Open Letter to an Editor I had
an interesting conversation with a reporter recently-one who works for you. In
fact, he’s one of your best reporters. He wants to leave. Your
reporter gave me a copy of his resume(简历)and photocopies of six stories that he
1 (write)for you. The headlines showed
you played them 2 (proud). With great
enthusiasm, he talked about how he finds issues (问题),
3 (approach)them, and writes about them, which tells me he
is one of your best. I’m sure you would hate to lose him. Surprisingly, your
reporter is not unhappy. In fact, he told me he really likes his job. He has a
great assignment(分工), and said you run a great paper. It would be easy for you
to keep him, he said. He knows that the paper 4
(value)him. He appreciates the responsibility you’ve given him,
takes ownership of his profession, and enjoys his 5
(free). So why is he looking for a way
out He talked to me because he wants his editors to demand so
much more of him. He wants to be pushed, challenged, coached to new 6 (high). The reporter believes
that good stories spring from good questions, but his editors 7 (usual)ask how long the story will be, when it
will be in, where it can play, and what the budget is. He
8 (long)for conversations with an
editor who will help him turn his good ideas into great ones. He wants someone
to get 9 (excite)about what he’s doing
and to help him turn his story idea upside down and inside out, exploring the
best ways to report it. He wants to be more valuable for your paper. That’s what
you want for him, too, isn’t it So your reporter has set me
thinking. Our best hope in 10
(keep) our best reporters, copy editors, photographers,
artists-everyone-is to work harder to make sure they get the help they are
demanding to reach their potential. If We can’t do it. they’ll find someone who
can.