An (edited) work in progress
Like editing an article, a career in editing is an ongoing process. But for Hannah Sayle, managing editor of City Pages, there isn’t a more rewarding process in the Twin Cities.
By ALAYNA HOY | Web Editor
Hannah Sayle began her career as a journalist in Memphis, but has since converted to a die-hard aficionado and journalist of the goings-on in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Hannah writes, edits and manages for both the online and print publications of City Pages; covering food, events, people and places in the metropolitan Minnesota.
Can you tell me about your journey to your job as managing editor of City Pages?
Growing up I wasn’t really involved with school newspapers. I wasn’t as interested in reporting as I was in writing. That changed once I got into journalism, but my initial interest was in the literary side of things. I majored in English and I thought I would get my PhD and go be an English professor. But after I graduated I wound up getting an internship at a city magazine, which is like MSP magazine here, but in Memphis. I got an internship there and it turned into a job just because I stuck with it and they had an opening. That company also owned the Alternative News Weekly, which is exactly the type of paper that City Pages is. So I started writing for the Alt Weekly in addition to writing for the city magazine and I wound up taking a job just strictly with the Alt Weekly. I liked it and I applied for some jobs up here because I wanted to move to the Twin Cities, and I got rejected. I just kept applying for things and I bumped into an editor who I had applied with for another job and he said, “We have a different job opening. Are you interested?” So I applied for that and wound up getting it. A lot of it was timing. I happened to be in the right place at the right time. A lot of it was being open to new things and new experiences.
What happens during a typical day on the job?
Things look a little bit different each day of the week as we move towards production day, which for us falls on a Tuesday because we come out on Wednesday. For print publication I have a weekly schedule so that each of my days leading up to the print production day is a little bit different. Then, for the website that’s more of a daily schedule. We’re putting up blog posts everyday. Generally, I would start my day by what’s going to go on the website that day, what would happen with the blog post, seeing if there’s anything new or breaking that needs to be covered, and then once that’s addressed I would look towards taking care of what’s going to go in the print issue. So taking in drafts from writers, working through edits with them, putting the final touches on things and shipping it out to our copy editor. In a way what I do changes every day and in a way it doesn’t change that much at all.
What kind of hours do you work?
Our writers who are union [members] work 40 hours a weeks. If they work over 40 hours a week they get paid overtime. So their hours are much more regularly recorded. I’m not a union member because I’m a managing editor. So my hours are a little more fluid. I might work 10 hours one day and then eight hours the next day. I might work some over the weekends. It’s pretty fluid, honestly. I would say I typically work a little over 40 hours a week.
Do you have a mentor or someone who most inspired/impacted your career? How did this person influence you?
The people around me. I work in a very collaborative work environment, so if I have questions or I’m mulling something over I trust the people around me to support me and give me their honest opinions.
What is your favorite part of your job? Least favorite?
My favorite thing is editing long form features, because its really exciting to see a story in its raw form and work on it and shape it until it reaches its final form. My least favorite, you will find that as you get jobs, there’s always a certain amount of bullsh*t work that just has to be done. And that’s everything from processing invoices to data entries.
What is one editing horror story?
I don’t know if I really have a horror story, aside from the sort of everyday horror of feeling like you’re not good enough or you’re not doing a good enough job. Which is something that I find many, many people in this business feel. And, also, the everyday horror of Internet commenters.
Editing success story?
My editing success story is more generally that feeling of getting better and better at taking something and turning it into something better. And that gets easier with time and experience. Just anytime that I have a story that I learn something, and I enjoy or appreciate working with a writer. Anytime that happens I consider that a success story.
If you weren’t working at City Pages where would you want to be employed?
That’s tough. I guess working for the Star Tribune would be nice because that’s kind of a step up from City Pages. But I really like the Twin Cities, so I kind of want to stick around here. If I could be a freewheeling teacher/writer for any of the big name magazines or papers, and just sort of write or be published wherever I wanted, that would be great.
“Create a name for yourself so people see you as a hard worker and as someone they can count on.”
What advice would you give to journalism students starting to look for internships and experience?
Keep yourself open to whatever opportunities come your way. You should start off being willing to write about a lot of different things, because you need to get experience. Make sure that you are always bringing your own ideas to the table. You want to make yourself an asset to papers by bringing your own ideas and your own pitches. The third thing is to be hungry. So you’ve got to accept rejection and just keep going. You’ve got to just push, push, push to get jobs, get clips and create a name for yourself so people see you as a hard worker and as someone they can count on.
How do you find balance between your social and professional life?
I find that I use a lot of stuff from my social life to inform my professional life because City Pages is basically all encompassing. We cover everything that goes on in the Twin Cities. If I eat at a good restaurant, that’s something I’m keeping in mind. That stuff happens all the time, even if you’re being social. But it doesn’t mean that when I go out I’m constantly in work mode. It’s more just part of being a reporter and something I want to push myself to do better all of the time. And it’s keeping your eyes open for stories and obviously you don’t just do that between the hours of 9 and 5. You do that all the time.
Based off Hannah’s responses editing is not an easy, cut-and-dry field to break into. Aspiring editors must have a little bit of luck and good timing and a lot of persistence and motivation to land a job in the field. Maintaining a job requires flexibility in scheduling and a continual passion and curiosity for reporting, that oftentimes bleeds over into social and personal life experiences. Personally, it both frightens and encourages me to hear that a career in journalistic editing implies a certain degree of self-doubt for Hannah, and for many people she’s worked with. This is an emotion I experience frequently in regards to my own writing and editing, so its encouraging to find solidarity in an established journalist, but also daunting to hear such doubts do not diminish much with time. Based off Hannah’s input, editing is a career path that is challenging, fluid and sometimes frustrating, but more often proves inspiring, rewarding and worthy of all time and energy spent.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
