Illinois (AP) Editors Association

2004 WireWatch report

Illinois Associated Press Editors Association

After a decade-long hiatus, the Illinois Associated Press Editors Association this year undertook a WireWatch study. During those intervening 10 years, the group’s executive board tackled assorted other pressing issues like the acclaimed statewide investigative study on Open Records; the investigative series on township government; WirePhoto sharing and restructuring; the creation of periodic statewide training sessions, and the merger of the AP and IPA annual meetings and awards programs.

Now, with relatively new management at the Chicago bureau, brand-new management at AP worldwide and the moves of both of both the Chicago bureau and AP headquarters, we thought it timely to re-examine the prime directive as stated in our group’s by-laws:

PURPOSE:

1. To work with and monitor the performance of The Associated Press as it affects its service to Illinois newspaper members of the cooperative and to offer critiques and suggestions.

To that end, our four-person committee monitored 10 consecutive days of Illinois AP filings, a total of 252 in all. Our key findings:

1. The Illinois Associated Press continues to provide a vital package of news for its Illinois members.

2. For the most part, the reporting is solid, thorough, balanced.

3. For the most part, the writing is crisp.

4. There remain several opportunities for improvement, some of which could be staff directives; others could be board objectives. Among them:

a. The geographic mix tilts heavily toward metro Chicago; downstate datelines are scant.

b. The content mix tilts heavily toward government (the highest single category, representing nearly a third of all stories filed). Because this is an election year and the legislature was winding down, this figure should not be surprising. Still, more variety could freshen the report.

c. One of every four stories was followed with a write-thru, oftentimes to correct previous errors or omissions.

d. AP stories from outside the state – A-Wire stories, usually – often had a tenuous Illinois link that could have been strengthened or highlighted by editing on a Chicago desk.

THE STUDY

The committee: The WireWatch Committee has these four members:

Susan Keaton, Chicago Tribune

Linda Kleczewski, LaSalle News Tribune

Barry Locher, Springfield State Journal-Register

Jack Brimeyer (Chair), Peoria Journal Star

Study design: The committee chose to select a consecutive string of days (days revealed to neither The AP nor to other member newspapers) to be monitored and critiqued. Then, the committee devised a grid to capture key data on each filed moved:

Time.

Slugline.

Length.

“Junkline” (so-called because it appears as a string of random characters that can be decoded to tell who at AP handled the story, its original source if from a member, other sources used, and such.)

Dateline.

General category (Business; Crime; Disaster like fire, storm, collapse, etc.; Feature; Government; Health; “Illinois Style;” Politics; Transportation, and Other.)

Photo.

In addition, the study group analyzed each story on qualitative factors: Thoroughness, organization, timeliness, use of quotes and context, writing, and such.

Study dates: The ten study dates were Sunday, July 25, through Tuesday, Aug 3. (Coincidentally, the study started just as the Illinois Legislature was ending its marathon overtime session on the state budget). During that period, a total of 252 items moved (for purposes of the study, we ignored weather forecast and lottery drawings.) Of these, 191 (or 76 percent) were deemed “unique” stories, meaning they had later write-thrus but still on the same general content and under the same story slug.

THE FINDINGS

Quantity of files: The raw number of files moved has more than a 300 percent variance, day-to-day, ranging from a low of 13 on a Sunday to a high of 45 on a Thursday. The average was 25.5. This reflects the traditional ebb and flow of news: It runs higher at midweek when government offices and business are operating and people are out and about, and lower on weekends when businesses and offices are closed.

Recommendations: Journalism always has been shy about setting productivity standards, lest we be accused of “making” news when none exists. But the gap between low and high productivity days deserves discussion. Perhaps board and staff can incent members to share Sunday material on Friday or Saturday in order to beef up the AP’s Sunday and Monday filings.

Unique files. Of the 252 files moved during the 10-day study, 61 of them (24 percent) were write-thrus. Normally, an editor expects that a write-thru comes with more information, details, quotes, background and such, usually on a developing story. However, committee members were somewhat surprised to find that most of the write-thrus were actually corrections or clarifications of the previous files (sometimes to correct the spellings of names or official titles, for instance.) This could be a problem for many newsrooms where wire handlers are putting together pages on deadline. Typically, they will select the latest version of a wire story and, as deadline approaches, do their editing, tightening and headline writing. These editors, now in production mode, may not even see a write-thru. But, if they do, they may assume that it is an update with new information and may decide, because of time pressures, to go with the version they have rather than to make a substitute. This could put them in the position of running inaccurate, rather than simply somewhat stale, stories.

Recommendations: While the AP Stylebook clearly says that write-thrus can be used for corrections and clarifications and new material, it might behoove The AP to find a way to differentiate in the slugline which write-thrus have new matter and which have corrections or clarifications.

Speed and timeliness: With few exceptions, The Associated Press continues to impress with the speed at which it turns a breaking story. The legislative coverage and budget analyses at the head of the study period were prime examples of that. The package included overview material, county-by-county breakdowns, analysis of winners and losers, and exceptional background and context, all turned under deadline pressure. On non-breaking news stories, we found instances of unclear time elements; interestingly, all three of these stories were court cases, two civil and one criminal.

Recommendations: Continue the good work; keep news desk alert to time elements.

Story length: Throughout the 10-day study, each of the four study members found stories they thought could have been shortened or should have been lengthened with more details, background or quotes. All in all, though, the study found AP living up to its reputation of writing tight and bright.

Recommendations: Continue the good work.

Story sources: Using junkline data on the unique stories, we found that about a third of them (60 of the 191) were drawn exclusively from member contributions. Another 23 were based on member contributions and fleshed out by AP staffers working the files or telephones. Combined, that makes 83 of the stories, (43 percent of the total) initiated by a report from a member. The remaining 57 percent (108 total stories) were initiated and worked exclusively by AP staff, an average of 10.8 per day during the study period.

Recommendations: Board and staff should continue exploring ways to get more member contributions.

Datelines/locale. There were 191 “unique stories.” Of those, 43 came from out of state leaving 148 Illinois-generated stories. Of those, the vast majority (75) were datelined Chicago; next was Springfield with 32. Combined, more than half of all stories moved on the Illinois wire were datelined from those two places. If you extract another 9 that came from Chicago collar counties, you’re left with 35 stories from and about downstate communities during those 10 days, or 18 percent. The vast majority were feature pieces and Illinois Styles.

Recommendations: Obviously, metro Chicago holds the vast majority of this state’s population and newspaper circulation. That’s one way of looking at it. Another way is to look at the number of AP member newspapers. The latest information shared with the IAPEA board shows 63 daily newspaper members of the AP in Illinois; 14 are in Chicago and the collar counties. The remaining 49 newspapers, which is 78 percent, could be considered “downstate” whereas just 18 percent of the content can be considered “downstate.” As addressed elsewhere, board and staff need to continue exploring ways so that all member newspapers can get what they need.

Non-Illinois datelines. Of the 191 unique stories, 43 (or 23 percent) came from points outside of Illinois. Basically it seems that if the word “Illinois” pops up in an AP report from anywhere, it gets moved on the Illinois wire. There were many instances, however, when this Illinois angle was tenuous or buried. (Example: A story out of Fort Worth on an engineering report into the drowning deaths of four Chicagoans in a city fountain had the Illinois link in the fourth graf.)

Recommendations: The lede of the example story called them “tourists.” Had that been changed to “Chicagoans” or “Illinoisans,” then wire handlers throughout the state would have immediately seen the significance. Board and staff may want to address.

Story categories: In a risky venture, the study group tried to categorize stories by topic. Some stories ended up in more than one category such as a story about government efforts on procuring improved prices on prescription drugs. As already noted, government stories led the pack. Fully 22 percent of all the stories dealt with government; double the percentage of any other category. News of crimes and news of disasters were about tied for second at 11 percent each. On the feature side, if you combine AP-produced staff features with Illinois Style packages, you find that 16 percent of all files on the state wire are of the feature variety.

Recommendations: Board and staff should occasionally take stock of the news mix. There is no magic formula to shoot for. Still, on discretionary stories and features, it might be wire to put efforts toward topics identified by other national studies as the kinds of things that attract readers and reader interest.

Photos: Strictly speaking, the study committee was charged with analyzing written news reports, not photos. However, we did note that 42 of the 252 total files did indicate that an accompanying photo would be moving as well. Oftentimes, these were packaged with Illinois Style stories picked up from members.

Recommendations: Refer to WirePhoto committee.

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS

The Illinois Associated Press has an awesome responsibility and a complex set of customers ranging from the bosses at headquarters in New York to the farmer in Farmington who simply wants a weather forecast and the lush in Lewistown who only wants his lottery numbers.

This Wire Watch study was designed to look at the material on the range between those diverse masters.

We entered this study it with an open mind. For the most part, we have been quite impressed with what we found. And we identified what could be opportunities for improvement, all of which we hope are taken in the spirit of professional growth.



			AP STUDIES 2004 WireWatch report Illinois Associated Press Editors Association After a decade-long hiatus, the Illinois Associated Press Editors Association this year undertook a WireWatch study. During those intervening 10 years, the group’s executive board tackled assorted other pressing issues like the acclaimed statewide investigative study on Open Records; the investigative series on township government; WirePhoto sharing and restructuring; the creation of periodic statewide training sessions, and the merger of the AP and IPA annual meetings and awards programs. Now, with relatively new management at the Chicago bureau, brand-new management at AP worldwide and the moves of both of both the Chicago bureau and AP headquarters, we thought it timely to re-examine the prime directive as stated in our group’s by-laws: PURPOSE: 1. To work with and monitor the performance of The Associated Press as it affects its service to Illinois newspaper members of the cooperative and to offer critiques and suggestions. To that end, our four-person committee monitored 10 consecutive days of Illinois AP filings, a total of 252 in all. Our key findings: 1. The Illinois Associated Press continues to provide a vital package of news for its Illinois members. 2. For the most part, the reporting is solid, thorough, balanced. 3. For the most part, the writing is crisp. 4. There remain several opportunities for improvement, some of which could be staff directives; others could be board objectives. Among them: a. The geographic mix tilts heavily toward metro Chicago; downstate datelines are scant. b. The content mix tilts heavily toward government (the highest single category, representing nearly a third of all stories filed). Because this is an election year and the legislature was winding down, this figure should not be surprising. Still, more variety could freshen the report. c. One of every four stories was followed with a write-thru, oftentimes to correct previous errors or omissions. d. AP stories from outside the state – A-Wire stories, usually – often had a tenuous Illinois link that could have been strengthened or highlighted by editing on a Chicago desk. THE STUDY The committee: The WireWatch Committee has these four members: Susan Keaton, Chicago Tribune Linda Kleczewski, LaSalle News Tribune Barry Locher, Springfield State Journal-Register Jack Brimeyer (Chair), Peoria Journal Star Study design: The committee chose to select a consecutive string of days (days revealed to neither The AP nor to other member newspapers) to be monitored and critiqued. Then, the committee devised a grid to capture key data on each filed moved: Time. Slugline. Length. “Junkline” (so-called because it appears as a string of random characters that can be decoded to tell who at AP handled the story, its original source if from a member, other sources used, and such.) Dateline. General category (Business; Crime; Disaster like fire, storm, collapse, etc.; Feature; Government; Health; “Illinois Style;” Politics; Transportation, and Other.) Photo. In addition, the study group analyzed each story on qualitative factors: Thoroughness, organization, timeliness, use of quotes and context, writing, and such. Study dates: The ten study dates were Sunday, July 25, through Tuesday, Aug 3. (Coincidentally, the study started just as the Illinois Legislature was ending its marathon overtime session on the state budget). During that period, a total of 252 items moved (for purposes of the study, we ignored weather forecast and lottery drawings.) Of these, 191 (or 76 percent) were deemed “unique” stories, meaning they had later write-thrus but still on the same general content and under the same story slug. THE FINDINGS Quantity of files: The raw number of files moved has more than a 300 percent variance, day-to-day, ranging from a low of 13 on a Sunday to a high of 45 on a Thursday. The average was 25.5. This reflects the traditional ebb and flow of news: It runs higher at midweek when government offices and business are operating and people are out and about, and lower on weekends when businesses and offices are closed. *Recommendations:* Journalism always has been shy about setting productivity standards, lest we be accused of “making” news when none exists. But the gap between low and high productivity days deserves discussion. Perhaps board and staff can incent members to share Sunday material on Friday or Saturday in order to beef up the AP’s Sunday and Monday filings. Unique files. Of the 252 files moved during the 10-day study, 61 of them (24 percent) were write-thrus. Normally, an editor expects that a write-thru comes with more information, details, quotes, background and such, usually on a developing story. However, committee members were somewhat surprised to find that most of the write-thrus were actually corrections or clarifications of the previous files (sometimes to correct the spellings of names or official titles, for instance.) This could be a problem for many newsrooms where wire handlers are putting together pages on deadline. Typically, they will select the latest version of a wire story and, as deadline approaches, do their editing, tightening and headline writing. These editors, now in production mode, may not even see a write-thru. But, if they do, they may assume that it is an update with new information and may decide, because of time pressures, to go with the version they have rather than to make a substitute. This could put them in the position of running inaccurate, rather than simply somewhat stale, stories. *Recommendations:* While the AP Stylebook clearly says that write-thrus can be used for corrections and clarifications and new material, it might behoove The AP to find a way to differentiate in the slugline which write-thrus have new matter and which have corrections or clarifications. Speed and timeliness: With few exceptions, The Associated Press continues to impress with the speed at which it turns a breaking story. The legislative coverage and budget analyses at the head of the study period were prime examples of that. The package included overview material, county-by-county breakdowns, analysis of winners and losers, and exceptional background and context, all turned under deadline pressure. On non-breaking news stories, we found instances of unclear time elements; interestingly, all three of these stories were court cases, two civil and one criminal. *Recommendations:* Continue the good work; keep news desk alert to time elements. Story length: Throughout the 10-day study, each of the four study members found stories they thought could have been shortened or should have been lengthened with more details, background or quotes. All in all, though, the study found AP living up to its reputation of writing tight and bright. *Recommendations:* Continue the good work. Story sources: Using junkline data on the unique stories, we found that about a third of them (60 of the 191) were drawn exclusively from member contributions. Another 23 were based on member contributions and fleshed out by AP staffers working the files or telephones. Combined, that makes 83 of the stories, (43 percent of the total) initiated by a report from a member. The remaining 57 percent (108 total stories) were initiated and worked exclusively by AP staff, an average of 10.8 per day during the study period. *Recommendations:* Board and staff should continue exploring ways to get more member contributions. Datelines/locale. There were 191 “unique stories.” Of those, 43 came from out of state leaving 148 Illinois-generated stories. Of those, the vast majority (75) were datelined Chicago; next was Springfield with 32. Combined, more than half of all stories moved on the Illinois wire were datelined from those two places. If you extract another 9 that came from Chicago collar counties, you’re left with 35 stories from and about downstate communities during those 10 days, or 18 percent. The vast majority were feature pieces and Illinois Styles. *Recommendations:* Obviously, metro Chicago holds the vast majority of this state’s population and newspaper circulation. That’s one way of looking at it. Another way is to look at the number of AP member newspapers. The latest information shared with the IAPEA board shows 63 daily newspaper members of the AP in Illinois; 14 are in Chicago and the collar counties. The remaining 49 newspapers, which is 78 percent, could be considered “downstate” whereas just 18 percent of the content can be considered “downstate.” As addressed elsewhere, board and staff need to continue exploring ways so that all member newspapers can get what they need. Non-Illinois datelines. Of the 191 unique stories, 43 (or 23 percent) came from points outside of Illinois. Basically it seems that if the word “Illinois” pops up in an AP report from anywhere, it gets moved on the Illinois wire. There were many instances, however, when this Illinois angle was tenuous or buried. (Example: A story out of Fort Worth on an engineering report into the drowning deaths of four Chicagoans in a city fountain had the Illinois link in the fourth graf.) *Recommendations:* The lede of the example story called them “tourists.” Had that been changed to “Chicagoans” or “Illinoisans,” then wire handlers throughout the state would have immediately seen the significance. Board and staff may want to address. Story categories: In a risky venture, the study group tried to categorize stories by topic. Some stories ended up in more than one category such as a story about government efforts on procuring improved prices on prescription drugs. As already noted, government stories led the pack. Fully 22 percent of all the stories dealt with government; double the percentage of any other category. News of crimes and news of disasters were about tied for second at 11 percent each. On the feature side, if you combine AP-produced staff features with Illinois Style packages, you find that 16 percent of all files on the state wire are of the feature variety. *Recommendations:* Board and staff should occasionally take stock of the news mix. There is no magic formula to shoot for. Still, on discretionary stories and features, it might be wire to put efforts toward topics identified by other national studies as the kinds of things that attract readers and reader interest. Photos: Strictly speaking, the study committee was charged with analyzing written news reports, not photos. However, we did note that 42 of the 252 total files did indicate that an accompanying photo would be moving as well. Oftentimes, these were packaged with Illinois Style stories picked up from members. *Recommendations:* Refer to WirePhoto committee. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS The Illinois Associated Press has an awesome responsibility and a complex set of customers ranging from the bosses at headquarters in New York to the farmer in Farmington who simply wants a weather forecast and the lush in Lewistown who only wants his lottery numbers. This Wire Watch study was designed to look at the material on the range between those diverse masters. We entered this study it with an open mind. For the most part, we have been quite impressed with what we found. And we identified what could be opportunities for improvement, all of which we hope are taken in the spirit of professional growth.

AP STUDIES