I interviewed United States Marine Corporal Emmanuel Ramos who is a Public Affairs Journalist. Cpl Ramos earned a college degree while in the Marine Corps in Criminal Justice and has gone through 6 months of training and has had 3 years of experience in editing. During training, Cpl Ramos learned how to: gather news and feature materials for publication in command newspapers, magazines and for radio and television programs for internal and external release; respond to queries from the civilian media; perform media liaison functions during operations/exercises; conduct community relations programs; produce print and photographic materials; and edit/produce command newspapers and magazines. Cpl Ramos' most interesting pieces of work was writing about Justin Timberlake attending a Marine Corps Ball. Cpl Ramos stated that he "knew that this was a test of all prior training" as he usually only writes about events related to Marines and their family. He knew that this event would be published to a grand, international audience due to Justin Timberlake's fame and popularity. Within his command, Corporal Ramos is known as Public Affairs guy, the man who takes pictures at every event and follows with written articles. He enjoys being the man behind the story and camera. Corporal Ramos is the senior person in his profession in his unit. He does more than edit his own work, as he also trains junior Marines and is able to spot and correct errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation. With 3 years of experience, he readily notices any inconsistencies in an article whether it relates to grammar, punctuation, style, or facts. As an editor he polishes, refines, and directs the focus of the article along a particular course. He is usually limited on space and time so he cuts out what doesn’t fit and whatever is nonessential to the article. He enhances the major points, whether it be a retirement, a unit exercise/event, or a major accomplishment of a Marine, drawing attention to places where the audience should focus. His main task is to ensure that the product he produces is the best it can be with the time and resources that he has available. Quite often he has less than a week to produce and edit a story because other assignments will come up. When asked what tools he utilizes to edit the work of his Marines, Cpl Ramos states "One thing that I keep in mind is that I am responsible for the type of content produced in regards to this unit, whether it is from me or my subordinates. I ensure that I look over every piece of work before I let it leave my office. I check article facts and ensure that they match our style guides. On top of that I check spelling, grammar, and punctuation and many times I suggest word changes to keep from offending any civilians who might read our articles."
` When asked about the importance of him editing the work of his junior Marines, Cpl Ramos says "I bring to the table the polish, knowledge, and skills that my junior writers might not have, might not know how to use, or might not see the need for in his/her own work. I ensure the writer’s work says what he/she intends and it says it in his/her own voice and with his/her sensibilities. My job is to make a story or article better in terms of clarity, enjoyment, logic, flow, and meaning. As well as in meeting the needs of the audience. I'll tell you, I am very picky, opinionated, and a stickler for what I believe is right. I tend to have a great eye for detail, a strong vocabulary, and knowledge of those odd grammar rules. It all comes with experience. With the experience that I do have, I like to challenge my junior writers which in turn challenges me as an editor." Cpl Ramos plays the role of author, managing editor, copy editor, and publisher. He showed examples of pieces of his work and explained the process he went through while editing the piece and what decisions he made to arrive at the finished product. He also gave insights on major changes he made in the piece and why. "Most recently I did an article on our unit, the 15th MEU, welcoming a new SgtMaj which took me about two working days to complete. I made sure to include the five w's to ensure I was leaving no stone unturned." One of the toughest apects of writing professionally in the Marine Corps is to make articles civilian-friendly. Marines tend to use quite a number of acronyms and jargon in their day-to-day life and Cpl Ramos is no exception. "I have lived with, worked with, and interacted with service members everyday of my life for the past 3 years. Sometimes the way we talk can get in the way of how we write. But we have to understand that not everyone that reads our articles know what life in the Marine Corps is like so I always go over my work with a fine tooth comb." Besides the five w's and the audience, Cpl Ramos keeps in mind where his article will be published. "Granted everything I write about tends to be Marine Corps related but where the article is going to be published plays a huge role in what I write as well" explains Cpl Ramos. "When I write articles for the marines.mil website, I'll speak in third person. But when it is for a unit website, I will make it less formal and more personal because we all know one another and at the point I want to bring them in and help boost their spirits and morale. Marines are a tough group to get through to because they all are outspoken, opinionated, and tend to disagree with everything." When asked about any ethical, cultural, and linguistic concerns, Cpl Ramos explained that his unit quite often works with foreign military to include the Japanese, Australains, and Panamanians. When it comes to writing anything about them, Cpl Ramos has to have his work reviewed my the command SgtMaj to ensure that the United States isn't publishing any offense material which could possibly undo years of progress that we have made with foreign countries. Another concern that he addresses is writing material that is foreign-friendly. "Many times as Americans we get so caught up using words that have more than one meaning and assuming that other countries know the difference. But many times they don't, and when their translator relays the information, things just go south. So I just stay far away from words that could get lost in translation". When asked about the impact that technology has had on editing Cpl Ramos states "there are many outstanding applications that you can download on your computer or phone to help you edit your work and save hours of your time but I stay far away from them. I like to keep my brain cells so I continue to put them to work and learn through trial and error. This is definitely something that our generation has fallen victim to. Many of my friends don't know the difference between the text version of spelling and English language version of spelling. When I first started writing, many times I found myself falling victim to text spelling. It was a terrible habit that I had to break to be successful in my career." Cpl Ramos went on to explain how technology has helped him in other areas, such as speed and spell check. He claims that writing an article with a computer is more efficient than using the type writer or pen and paper because it saves countless hours. He also claims that spell check is like having a third eye to double check your spelling which can easily be "fat-fingered" when typing fast. Finally, I asked Cpl Ramos if there were any tips that had for aspiring writers and editors. "When it comes to writing a long essay or article, step away from the project for a while. Don’t think about it for a few hours or even days if you have time. Then go back and begin your rewrites and your own edits. Some works require several drafts by the writer before it’s ready for an editor. Also, don’t rush. Make sure you’ve said what you intended to say and in a manner that will keep your readers’ attention. Once you’ve done several rewrites and several editing passes, try it out on a critique partner and see what feedback you can get. After that you can send it to your professor or boss and standby for edits. The internet has many resources for self-editing and information about editing services. You might want to try these options before sending any work up but of course it is optional. Just remember to take your time and don’t submit and piece of work to publishers before it’s ready" Cpl Ramos gave and outstanding interview that included his background, his works, issues that he has encountered, and tips for those who want to be writers or editors.
