As an assistant city editor at the daily Columbia Missourian for a summer and now during the semester, I’ve edited over 50 stories, nearly a third of which have been centerpieces, or major featured stories. And as an editor-in-chief, copy chief and copy editor at The Maneater, the University of Missouri’s campus newspaper, for a combined four semesters, I edited hundreds of stories. Below are some editing samples:
- “Raising Kaine: How MU shaped vice-presidential nominee and graduate Tim Kaine,“ The Maneater, 2016
This in-depth profile of vice-presidential candidate Tim Kaine, an alumnus of the University of Missouri, won first place in Feature Writing at the 2017 Missouri College Media Association awards. Another editor and I workshopped the article with the reporter for several hours.
- “Supported on ground and on river, MR340 paddlers don’t race alone,” Columbia Missourian, 2016
My objective in editing this story was to showcase the fact that the writer had actually spent time in a boat in the 340-mile MR340 boat race down the Missouri River. I worked with her to emphasize details that gave the reader a sense of place.
- “For women seeking abortions, state restrictions make access a challenge,“ The Maneater, 2017
This story began as a list of facts about abortion, and I worked with both writers to find human sources and diverse viewpoints, and workshopped the story with the writers.
- I copy edited The Maneater’s interactive timeline of the fall 2015 campus protests that resulted in the resignations of top administrators. The timeline was linked to by major national news outlets, including the New York Times, and was viewed over 200,000 times.
- I also copy edited “A Sideline Stand,” a longform feature about the Mizzou football team’s role in the campus protests. That story was named 2016’s first-place sports story of the year by the national Associated College Press.
Jared Kaufman 