All ten editorial desks
Desk I of X

Editorial Director

It turns your request into a clear assignment before research or writing begins.

  • Every article
  • One role
  • Live
Where it sits
  1. IEditorial Director
  2. IISource Desk
  3. IIIPlanning Desk
  4. IVWriters Desk
  5. VFact Desk
  6. VIQA Desk
  7. VIIEditor-in-Chief
  8. VIIIStandards Desk
  9. IXArt Desk
  10. XProduction Desk

The Editorial Director is the first of the ten editorial desks and works beside the Source Desk. It shapes your order into an assignment for the Planning Desk, Writers Desk and every checking desk.

What it does

The Editorial Director turns your request into a clear assignment before research or writing begins. It decides who the article is for, what it should give them, what line it should take and what each section must answer.

That shared purpose guides the Source Desk, Planning Desk, Writers Desk and every checking desk. Without it, the later desks would not be working from the same reader, promise and angle, and the finished article would not feel considered from headline to close.

One role works here: the Director, which turns your order into the assignment every desk after it follows.

What it takes in

The Editorial Director receives your request and your choices for format, language, country, length, headline, outline and whether to research. It also knows the date. If your subject has already been searched, it reads the result titles and one line from each result so it can place a new product or smaller company in context.

What it hands on

It hands on the reader, promise, angle, headline and sections. Each section carries a question it must answer, such as how much water remained in a reservoir and when that amount was measured. The Source Desk uses the questions to judge which pages matter, and the Writer follows them after you approve the outline. On the Create pages, you can edit the headline, sections and direction before writing begins. Every later desk follows those changes. The Editorial Director does this for Create, bulk, API and newsroom articles.

What it guarantees

4 things it holds to, on every piece it touches.

  • Your decisions stay yours.

    Your format, subjects, length, source choices and publishing preference carry into the assignment.

  • Evidence decides what is true.

    The Director sets the questions and angle. The Source Desk searches in your words and finds the evidence, keeping editorial judgement separate from reporting.

  • Published reporting supports every section.

    The Director plans sections that published sources can fill. It does not set a section that would require first-hand testing or a visit.

  • Policy applies from the start.

    A request outside the newsroom's content policy receives a clear reason before research or writing begins.

One example

You ask for an article about a new rule for savings accounts. The Director defines the reader as someone deciding this month whether to move their savings. It asks what changes, when it changes, who it affects and what it means for a typical saver. Every paragraph now has a clear purpose.

On your article

Its decisions show in an article built for one reader and promise, with a clear angle and sections that answer their assigned questions. The same purpose carries from the headline to the close.

Live. It works on every article.

Questions

What people ask about the Editorial Director.

What goes into a content brief before writing starts?
It starts with your request, format, language, country, length, headline, outline and choice about research. The Editorial Director turns those choices into the reader, promise, angle, headline, sections and questions for the article.
How does an assignment guide the editorial process?
The Source Desk uses its section questions to judge pages. After you approve the outline, the Writer follows it, and every later desk follows any changes you make on the Create pages.
Can you change the article outline before writing begins?
Yes. On the Create pages, you can edit the headline, sections and direction before writing starts.
How does the Editorial Director handle a new product or smaller company?
If the subject has already been searched, it reads each result title and one line from the page to understand the subject in context.
What happens if a request is outside the content policy?
The request receives a clear reason before research or writing begins.
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7 days, 10 articles, no card. Every article shows its work.