I’m part of a group of retired Washington editors and writers who get together once or twice a month for a sandwich lunch—we talk about current events and what’s happening in journalism. Who could we proudly vote for in the next election? What’s happened to working together for the good of the country? Where have all the good jobs for editors, writers, and reporters gone?
We have lots of memories of good stories we wrote or edited, and we sometimes laugh about the less-than-great moments that are part of a journalist’s life. Mostly we know we were lucky to be editors and reporters before the digital revolution.
Sukiyabashi Jiro is a Tokyo sushi restaurant that has been awarded three stars from the Michelin Guide and its sushi master, Jiro Ono, once starred in a charming documentary film, Jiro Dreams of Sushi. As an editor, I couldn’t help watching the film and thinking about what I could learn from how Jiro delivers such consistent high quality.
Andrew Ferguson, though a writer at the conservative Weekly Standard, is one of Washington’s independent thinkers and he’s always happy to make fun of pretty much everyone in the nation’s capital. Here’s Andy looking at the media 
By Barnard Law Collier
From longtime editor and writer Barney Collier on the October 5th post “Why Editors Are Not on TV Talk Shows and Are Mostly Silent on Social Media”:
I have a feeling that many editors come off as mediocre on TV because editors, mostly, are in the suggestion business, and questions are the most powerful form of suggestion.
When I edited good writers my role was to ask questions about their work and stimulate their minds into poking about until something better than what they’d done could be found. “Is there a better word? A better way to say this?” usually elicited better stuff. Good writers caught the drift. Lousy writers put their heels in the mud.