: Re: How can I distance myself from an article published under my name, with edits I disagree with? I wrote an article for a university newspaper that summarizes incidents involving racism on campus.

@Eichhorn147

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I've faced this situation myself. For every edit EXCEPT the added paragraph that tells the reader what to think, that's something that can and does happen, and you should accept it. An editor's job isn't to add content most of the time, it's to make sure the writing is correct and has clarity.

I once did an article on a particular art collection, and my editor sent it to the art collectors themselves, to ensure accuracy. It was accurate, but they didn't like the focus I put on the collector that I had interviewed--they completely re-wrote it, and sent it back to my editor. That's what he ran. I didn't get emotional or anything, I just asked that my name be taken off because basically, it wasn't my work any more. I still got paid, because I had put in the work, but I did make it clear that it wasn't a standard of editing I would ever put my name on. Not a bad piece, really, but it wasn't mine anymore.

Editors are used to whiny, delicate flower writers who balk at any suggestion that their writing could be improved. Mostly, I accept edits, even when they are broader than I'd like. I still have a good relationship with this publication and this editor because I don't generally get my knickers in a twist about editing unless the edit adds inaccuracies (which can sometimes happen, grammatically and factually). But once a work is nearly unrecognizable as my own or the driving premise of it has been changed by the editor, that's where I draw the line.

So--my advice to you is this--don't nitpick about all the edits. Mention generally that your voice in the article was changed, but that the concluding paragraph, which you did not write at all, changes the intent of the article drastically enough that you would like your name removed. That you intended for the reader to draw their own conclusions rather than telling them what to think.

Offer to give them an online replacement for it that's a compromise. Be brief, above all, and leave them your phone number of they should like to speak with you about it.

There is more you can bring to bear if they don't respond the way you had hoped, but it might open a conversation.

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