Newspapers have always tended to follow an assembly-line model for news in which information traveled from sources, through more hands, and eventually to the readers. But Washington Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie and Managing Editor Philip Bennett  are implementing changes in their editing model so that it resembles more of a network, "responding to how journalism is actually created, distributed and discovered by audiences in print and online."

On March 14, they sent out a memo outlining innovations in the editing process for the A section, which will eventually spread across the newsroom:

Goals:
- Remove layers of editing by providing more flexibility of when and by whom a story is edited
- Create a truer alignment between print and web articles by recognizing that deadlines for many pieces are defined at the earliest moment they can be edited and published online
- Strengthen collaboration among editors to change how a story, graphic, or photograph goes in the paper

Plan:
- New assistant editors moved from National and Foreign copy desks to take on new roles to begin earlier in the day. They will move early copy to the web and for the next day's paper, provide the first read on some stories and the final edit on others, compose working headlines, collaborate with the News Desk to assign stories to pages earlier than our current practices allow, amd copy edit projects and non-breaking enterprise stories.
 
- A new night desk, comprised of the copy desks of National and Foreign, that will copy edit breaking news, write or refine headlines and captions, and proofing, and edit fewer columns than is currently the case, since more stories will receive final editing during the day.
 
- New copy flows by shifting the editing of feature stories, non-breaking enterprise pieces and projects to daylight hours and having assistant editors and assignment editors work together to ensure that non-breaking enterprise stories are edited by early afternoon. Deadlines for non-breaking foreign stories from bureaus across the world will no longer be 6 p.m. Washington time.

- Earlier decisions to end the practice of assigning and laying out every page on our late night deadlines. The News Desk will assign early pages shortly after noon to accommodate edited pieces. A1 decision-making to be advanced by selecting at least one non-breaking story by 3 p.m, and A1 features and enterprises stories will be planned days in advance,

- Fewer "touches" on some stories. Many stories will be handled under a "two touch" rule; they will have a first editor and a second editor instead of 6 editors. Read more here.

- New tools for assignment editors. By collaborating with assistant editors during the day, assignment editors will have greater flexibility in determining their daily editing schedules, avoiding bottlenecks and late edits on routine stories. In addition to supervising their reporters, assignment editors will advance the editing process by doing more fact-checking, and (along with assistant editors) composing working headlines for pieces. Working headlines will also be welcome from reporters when they file.

The editing changes is slated to coincide with the launch of the redesign of the A section pages, which will coordinate new design elements and templated pages with the copy flow and consultative process the plan introduces for editing.

"In the long run, changing the editing structure of the newsroom means transforming some long-held newsroom practices and parts of our culture," the memo concludes. "Most importantly, it calls on us to communicate even more openly and directly with one another as stories are assigned, reported and written."
 
Read the full memo here.

Source: Slate