The American Editor, April 1998

Table of Contents

A note from the President

• ASNE's 75th convention will be substantive, by Sandy Rowe

Hiring

• When hiring gets tough, Coping with a tight labor market, by Janet Weaver
• Hiring the scientific way: Targeted selection, The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk tries a new system of evaluating new hires and call the wealth of data it provides helpful (interviewees call it grueling), by Dan Duke
• Key questions, by Dan Duke

Diversity

• A call for courage on the editorial page, To The Seattle Times's publisher, pursuing racial equality and correcting past inequities should be one area where editorial pages should lead and be bold, by Frank Blethen

Libel

• A way out of the libel litigation nightmare, Proposed Uniform Correction or Clarification of Defamation Act offers relief to the defamed and publishers: a face-saving way to get a correction and limits on awards, by Edward Seaton
• Current retraction laws offer varied relief, by Edward Seaton
• To learn more, by Edward Seaton

First Amendment

• Public likes theory of free press, not practice, Poll indicates that although 'free speech' and 'free press' are concepts Americans believe in, they reject those rights in specific examples and favor licensing in some form, by Richard Harwood

Innovations

• A staff interviews its boss in Hartford, In democratizing decision-making at the Courant and other papers, staffers are called upon to study major issues and solve them; managers agree to relinquish that power, by Mark Jurkowitz

Public records

• An investigation gem from the depths of a file drawer, Incriminating documents in-hand are worth dozens of whispered tips; it's vital to keep access to old documents open, by Pat Stith
• State personnel records becoming harder to get, As employee files become more valuable due to computer-aided searches, officials make them more difficult to obtain, by Ellen Shearer

An American Editor

• Roanoke, Va., editor finds tradition part of landscape, A deeply rooted community makes being an editor at The Roanoke Times easier, Wendy Zomparelli says, but it carries with it a responsibility to keep the paper local, local, local, by Janet Weaver
• The Roanoke Times, by Janet Weaver
• Wendy Zomparelli, by Janet Weaver

The Write Stuff

• Wall Street Journal's headlines shine brightly, by Brian Cooper

Good writing

• Remember: Good writing is rewriting, by Kevin McGrath

ASNE on the move

• 1998 candidates for the ASNE board
• Educator participants named for Knight program
• ASNE honors journalists for writing, deadline reporting
• Former ASNE president Norman Isaacs dies
• Court award given to ASNE Foundation
• The convention, online
• Where are they now?
• Calendar