I’ve frequently talked about deadlines and how we usually have to put the Opinion Page out several days in advance of its publication and distribution in the newspaper.
Generally, I work a couple days ahead of time.

For example, on Mondays I’m finishing Wednesday editorials and on Tuesdays I’m working on Thursday editorials.

For Mondays, I must get that Opinion Page out by the previous Thursday to allow the copy desk time to proof it and process it.

However, the early deadlines don’t mean we always run editorials that are several days old. We can’t change everything on a page that’s been prepared but sometimes we can substitute editorials, as we did this past weekend with the tragic shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona, who was among 18 people shot.

Our hearts go out to the families of those killed and we do pray for the recovery of the representative.

The heinous crimes screamed for an editorial and one that would run ASAP.
The story broke on Saturday and Executive Editor Glenn Gilbert and I discussed what we might say. We waited until Sunday to get more details on the continually evolving story but we had to get something together by 4 p.m. to make the Monday newspaper. Obviously, we did.

I wrote an draft Saturday night and polished it up on Sunday morning. I e-mailed Glenn a copy and we reviewed it over the telephone. Then, we forwarded an edited version to the copy desk, which did their magic and made the change.

The editorial that was scheduled to run Monday will run Thursday, barring something else breaking!

It always takes some fancy footwork but it’s part of the job. To have changed the entire page would have literally brought our copy desk to its knees. It’s just not possible.

But with special efforts and a lot of extra work, we can make substitutions for stories that demand an immediate or as soon as possible editorial.