standard. Like most newspapers, the head honcho at the Herald-Standard is the publisher, not the editor. Here, that guy is Val Laub, and I definitely report to him. It’s not the other way around.

I’m one of six executives at the Herald-Standard, and we all have our own departments, ranging from advertising, accounting, circulation, production and interactive media. So, you can ask me a question about your carrier’s bill or your advertising account, but I probably won’t be able to answer it. I can try and find the answer, but I have no control over what happens in those departments. And likewise, they have no control over what happens in the newsroom.

I also don’t read every story before it goes in the paper. And I don’t look over the paper before it goes to press. That’s the job of other people in the newsroom, who I might add do an excellent job night after night under some pretty tough deadline pressure.

But in the end, everything that’s in the Herald-Standard is my responsibility so if you have a question about something that was or wasn’t in the newspaper, then I’m your guy. Like most businesses, we have a hierarchy in the newsroom. Under me are nine other editors who help me supervise the other 22 full-time and 16 part-time employees we have in the newsroom.

All that still doesn’t answer the question of what an editor does. Well, probably most of my time is spent in meetings. I have 30 meetings scheduled each month. There’s the daily news conference where myself and several other news editors discuss what we have planned for the next day’s paper. We also talk about any problems that may have come up that day or that may be looming ahead.

Then, there’s a weekly meeting with all the department executives and our publisher. I have another weekly meeting with our eight editors where we discuss issues of importance to the newsroom in general. I also have separate weekly meetings with four editors where we talk about issues of particular importance to them and their staffs.

Finally, I attend several monthly meetings with people from the newspaper’s various departments to talk about interrelated issues. So, as you can see, the meetings can be time consuming. But they’re very useful and necessary for me to be aware of what’s going on.

I also spend a lot of time replying to e-mails and talking to people on the phone. They can range from complaints about coverage to ideas for stories. I try to be accessible to anyone who wants to talk to me as long as I’m not in one of my other meetings. I also try to spend some talking to employees in the newsroom and finding out what’s happening with them. That’s definitely one of the best parts about my job. The Herald-Standard is full not just of great employees but great people, both inside and outside the newsroom, and I really like just talking to everyone.

In addition to meeting, talking and e-mailing, I also spend a lot of time reading. While I can’t read every story before it gets in the paper, I do try and read as much of the paper as I can in the morning over breakfast before I head for the office. Once I get in the office, I also like to look at other area newspapers just to see if we missed anything and check on what they’re writing about.

Then, starts the merry-go-round of meetings, talking and e-mailing. In between all of that, I try to fill this space every week. I also co-host “Behind the Headlines,’ an hour-long show on HSTV every other week with Paul Sunyak, our government affairs reporter, and host of “Editor’s Notebook’ shows on HSTV for numerous non-profit organizations and charitable groups.

There’s a lot of other things mixed in, but that’s the job in a nutshell. Overall, it’s a demanding and challenging but very interesting and fulfilling job. I want to especially thank all the people I’ve met during the past year. Almost without fail, everyone I’ve talked to has been very courteous and kind. Wherever I’ve gone, I’ve felt welcomed. I felt very lucky when I was named editor of the Herald-Standard and nothing in the past year has made me feel any different. It’s still my dream job come true.

Mark O’Keefe is executive editor of the Herald-Standard. He can be reached by e-mail at mo’keefe@heraldstandard.com or by phone at 724-439-7569.