3:08 p.m. - The managing editor
runs printouts of synopses of
today’s top Associated Press
stories. The AP is the only wire
service that the Battalion
subscribes to.
4:17 p.m. - A sign goes up on the
editor’s door reading: “It’s 4 p.m.
BUDGET is in session: Do Hot
Disturb this Most Sacred Meeting.”
The Editorial Board, consisting of
all editors, meets behind closed
doors to discuss what stories and
photos will go into the next day’s
paper. The board members review
the top AP stories for the day and
choose the most important ones
to be published. They also
determine which stories warrant
front page exposure. Finally, the
editors decide whether any
current issues merit an editorial,
to be written by one of the board’s
members.
4:49 p.m. - Immediately
following budget, the night news
editor begins laying out pages (in
layperson terminology that
means figuring out what’s going
where) for tomorrow’s paper. She
is joined at 8:30 p.m. by an
assistant night news editor.
8:14 p.m. - The opinion page
editor descends into the
basement of Reed McDonald to
wrestle with a pagination
computer—one that allegedly
allows her to put the page
together on a screen and print it
out in its finished form.
6:01 p.m. - Copy editors arrive
and, under the night news
editor’s supervision, begin
reading everything that will be in
tomorrow’s paper. They also put
headlines on stories at this time.
All in all, every story is read by at
least three editors, and
sometimes as many as five or six
editors before it appears in the
paper. All pictures for
tomorrow’s paper are also due at
this time.
6:08 p.m. - Page 2, the opinion
page, is finished and ready to be
pasted down by production
workers.
6:17 p.m. - After along day’s
work, the editor and managing
editor bid the newsroom farewell.
7:30 p.m. - Production workers
arrive to begin pasting up
tomorrow’s paper.
8:00 p.m. - The sports editor
begins laying out and editing
stories for his pages.
10:00 p.m. - The make-up editor
begins giving the Battalion a final
look. Before the night is over, he
or she will read every bit of copy
that goes into the paper, and
check the finished pages to make
sure they are layed out correctly.
10:36 p.m. - 38th irate caller
asks if its too late to submit some
information for the next day’s
“What’s Up” column.
1:30 a.m. - The production
workers and make-up editor go
home. In a short seven hours, The
Battalion will go to press and the
process will begin again.
8:37 a.m. - As the last staggering
staff member leaves the
newsroom, a stranger
approaches and innocently asks:
“What do I with a letter to the
editor?” And then seconds later...
“And by the way, what are you
guys doing up here at this hour?”
Clockwise from left:
Make-up editor Richard
Williams is the last to
check the paper before it
goes to press.
Throughout most of the
day, the newsroom is full
of students struggling to
meet deadlines.
In the daily budget
meeting, editors are
deciding which stories
will run in tomorrow’s