Should newspaper story end up online without ‘consent’?

Michael Aboneka writes: “My Wedding, which is a product of Daily Monitor, published my article on filing of marriage returns. Firstly, the title was distorted. Secondly, when I send an article to Daily Monitor, is it for use in any other [of its] products? If so, I thought I would get a request.”
The questions Aboneka raises touch on many issues of publishing and constantly occupy writers who contribute articles to media, but do not sit in the “kitchen” – so to speak – to see the processes the articles go through from start to finish.
The main three issues I discern in his questions are the following: Who decides the headline of an unsolicited article? How and who decides on where [and what platform] to publish the article in the current scenario of multimedia platforms owned by the same publisher? And, finally, do contributors have a right to feedback?
From the outset, let’s be clear that the editor reserves the right to accept or reject an article and if accepted, to handle it in accordance with the editorial policy – in our case – of Nation Media Group.
When an article is submitted to an editor, whether by an outside contributor or staff writer/columnist, it will usually come with what is referred to as a “working headline”. Upon examination and editing of the story, the editor will then affix a “final” headline which in his/her consideration, best fits the content of the story. Some of the considerations the editor will have in mind are: Is it “crisp”, interesting and accurately reflects the subject of the article? Indeed in journalism training and in the newsrooms, a rather obscene mantra is always given to remind editors about headline writing, namely that good headline is like a mini-skirt; short enough to arouse interest, but long enough to cover the subject!
Thus many times, articles are submitted with long and winding headlines that can pass as titles of an academic thesis. Those put off readers! It is in the editor’s right and responsibility to change this to something more appealing, brief and reflective of the body of the story.
Now to the question of where the article shall be published – which page, online or print (or both), in themed magazine or outside, etc.
Generally, content in the media is segmented thematically. This order helps readers/viewers/listeners to easily find the content they want and the editors to plan/source content for the particular segments.
That is why sports content will nearly always be found in the sports pages unless for one reason or another, the story is of general interest and can fit in another segment without standing out like a sore thumb.
The same applies to relationship content, farming content, and so forth. The editor, therefore, has the discretion to assign a story to a given segment as they deem fit.
In the case of multimedia platforms, again the editor has the discretion to decide whether a story is published only in print or online as well and which space the article should be placed in any chosen platform.
Thus in the case of an article on weddings and marriage – as was the case with Aboneka’s – the editor rightly chose to assign it to the online wedding platform recently launched by Daily Monitor; www.mywedding.co.ug because that is where that content best fits.
Having said that, we now ask, should the editor revert to the contributors of unsolicited articles and tell them the decision they have made on where and how they will use their article? Feedback is always a good and much appreciated thing. Indeed often time, editors will revert to the author, especially when they significantly alter the article.
Many times, however, this is not done as the assumption is that when one submits an article, they are aware of the processes it will go through before publishing and trust that it shall follow best practices as laid down in the editorial policies.
It is, therefore, not unreasonable for editors not to revert to each contributor, considering the amount of content from diverse sources they have to process within a limited time frame. However, if the article is significantly changed, then it is obligatory (and only fair) that it is referred to the original writer.

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