DailyPost 112
EDITING – An art, a competency, a vision or a tool.
There is nothing unedited in life. Editing is the capability to cut and stitch a dress of your choice, out of the raw textile being provided to you. The impact of an editor, we experience daily, without even realizing of it. In the media driven world, he is master of the universe. They control the levers of the international media machine. They are real moghuls of the omnipresent media.
Editorials are the final word on the issues of the day. With mediums increasing and so different, editing and the editor has also transformed. Electronic media has created a new variant, generally making the editorial leanings clear at the beginning of the program itself and he being there propagate it. The editor it out of the closet on your TV live, in newsrooms, on the field et al. He has himself become a celebrity. Even the most iconic editors of yesteryears, where generally not known to the people at large.
Ghost editors is what social media has created, which runs the propaganda machines of various organizations in the overall trend towards information warfare. They manipulate the media and the medium. There are recent celebrities, who blend the editing, with media planning, strategy and business. A cocktail of a business model but immensely successful. Breaking news is breaking the electronic media at its seams and of the capabilities of the editor, who happens to be the prima donna. Maintaining objectivity & quality is not an easy job on a 24 hour medium.
With a vision in mind editing would become simpler, as he can cut through the clutter, with competencies of language, expression, understanding of the ecosystem, the context and of the developing narrative of the issue. Pen as the best weapon adage, gets more potent, both by way of having incisive content, imaginatively packaged and by its increasing reach over larger audiences.
EDITING AS A SKILL IS YOUR SAVIOR IN ALL JOBS, AT ALL TIMES & ON ALL MEDIUMS.
Sanjay Sahay