500-word edict cuts Reuters news file wordage

Congratulating journalists on achieving the cut without spiking stories, Americas editor Dayan Candappa told editorial staff the numbers indicate the agency’s pilot project has been a success.

“The volume of words being edited has fallen 16 percent and we didn’t spike any more stories than we usually do. Average story length has dropped 10 percent and keeps declining. The proportion of stories longer than 500 words has tumbled by half. If anyone was wondering what the Sharper File project was intended to achieve, this is it; more stories told in fewer words.

“I’ve always said this was never meant to be about story length, but rather an attempt to change the way we work. Any news organization that aspires to be greatest in the world should not have to choose between doing valuable commoditized news and distinctive stories. Our customers expect us to do both and this is an important step toward meeting those expectations.

“Now that we’ve sharpened the file substantially, what’s next? First, we need to keep up the momentum. For all the progress we’ve made, you’ll agree that far too many stories are still overwritten.

“We also need to focus on the quality of those stories that run longer than 500 words. Specifically, we need to answer these questions, which many of you have asked me.

• “What sort of ‘distinctive’ stories do we want to see more of and how do we create more space and time for the ideas and source-building needed to produce them?
• “How do we improve our editing process to help good reporters produce good stories and feel good about the whole experience?
• “How do we speed up our metabolism and inject urgency into everything we do?
• “How does the pursuit of these stories fit into our plans as a business, especially in the areas of corporate news and consumer video?”

Candappa said that, fortunately, the editors and bureau chiefs of the Americas had not spent the summer just counting words. “We have been wrestling with these issues and talking to you about them. You’ll hear from us over the next few weeks in a series of regular updates we hope to send out every Monday morning. And yes, those notes, like this one, will be shorter than 500 words.

“In the meantime, let’s turn our successful pilot into permanent practice.”

Besides the Americas, the other two Reuters regions - Asia and Europe, Middle East & Africa - are pushing towards the same goal of excelling simultaneously at breadth and depth, Candappa said when he launched the three-month pilot project in May. ■