I asked folks to submit their newsroom horror stories. Craig Lancaster sent this gem along. <\/p>\n
\nHi, Tom:
\nMy story is rooted in the folly of youthful angst. I was 22 and working at the Texarkana Gazette, and I was having a devil of time finding out the topic of the outdoors writer’s column. I ask the sports editor. He doesn’t know. I ask the assistant sports editor. He doesn’t know. I ask the outdoors writer himself. He’s not sure yet.
\n
\nI walk back to my Mac and type the following words into the promo: “What’s Coleman’s column about? Beats the hell out of me.”
\nYou can imagine what happened. It ran. Thirty-three thousand copies.
\nBut here’s the amazing part: We didn’t get a single phone call. In fact, nobody at the Gazette was even aware of it until I noticed it five days later. I turned myself in. My boss could barely suppress his giggling as he “reprimanded” me.
\nEven today, I can manage only a half-laugh when I tell the story. When I think of how easily I could have written “beats the fuck out of me,” I shudder. That, I’m sure, would not have gone down nearly as easily with my boss.
\nThe lesson is one that every reporter and editor everywhere should know: Never type something into the system that you would be embarrassed to publish.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nMore notes on errant tpe<\/h3>\n
Here’s a fun excerpt from a note I got the other day from Jack Rosenzweig, a former newsroom hand who designs pagination systems for a living now (sorry, I will not give this guy’s home address so you can send your kids to TP his shrubbery<\/i>). He was writing in response my post about my worst correction.<\/a> <\/p>\n
I think the worst error I made was rushing to get some flats off the
\nfloor and leaving a 10″ tail hanging over a 5X16 ad. I had blue-lined it and
\nhad the “word” of the union employee that was to make the cut that he would
\ntake care of it so I could get ready for the next edition, so I signed off.
\nThen he got distracted and let the page go without the cut. Ooops …
\n
\nDidn’t get in too much trouble, though we hade to rerun the ad …
\n
\nWorst trouble I ever got into was the night before election day in ’92, I think. I
\nhad to fill in and run the News desk, which I hadn’t done in months, having
\nbeen promoted to Design Editor and working days mostly at that point.
\nAnyway, I was at the helm and this was pre-pagination, when you had to lock
\nin your color positions 3-4 hours before deadline. I had been promised an
\n18″ story that was being bannered across 6 columns and jumping inside.
\n
\nWhen the story came in, 15 minutes before deadline, it was barely 9 inches
\nlong. So the kindly folks out back cut the grafs and lines apart to stretch
\nit to fill. Looked bad, but we made deadline. Got an irate call first thing
\nin the morning from the Executive Editor, “what the fuck did you do to my
\nfront page?” I thought there was a typo in a head, or something libelous for
\nhim to wake me on election day, when I would be putting in 20 hours or so …
\n
Nope, just pissed about the leading.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n