How's Your Editorial Calendar?
Posted on Thursday, May 27, 2021 at 9:37 AM
What impact has Covid had on your editorial planning?
By
William Dunkerley
Covid has confronted editors with many
unexpected changes. Work-at-home has become commonplace. Many
publications had to cope with a decrease in ad pages. In some cases
reader needs and interests have been influenced by the pandemic.
Editors
have been quick to adapt their content to today's realities. We asked a
few to share their related experiences. Here's what they told us:
--Patricia
L. Harman, editor-in-chief, PropertyCasualty360.com: "We create an
annual editorial calendar -- usually in early September. The pandemic
didn't have a tremendous impact on it, but it did affect some of the
events that we try to tie into our editorial. We did have to move around
a couple of articles or add some into other issues because events were
rescheduled.
"While I like to joke about getting my crystal ball
out when it's time to do the editorial calendar, the reality is that
conversations with industry leaders are extremely helpful in shaping our
calendar. I have off-the-record conversations with executives that are
extremely educational and provide me with the broad perspective I need
to do my job well.
"With more conferences online, I've been
exposed to numerous speakers and then followed up with them either by
email or LinkedIn. Those contacts have led to more conversations, some
interviews, and even some contributors. I'm always watching for
interesting trends and emerging topics, and try to work those into our
future calendars."
--Deborah Lockridge, editor-in-chief,
Heavy Duty Trucking: "In the industry we cover, editorial calendars are
a must.
"We did make some on-the-go changes last year. For
instance, we scrapped our cover story for the May issue and pivoted to
one on how our readers were affected by and dealing with Covid-19. A
loss of ad pages and downsized staff meant we had to drop some planned
coverage. (We also cut some regular departments and columns.) When we
were planning this year's calendar late last summer, we kept those
reduced pages in mind and included fewer planned features.
"Because
our sales staff uses the editorial calendar when working with clients on
their media schedules, we had to communicate closely with them as we
made these changes.
"Not pandemic-related, but just about
developing editorial calendars in general: During the year I keep a list
of ideas as they occur to me or come up in our editorial meetings or
discussions with readers. During the planning process, we ask our
Editorial Advisory Board for input. And we have our sales team ask their
clients for suggestions -- we get some surprisingly good ideas.
"What
we're trying to develop now is a digital editorial calendar and social
media calendar. I'd love to see a future article about how other editors
are doing that."
--Jenn Fiedler, editor, Township
Focus: "I compile a rough editorial calendar, and that was definitely
thrown on its head by the pandemic.
"We typically produce 11
issues a year, which are sent to nearly 9,000 readers -- predominantly
local township leaders, as well as state and federal lawmakers. When the
pandemic broke out, a large part of our editorial content shifted to how
our members -- locally elected officials -- could continue to serve
their communities, provide information to their residents, and the
impact that it could have on their budgets, services, etc.
"In
addition, state and federal guidance, orders, and requirements for
public gatherings -- including township board meetings -- were coming
out constantly, and often changing near daily. We ended up combining
several issues, due to last-minute changing guidance (or, in one case, a
state supreme court ruling that nullified statewide pandemic executive
orders) that required rewrites upon rewrites and pushed back our
production schedule.
"It was incredibly stressful, but
ultimately, our goal is to provide the best, most comprehensive
information for township leaders to serve their residents, who comprise
more than half of our state's population.
"I am communications
director for the Michigan Townships Association, our publisher. We have
heard from our members that our resources and information for them was
invaluable throughout the pandemic, so our efforts were appreciated and
made a difference in Michigan communities. That is beyond gratifying. I
was proud of what we were able accomplish during a wholly chaotic time.
"My
best advice is something that has always been true for journalism and
communications, but was certainly put to the test over the past year: Be
nimble and able to quickly pivot as needed. Remember your audience and
what they need from you. With that mindset, I was able to keep our
members in mind, which helped me focus on and filter the key information
our members needed to know. We hope that it helped to make a difference
in Michigan communities and residents to get through this tumultuous
time."
--Laura M. Porinchak, editor, Construction
Dimensions: "Our publication is written for the essential construction
audience. So other than including Covid-19 safety articles in various
issues throughout the past year, there has been no interference
whatsoever by the pandemic.
"I believe continuing with 'business
as usual' gives our readers a sense of normality and security. As we
begin to prepare our 2022 editorial calendar, the pandemic is sure to be
included as a primary subject in one issue, but the other 11 issues will
focus on topics familiar to our audience."
--Dave Fusaro.
editor-in-chief, Food Processing magazine: "We have a pretty
extensive editorial calendar. It identifies six stories for each issue
(72 for the year), and it also promises digital offerings (webinars and
ebooks) we will do every month. We have each calendar finished before
Labor Day of the upcoming year.
"The pandemic did create two
opportunities last year: pandemic-themed stories we substituted for less
interesting or timely ones. That's not unusual, no more than in any
other year. While I consider the editorial calendar a pretty sincere
promise, every year we change at least one story because something
timely comes up.
"Much of our ad sales are connected to calendar
topics, so we let our salespeople know of a change as far in advance as
possible, and leave the door open for debate and pushback."
--Howard
Rauch, president, Editorial Solutions, Inc: "The issue that comes to
mind for me is the degree to which the calendar shares space between
editorial hooks offering only direct advertiser appeal and non-hook,
timely topics devoted to high-value, non-commercial content.
"Perhaps
there are many cases where non-commercial content is totally ignored.
Other times this content is accorded leadership space. I prefer the
latter approach."
William Dunkerley is principal of
William Dunkerley Publishing Consultants, www.publishinghelp.com.
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