Q: I’m a student and worked hard on a story, but it was published with at least five glaring errors from editing. Is this story doomed, or is there any way I can salvage it for a clip?
D. S., New Jersey
A: I’m sorry, D.S., but that clip won’t do you much good. You don’t want errors to reflect on you, and you don’t want to get into what will sound like editor-bashing in an interview — even though you were write! I mean, right! Rite?
Even if you were to submit the clip and carefully, politely and non-judgmentally explain that the errors were someone else’s, it would bring down the reputation of the place that published your clips. That hurts you by extension. Editors want to feel that you worked at a good, accurate and careful publication, so you want your clips to reflect that.
It’s a little heart-breaking to have your best work spoiled when you’re building a portfolio. It can discourage your long-term interest in newspapering, too. What you learned in the reporting — and the painful lessons you learned in the editing — will go with you forever. But the clip shouldn’t.
