Making heads and tails out of mumbo jumbo : Material for news items
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 31 2015 -

Making sense to the readers and the people.

The job profile of every journalist demands this and anyone who is in the business of collecting news and presenting them to the readers will know this.

This is the reason why every newspaper establishment in Manipur have sub-editors.

To the public and the general readers, the job profile of a sub-editor may not be crystal clear, but their primary job is to make the material filed by the field reporters readable and understandable to the readers.

It is not only the stories filed by the reporters that the sub-editor has to deal with but also the numerous press releases issued by different organisations.

In Imphal, most of the press releases are issued in Manipuri or Meiteilon while some are in English.

Whatever language the press release is issued in, it is the job of the sub-editor or the desk boy to convert the story into a news report and make it understandable to the people.

It is precisely because of this why all the newspaper houses stress on writing skills while recruiting anyone to the post of a sub-editor.

Making the report filed by a field reporter fit for publication in the newspaper usually does not pose much of a challenge, as the reporter is there for cross reference in case of any doubt, before the report makes it to the pages of the newspaper.

However this is not the case when it comes to press releases.

And press releases are numerous, especially with numerous organisations ever ready to issue statements to make a point or two.

As in any other case, it also stands that the different organisations have their own style of telling a story or laying down a point and it is the job of the sub-editor to make these stories or points into news items, which will be understood by the readers.

Making things easy to understand and attractive to the readers.

This then is the job of the desk boys apart from adding the needed information to any report filed by the field reporters or press releases issued by any organisation.

The reports or stories filed by reporters may be cross checked and clarified before the particular item makes it to the newspaper, but how about press releases, where there is just no way in which they can be cross checked ?

This is where organisations need to keep their writing style as well as the presentation of points as lucid as possible.

Unfortunate it is but not all organisations can lay claim on being clear and concise while presenting their side of the story or laying down some points for the newspaper to carry.

The Sangai Express has come across several press releases which just do not make sense at all.

It is a challenge trying to make sense out of such statements issued to the press and try to make them presentable to the readers.

Not uncommon to see the same statement making contrasting points, which do nothing except confuse the boys at the desk.

It also does not help when some organisations come under the impression that their statements should be nothing more than propaganda which may run into numerous pages.

Organisations or any body should come to the understanding that making their press releases simple, precise and crisp is the best material for news items.