Editor, revised

Today is the two-year anniversary of my full-time status at the Spokesman. That means two years as a full-time newspaper journalist, plus several months of part-timing it in Spokane and Stockton, Calif. I thought I’d take the occasion to note, only somewhat irreverently, a few things I’ve learned along the way. Please add to them.

• It’s wise to pick your battles. Whether you be the newest copy editor or a high-level manager.
• Some people are just afraid of the active voice.
• Play good photos big. Play bad photos even bigger.
• We are supposed to frown upon horse race stories in election years, but sometimes that’s secretly what we really want to read.
• Somewhere, somehow, there is a perfect nexus of efficiency and quality, and it takes more than two years to find it.
• Pay extra close attention when editing stories with repetitions of the word “public.”
• It’s safe, but not advisable, to eat the pizza with the sweaty cheese.
• It’s hard to give hope to journalism students during layoffs.
• If you can learn to talk to readers on the phone with sincerity, respect and conviction, you will be an asset to your newsroom.
• When asking a co-worker to do something, it helps to sit down by them.
• The demand for hopeful news out of Iraq far outstrips the supply.
• Gallows humor has its place when talking about the news, and that place should be full of fellow journalists.
• It’s terrifyingly easy to become inured to body counts and stories of suffering from wars and natural disasters.
• If that happens, take a step back and let the tragedy move you.
• Amid the carnage, take comfort in AP pictures of baby animals, but don’t assume your readers will do the same.