Lekan Otufodunrin, media career development specialist writes on the need for editors to be emotionally intelligent in running their newsrooms.
A reporter once arrived late to the newsroom and when the editor demanded an explanation, he said his mother was sick and he had to see her before coming to work.
The editor, trying hard to suppress his anger due to the delay in getting the copy the reporter was supposed to have been submitted, responded in a way that shocked reporter.
“Okay, so tomorrow we will tell our readers, sorry we couldn’t publish the story we were supposed to publish because our reporter’s mother was sick?” the editor said.
This incident happened long ago before reporters could easily call their editors on the mobile phone. Maybe the reporter might have been able to call ahead.
Notwithstanding, how emotionally considerate was the response of the editor?
He has every right to be angry that he didn’t get the reporter’s copy early enough considering production deadline, but is there no other sensitive way of responding to a reporter who is distraught about his mother’s health condition and may not be in a good frame of mind to write the expected story?
Emotional intelligence or EI according to https://www.mindtools.com/ is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions, and those of the people around you. People with a high degree of emotional intelligence know what they’re feeling, what their emotions mean, and how these emotions can affect other people.
Unfortunately, not many editors know what it means to be emotionally intelligent.
All they normally want is to get the work done. They want stories submitted on or before the deadline, not the story of why the story can’t be ready or was not.
Considering the nature of traditional newsroom operations, it is regarded as a ‘madhouse’ The race to meet the deadline is such that no excuse is good enough for any delay.
However, as much as the reporter has to get his or her assignments done, there is a need for editors to be more emotionally intelligent than they have always been.
Reporters should do their best not to offer excuses that may not be tenable due to the exigencies of newsroom operations, but when it is inevitable, editors should be sensitive to the emotions of their staff.
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Getting the story or arriving early to the newsroom is important, but it is not more important than the emotional wellbeing of the reporters.
In line with the definition of emotional intelligence, editors should understand and know how to manage their own emotions and those of their reporters.
No matter how displeased they are with an excuse, they should know how their reaction can affect their staff emotionally. Yes, they should not condone any lapse as the deadline must be met, but they should not respond in a way that suggests that all they care about is getting their story and not personal matters like the mother of the reporter unexpectedly falling sick or any similar situation which the reporters have to also show some care and not make it seem to their families that all they care about is their jobs?
Editors should be mindful of making statements, particularly in the presence of other staff that can demean their reporters.
They should know their staff well to know when they may be having some emotional challenges that may be affecting their performance.
Being emotionally intelligent does not mean indulging misdemeanours of reporters. Those who consistently fail to meet up to expectations should be eased out of the system in accordance with the official guidelines of the company.
However, just as editors should be emotionally intelligent, reporters should also be. They must try hard enough to avoid allowing their emotions to affect their duties.
Whatever they are going through should be promptly communicated when it can disrupt the production chain.
They should also know the emotions of their editors and know how to relate with them.
Reporters should avoid playing on the intelligence of their editors, they may pay dearly for it.
