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Dear Stacy,
First of all, hats off for a well-done publication. I was a member of the Cap Times staff 10 years ago,
and while I thought we did a good job back then, I must say the paper is much better than it was and it gets
better every month.
1 have worked as the news editor of a national news magazine and as a general assignment reporter
for both a newspaper and a radio station, so I can relate to the frustration you are feeling. You didn’t need to
say you were feeling stress; it was evident in your editorial.
I would like, however, to offer a few words of advise. Please take these words as coming from some
one who cares about the paper, has a little experience in these matters, and wants to help.
First of all, never, ever, air your dirty laundry in the OpEd page. You should never even acknowl
edge that a staff member quit in print, much less put it in your editorial. There’s an old newspaper adage -
“the only thing that’s not newsworthy is, what happens at the newspaper.” You were not “boring” readers by
presenting this information, but you are right to assume your readers don’t care. They don’t care about staff
issues. They don’t care about deadlines or production issues. They simply don’t want to hear about it.
Second, and even more important, you never, ever, ever attack a letter to the editor - leave that to
other letter writers. I realize you are not professionals, but for an editor to attack a letter to the editor is unpro
fessional. If you are willing to accept letters, and you are willing to “withhold the name upon request,” then
you can never, ever complain that someone took advantage of that policy. Attacking letters to the editor can
only do two things: keep folks from writing you letters and hurt the paper’s credibility. Credibility is all a
newspaper has to offer. Lose that, and you have nothing.
Remember, however, that the decision to print a letter is YOURS. Someone complaining about
something as insignificant as a few typos doesn’t deserve to take up space in your paper. Just because a read
er has the right to pen a letter doesn’t mean they have a right to see it in print. The ONLY thing I saw in the
letter “Ms. Name Withheld” that was worthy of print was the point about the cover photo. That certainly is
fodder for a letter to the editor. The rest is nitpicking at best. EVERY newspaper, magazine, newsletter,
brochure, and restaurant menu is likely to have a typo if you look hard enough. As much as editors might try
to proof every page and eliminate mistakes, we are only human. As long as humans are part of the equation,
there will be mistakes. Not everything will be “caught if a team of editors proofed the copy prior to print."
If a few typos are the worst thing readers notice, then you’re doing pretty good.
The only time an editor should write about a typo is to correct an accuracy issue. Any other typos
need to be ignored. If you want to apologize to the writer, do it at the next staff meeting. Remember, the let
ter from “Ms. Name Withheld" did say the mistakes she found were “common editorial and proofreading
errors.” Why do you think they’re common? Maybe it’s because they HAPPEN ALL THE TIME.
As to what the paper looks like, I think it looks good and you should use whatever fonts you like.
Do whatever you like with bylines, headlines, etc. I saw one publication that never put headlines in the same
font twice. It was a style decision, and it worked. It’s difficult for the paper not to be “busy, ” considering how
much stuff is going on at PSH. You’re the editor, do what you think is best from an aesthetic standpoint and
don’t worry about it. That’s not to say that what the paper looks like isn’t important, but your number one
concern should be accuracy of information, not whether the font on page four is consistent with page
six... that’s very minor in the grand scheme of things
Finally, you need to take a deep breath and relax. You do a good job presenting all the info here at
PSH...and there really is a lot of stuff going on. You can’t please everybody. Ignore letters that just nitpick
without offering any constructive criticism. “Reading up on the rules of layout and design" (whatever that
means) isn’t going to help you not miss typos. You just need a few more eyes looking at the copy. If “Ms.
Name Withheld” wants to complain about typos, ask her to come down next Sunday and help proof. She did
say she was an editor, right?
Sincerely,
Terry Wolf
Communications/SecEd English
In the next issue of the Capital Times:
Feature story on student voting
Penn State vs. Indiana
- CD Review:
- Movie Review:
- Whatever else we feel like putting
Reel Big Fish
Eminem's
"8 Mile"
Contents
rEAIURES
Afghan Woman
by Rachel Shepherd
PSU vs. Illinois
by Peter Strella
International Lunch 6
by Cathie McCormick
Fall Fest Photos 6
by Steve Standrldge
Homecoming Photos 7
by Dan Storm
Tarnhelm
by Sarah Elkalban
Daymens—
Around Campus
The SGA Report
by Stacy De Angelo
Student Speak Out
byAmyShur
PSH Police Report
by Rachel Sheperd
Campus Calendar
by Sarah Elkalban
Entertainment
Concert Reviews
by Brian Seaman and Pete Strella
Please tell our advertisers
that you saw It In
,he Capital Times I
Cover Photo by: Dan Storm
Cover Design by: Stacy De Angelo
Cover Photo:
During the Penn State's Homecoming
game against the Northwestern
Wildcats, the Nlttany Uon starts seeing
double when an Alumni's ‘cubs' show
that they are Penn State proud.