There are things they simply do not teach you in J (journalism) school. Nor is there enough training in the world to prepare you for the weird conversations you can find yourself in as a newspaper editor.
Take, for example, this recent email exchange between myself and copy editor/designer Andrea Higgins. The subject of her email: “sorta icky picture coming to Sunday’s outdoors page.”
Andrea: (Out and About columnist Rick) Koval’s column is about propagating fish in a hatchery. The attached photo shows eggs being removed from a female walleye. Looks pretty gross. Just wanted to tell you because it might result in phone calls.
Me: Fish porn? You are just killing me here.
Andrea: There’s another photo of sperm being ejected from a male walleye.
Like that somehow would be better?
In an email conversation in February, Andrea sent me a translucent outline of the female form to illustrate a story about women’s health and heart disease. She wanted to know if the “boobage” featured in the illustration was OK by me since the illustration was, well, anatomically correct to a fare-thee-well.
I OK’d the use of the illustration.
But let me repeat: There are things they simply do not teach you in journalism school.
And, oh, by the way: Never got phone calls either about the female form or Sunday’s fish photo, which is below.
With the aid of a fish culturist, as many as 180,000 tiny eggs might be released from a single female walleye. The spray of eggs is captured inside a basin.