Struggles with deadlines and TNH

So I picked up a story yesterday that was due last night. Yes, I had less than 8 hours to collect information and interviews. I had a few hours to write down the important stuff. Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines.

For the first time since beginning News Writing I, I really felt the pressure of deadlines. I mean, okay, I've struggled to finish before. But this was different. I had to treat this as if it was breaking news, which it wasn't.

(You can read my story here.)

I felt pretty good about my story last night. I figured I had done a pretty good job under all the time constraints and talking to band managers, researching online, outlining an article, interviewing a band member, emailing NV Concepts founder, and reading a press release, and emailing back and forth with the Whittemore Center.

And I guess the reason for this post is because editors + deadlines + stress + tiredness = not a great story no matter how great I think it might be. 

Scrolling through the online version of my article today, it didn't look the same as the one I typed up. The lead is different, some paragraphs are moved around, the ending quote is moved further up leaving a different one at the bottom. I liked some of the TNH editors'...edits. But there were some that I just didn't think were that appropriate.

Now mind you, I love the editors. I think they do a great job. I'm happy to have the feedback. But to submit one thing and see something very different the next day -- it's almost like a slap in the face.

I guess all I would appreciate is maybe an email saying, hey, good job, we know you were under time constraints. We changed a bit more than usual out of the best interest for the paper. That woulda worked for me.

There were some things I think the TNH editors did way better for that article than what I could have done. Obviously. And I didn't have time to edit that much. But I still think that some things weren't necessary changes, and some words that they changed were stylistic changes that matched their writing more than my own.

For example, someone changed my sentence from a press release. The statement said that DJ Kap Slap had close connections with Lexington, Mass. I didn't have time to research where he was from, so I kept that general idea and then quoted him underneath. TNH changed it to: He hails from Lexington, Mass. I wouldn't say that, nor do I know if that's true. 

Do I have a right to be mad at TNH? Of course not. They asked for a story, and I gave them one. But I do think a heads up that the article would look different the next day would be courteous.