Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: You, the Editor
Traditional Editors’ Roles
New Challenges
Wrapping Up
Chapter 2: Choosing Content that Clicks: Publishing for Your Audience
What New Publishers Can Learn from Old Media
Finding a Niche
Defining the Target Audience
Creating a Mission Statement
Deciding What to Publish
Letting the Audience Lead You to Ideas
Wrapping Up
Chapter 3: Getting the Facts Straight
Common Factual Errors
Myths, Hoaxes and Urban Legends
Manipulation of Images and Videos
Filling Holes
Using Online Resources to Find and Verify Information
Corrections
Wrapping Up
Chapter 4: Polishing Writing
From Writer-Centered to Audience-Centered
Using the Appropriate Writing Style
Offer a Unique Voice
Avoiding Verbosity and Achieving Clarity
Limiting Sentences to One Idea Each
Wrapping Up
Chapter 5: This One Weird Chapter Will Help You Grab Readers
Keep It Simple
Make It Specific
Size It Right
When It’s Time for a Subhead
How Print and Online Headlines Differ
SEO and Why It Matters
Trends in Online Headlines
Captions and Cutlines
Wrapping Up
Chapter 6: Defamation
Defining Defamation
Journalistic Privilege
Differences in Status
Satire and Parody
Publishing Anonymously
SLAPP Suits
The Importance of Corrections and Clarifications
Wrapping Up
Chapter 7: Privacy, Copyright, International Regulations and Other Legal Issues
Privacy Issues
Copyright Infringement
Responsibility for Publishing the Statements and Content of Others
Publishing Product or Service Endorsements
Laws Affecting Recordings
New Technologies
Employment Issues
Governmental Risks
Fending Off Foreign Legal Threats
Wrapping Up
Chapter 8: Handling Matters of Ethics, Fairness, Taste and Sensitivity
Ethical Issues
Making the Right Decisions
Is It Time for New Ethics Codes?
Wrapping Up
Chapter 9: Managing Engagement
Internal Engagement
External Engagement
Anonymity and ConfidentialityCrafting and Using Social Media Guidelines
Crafting and Using Social Media Guidelines
Using Analytics to Learn More About Audience Usage and Preferences
Wrapping Up
Chapter 10: Curation, Aggregation and Creation
Curation and Aggregation
Creation
Wrapping Up
Chapter 11: Editorial Triage
Wrapping Up
Notes
Index
About the Author

About the Author

Thom Lieb is a professor of Journalism and New Media at Towson University in Maryland. He has taught the News Editing course there since he joined the faculty in 1990, and additionally has taught it at four other universities. The two editions of his previous editing text, “Editing for Clear Communication,” have been used in classrooms for more than 15 years. Lieb has been involved with digital media since its inception. His “Editing for the Web” online project was used for training in schools and newsrooms around the world. For several years, he served as a columnist for the Journal of Electronic Publishing, and he is a longtime member of the Online News Association.

In addition, Lieb has worked as a writer and editor for newspapers, newsletters, magazines and online media. He is the author of “Building Basic News Sites” and “All the News: Writing and Reporting for Convergent Media.”

Lieb earned his bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Communication from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, his master’s in Magazine Journalism from Syracuse University, and his Ph.D. in Public Communication/Journalism from the University of Maryland at College Park.