January 2008

The Bar Beat

by WSBA Bar News Editor Michael Heatherly

Think of Bar News as a car factory. At a car factory (and I will admit here that my knowledge of car factories is pretty much limited to what I have seen in cartoons), gargantuan loads of steel, glass, and plastic roll in one end; and shiny Ford Mustangs roll out the other. For all the factory's technological wizardry, it can produce nothing without raw materials.

Likewise, for all our wizardry at Bar News, we can produce nothing without raw materials. And the only raw materials we have to work with are ink, paper, words, and pictures. The printers round up the ink and paper. The editorial and advertising departments are responsible for the words and pictures. It's a big job. Besides the advertisements, announcements, columns, and informational sections, we need to fill 20 pages or so every month with general editorial content. And by "general editorial content," I mean stories. Whether they take the form of educational articles, essays, or biographical sketches, I think of them all as stories.

For a 30,000-circulation magazine, we have a small editorial staff. We cannot possibly produce 20 pages a month of stories on our own. Fortunately, we are blessed with a few gifted regular contributors, such as Jeff Tolman, Mark Fucile, and Bob Cumbow. In addition, we receive a slow but fairly steady stream of educational and informational pieces from law professors, judges, and other experts in various fields. These nuts-and-bolts articles form the backbone of our editorial content and are an important service to our readers.

However, as I alluded to in my column last month, we are committed to broadening the range of content in Bar News. In particular, we wish to incorporate more stories from the realm generally labeled as "human interest." Although the term is dated, it describes exactly what we're looking for: stories focusing on the many interesting human aspects of our professional and personal lives.

I suspect that every WSBA member has at least one great story to tell. If we could get just one or two of you to send us a story each month, we would be well on our way to making Bar News an even better read. I am inviting — no, challenging — you to do just that.

Your story need not be an epic. In fact, for the love of Beowulf, please do not send an epic. A well-written piece of 750 to 1,500 words (one or two pages in print) is ideal. Reality TV, blogs, and YouTube have shrunken our attention spans. We are more likely to read something we can finish in one short sitting. Also, your story need not be in standard narrative form. For example, an interview in Q&A format is easier to write and read. Likewise, a tidy piece on "10 Things I Have Learned from My Clients About Human Nature" will be read, while "I Am Now Going to Recite All the Facts from My Illustrious Career" will not.

Another result of our TV- and Internet-obsessed society is that people expect pictures with their words. Preferably, your submitted story will be accompanied by a pertinent photograph or two. This can include a simple "mug shot" of yourself, even if you are not the subject of your story. For certain stories, we are hoping to run small photographs of the authors to help introduce them to our readers.

I began this column by comparing Bar News to an automobile factory. One unfortunate difference between us and the Ford Motor Company is that we have no budget to pay for our raw materials. All we have to offer is the opportunity to share your story with 30,000 of your colleagues. There is something to be said for that, though, isn't there? Besides getting a few proverbial pats on the back, you'll get your name out there among your peers in a positive light, which never hurts.

If you have a story idea, the best approach is to e-mail me a brief pitch at barnewseditor@wsba.org. I will read it and give you my feedback. It is always helpful to discuss a story idea before you begin investing your time in writing it. Nevertheless, if you have a piece already written, send it along. I look forward to hearing from you. 

Bar News Editor Michael Heatherly practices in Bellingham and can be reached at 360-312-5156 or barnewseditor@wsba.org.