ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on holistic editing. The news each day is full of the same kinds of stories— accidents, crimes, meetings, sports, weather and so on. The chapter provides a checklist of the problems a seasoned editor looks for in various kinds of stories for beginning editor or writer. Hard-news stories share certain common formulas that differ from features. Likewise, writing for a specific medium like newspapers has elements that differ from other media. So, incorporate knowledge of these various formulas— what all journalism has in common, how hard news differs from features and how writing is different to fit the requirements of different media— into beginning editor or writer editing and writing, as well as the story-genre approach described in the chapter. Sometimes journalists classify stories by content, such as a crime story, and sometimes by approach, such as a first-person story.
