Dan Beyers, He Edits His Own Section of The Washington Post; Enough Said

When I saw that it was assigned to go out into the work place to find someone of importance in our field of study I was a bit overwhelmed. I am the first and only person I know to pursue a carrier with anything to do with English; my family has more of a tendency to go towards science. I caught a break however when a friend on my floor said his father, Dan Beyers, was a editor for The Washington Post and that he loves doing things like interviews. I emailed him, set a date, and met him in his office

He started off with a tour of the editors floor and told me a bit of history of the building. After making it to his office, I proceeded to ask him about his job and his take on communication. It turns out that Mr. Beyers is the new editor of his own section of the post, a weekly released periodical on the business world of Virgina, Maryland, and, of course, Washington D.C.

"Capital Business," the name of the publication, has been a project that Mr. Beyers has been pushing to have the post run for some time. Something of his brain child, he has had many obstacles in having his superiors accept it.

Being one who climbed his way up, he had experienced every level of management in a wide variety of ways, so he had a various viewpoints and was very knowledgeable of the ways of a writer. As I also want to write, I always had the belief that being a writer was something of a freedom that could not be found anywhere else, but I also knew of the things like editors and the like and how their job is to inhibit that for the sake of the story. Because of this I asked his opinion; was it better for there to be spontaneity in writing or to follow a code of rules? His answer for being a reporter at least, is the facts written through the rules.

Ever since he was just a reporter on the floor, he has felt the pressure of having bosses pressure him. The job of a low end reporter is to get the facts and then listen to his editor. There is little room for improvisation when comes to a factual publication. Mr. Beyers recalled of a specific instance when the paper won a Pulitzer Prize for a story of a ten year old heroine addict that made use of artist renderings. The article was a fake, and since then strict, precedents have been set in place. Due to this and other factors, he is more inclined to stick to regulation.

At the same time though, new and inspired ideas are always needed for things to stay fresh and in demand. This is where his project, "Capital Business," came into play. But as always, even though he has climbed the ranks to editor, there are obstacles. Other editors and the like have projects they want pushed through, and only so many can be tried and given support at a time. The higher-ups need to decide which project is going to get through, and you need to work hard for yours to be the one chosen.

He says; however, that the way you push through these things is to never give up and "Always do your homework." When going into a meeting that he was planning to pitch his idea he always studied beforehand. He prepared answers for possible questions that could be asked or problems that could be foreseen, and always looks for ways to make the solution work with others pitted against him in a way that allows them to have an acceptable compromise.

As a whole, Mr. Beyers is an impressive, yet approachable man. He has worked hard to get where he is now and has a firm set of beliefs when it comes to reporting the news. A great guy who is great at what he does.

Resources:

www.washingtonpost.com