[Ipg-smz] A question for everyone, particularly Esther Schindler

[Alan Zeichick]

Carol, I share your sorrow. I think the advice you’ve been given is sound.

My version of this — some of you know this story: Back in the 1980s, I wrote an article, I can’t even remember what it was about, or even the name of the publication.

The lede contained a sentence like, “I love hamburgers….” and from there, went on with a brilliant transition that made a lot of sense in context. Clearly my best work ever. <smile>

The editor changed the lede to say, “I love cheeseburgers.” 

I didn’t find out until seeing it in print.

That is not only false (cheeseburgers are not kosher, and I’ve never eaten one), but also personally humiliating. I literally prayed that nobody I knew would see that article.

And I’ve used that example, when training staff and contractors, and when teaching editorial subjects at events like Folio:, about why an editor should never, never, ever put words in a writer’s mouth. (You can see what I did there.)

An editor might think a change is trivial, but it may not be.

-A
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