Interview Transcript Editor

---
name: interview-transcript-editor
description: "Edits raw interview transcripts for publication across six modes — verbatim cleanup, print Q&A, broadcast-ready edit, composite edit from multiple interviews, fact-check pass, and pull-quote extraction — with full editorial ethics guidelines and style rules for handling filler, profanity, dialect, off-the-record content, and sensitive material."
status: stable
category: magazine-journalism
subcategory: writing
version: 2.0
eval_score: 4.5
tags: [journalism, writing, transcript, interview, editing, Q&A, broadcast, fact-check, quotes, ethics]
---
# Interview Transcript Editor

## What This Skill Does
Edits raw interview transcripts for publication — from minimal cleanup through full restructuring — across six distinct editing modes, each with its own standards for what to cut, what to keep, and how far to reshape the subject's words. Covers the full range of editorial work that happens between a recorded conversation and a published piece.

## When To Use This Skill
- You have a raw transcript and need it publication-ready in any format (print, web, broadcast, podcast)
- You need to tighten a 60-minute conversation into a 1,500-word Q&A without losing the subject's voice
- You are editing someone else's interview and need a consistent, defensible editorial standard
- You need to combine material from two or more interviews with the same subject into one coherent piece
- You want to extract the strongest quotes for sidebars, social media, or promotional copy
- You need a fact-check pass that flags every verifiable claim in the transcript before publication
- You are producing a broadcast segment and need the transcript reshaped for spoken delivery
- Your subject has approval rights and you need transparent editorial notes explaining every change

## What You Need To Provide

### For any editing mode
**Required:** The raw transcript (or the section you want edited); the editing mode (verbatim cleanup, print Q&A, broadcast-ready, composite, fact-check pass, or pull-quote extraction); the publication format and outlet type (magazine, newspaper, radio, podcast, web, social)
**Optional:** Target word count or airtime; the publication's house style; which sections are must-keep material; the subject's identity type (see Subject Type table below); whether the subject has approval rights; whether any portion was off-the-record; the interviewer's notes about tone, context, or intent behind specific questions

### For composite edits specifically
**Required:** All transcripts to be combined (minimum two); a note on which interview was conducted first (chronological context matters); whether the subject knew their answers from different sessions would be combined
**Optional:** Which topics overlap between interviews; any contradictions between sessions that need flagging

## Editing Modes

### Mode 1: Verbatim Cleanup
**Purpose:** Produce a readable transcript that stays as close to the original spoken words as possible. Used for legal proceedings, academic research, archival records, or when the subject's exact phrasing is the point.

**What it does:**
- Fixes transcription errors (misheard words, garbled passages, incorrect proper nouns)
- Adds punctuation and paragraph breaks for readability
- Marks inaudible passages as [inaudible] rather than guessing
- Preserves all filler words, false starts, repetition, and incomplete thoughts
- Adds speaker labels and timestamps if provided
- Notes any discrepancies between audio cues (described in brackets) and the transcription

**What it does not do:**
- Does not remove filler, repetition, or false starts
- Does not reorder anything
- Does not condense or paraphrase
- Does not correct the subject's grammar, factual errors, or word choices

**Output:** Full transcript with speaker labels, paragraph breaks, and [inaudible]/[unclear] markers. Footnotes for transcription corrections. No editorial judgment applied.

---

### Mode 2: Print Q&A
**Purpose:** Produce a publication-ready Q&A for a magazine, newspaper, or web feature. The standard interview format — the one readers see.

**What it does:**
1. Reads the full transcript to identify the three to five most substantive answers — the moments where the subject says something irreducible — and treats these as structural anchors
2. Removes filler words (um, uh, like, you know, I mean, sort of, kind of), verbal repetition, and false starts
3. Condenses long answers to their essential content without changing meaning
4. Resolves pronoun ambiguity and unclear references by inserting bracketed clarifications [like this] only when necessary
5. Tightens interviewer questions to their core — removes preamble, flattery, and multi-part tangles
6. Proposes a running order that puts the strongest exchange first (unless chronological order is specified)
7. Sequences subsequent exchanges so each adds a distinct dimension — no two consecutive answers covering the same ground

**What it does not do:**
- Does not change the subject's vocabulary, register, or characteristic expressions
- Does not add words the subject did not say (except bracketed clarifications)
- Does not "improve" answers — only removes and compresses
- Does not merge separate answers into one (that is composite editing, Mode 4)

**Output:** Edited transcript in Q&A format. Interviewer questions marked **Q:**. Subject answers marked **A:**. Editorial notes section at the end flags judgment calls, full cuts, and ambiguous passages. Target word count honored (plus or minus 10%).

---

### Mode 3: Broadcast-Ready Edit
**Purpose:** Reshape a transcript for spoken delivery — radio, podcast, or television voiceover. The edited version will be read aloud or used as the basis for an audio/video segment.

**What it does:**
1. Edits for the ear, not the eye — shorter sentences, simpler clause structure, no parenthetical asides longer than five words
2. Replaces written-language constructions with spoken ones (e.g., "the aforementioned" becomes "what we talked about earlier")
3. Marks natural pause points for the presenter or narrator
4. Flags any passage that requires the listener to hold more than two ideas in memory simultaneously — rewrites or splits it
5. Converts numbers to spoken form (e.g., "two and a half million" not "2,500,000")
6. Identifies the strongest 10-15 second sound bites and marks them as potential clip points
7. Notes where ambient sound, music, or a second voice could carry the narrative instead of words

**What it does not do:**
- Does not write new narration or links between segments (that is the presenter's job)
- Does not add dramatic framing the subject did not provide
- Does not change the subject's meaning to make it more "broadcastable"

**Output:** Edited transcript with broadcast markup: [CLIP] for recommended sound bites, [PAUSE] for breathing room, [BRIDGE] where a presenter link is needed, [AMBIENT] where sound could replace narration. Estimated read time noted. Editorial notes section at the end.

---

### Mode 4: Composite Edit
**Purpose:** Combine material from two or more interviews with the same subject into a single, coherent Q&A or narrative. Common in long-form journalism where a subject is interviewed multiple times over weeks or months.

**What it does:**
1. Maps the thematic territory of each interview — which topics each one covers, where they overlap, where they contradict
2. Identifies the strongest version of each answer when the subject addressed the same topic in multiple sessions
3. Builds a unified Q&A or narrative sequence, drawing the best material from each interview
4. Flags any contradictions between sessions (the subject said X in interview one but Y in interview three) and notes them for the editor rather than silently resolving them
5. Ensures the combined piece reads as a single coherent conversation, not a patchwork
6. Notes the source interview for each answer (e.g., "From interview 2, March 14") in editorial notes so the editor can trace every passage back to its source

**What it does not do:**
- Does not combine answers from different subjects (that is a reported piece, not an edited transcript)
- Does not silently resolve contradictions — always flags them
- Does not create the illusion that the subject said things in a single sitting that were actually said weeks apart, unless the editor explicitly requests this and the publication's ethics policy permits it

**Output:** Unified Q&A or narrative transcript with source annotations in editorial notes. Contradiction log if applicable. A note on whether the subject was informed that material from multiple sessions would be combined.

---

### Mode 5: Fact-Check Pass
**Purpose:** Review a transcript specifically to identify every verifiable claim — statistics, dates, proper nouns, historical references, scientific claims, financial figures — and flag them for verification before publication.

**What it does:**
1. Reads every answer and marks each verifiable claim with a [CHECK] tag
2. Categorizes claims by type: statistical, historical, biographical, scientific, financial, legal, geographic
3. Notes the specific assertion to verify (e.g., [CHECK: Subject claims the company was founded in 2018 — verify incorporation date])
4. Flags claims that sound precise but may be rounded, estimated, or anecdotal ("about 40%" vs. "exactly 40%")
5. Identifies claims where the subject is the only source — marks these as [SINGLE SOURCE] since they cannot be independently verified through public records
6. Flags potential defamation risks — any statement that attributes wrongdoing, incompetence, or illegal activity to a named or identifiable person or organization

**What it does not do:**
- Does not verify the claims itself (the journalist or fact-checker does that)
- Does not edit the transcript — leaves the text unchanged and adds tags
- Does not make legal judgments about defamation — only flags statements that a media lawyer should review

**Output:** Original transcript with inline [CHECK], [SINGLE SOURCE], and [DEFAMATION RISK] tags. A numbered fact-check list at the end with each claim, its category, and a suggested verification source. Total claim count and breakdown by category.

---

### Mode 6: Pull-Quote Extraction
**Purpose:** Select and edit the strongest quotes from a transcript for use in sidebars, social media, headlines, pull-quote boxes, or promotional material.

**What it does:**
1. Identifies the 5-10 strongest quotes based on: specificity (concrete detail beats generality), surprise (says something the reader would not expect), emotional weight, and brevity (under 40 words preferred, never over 60)
2. Edits each quote for standalone clarity — a reader encountering the quote without the full interview must understand it
3. Adds brief context lines (one sentence) explaining what prompted each quote
4. Rates each quote for different uses: print sidebar, social media post, headline/subhead, promotional copy
5. Flags any quote that requires the full interview context to avoid misrepresentation

**What it does not do:**
- Does not create quotes the subject did not say
- Does not combine fragments from different answers into one quote (that is fabrication)
- Does not select quotes that misrepresent the subject's position when read in isolation

**Output:** Numbered list of pull quotes, each with: the edited quote, a one-line context note, recommended uses (sidebar / social / headline / promo), and a flag if the quote risks misrepresentation out of context.

---

## Subject Type and Editing Latitude

How aggressively you can edit depends on who the subject is and what they are talking about. More power means less latitude.

| Subject Type | Editing Latitude | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Elected official or executive | **Low** — preserve exact phrasing, even when awkward | Their words are accountable. A cleaned-up quote can shield them from scrutiny they deserve. |
| Expert or academic | **Medium** — clean up delivery but preserve technical precision | Their expertise is the reason for the interview. Simplifying jargon is acceptable; changing their scientific claims is not. |
| Celebrity or public figure | **Medium** — clean up delivery, preserve personality | Voice and personality are the point. Over-editing makes them sound generic. |
| Ordinary person affected by events | **High** — clean up freely, preserve meaning and dignity | They did not choose public life. Rough delivery can make them sound less credible than they are. Clean editing serves them. |
| Whistleblower or confidential source | **Minimal** — preserve exact phrasing, add nothing | Legal exposure is real. Every word choice may matter in court. Consult a media lawyer before publishing. |
| Minor (under 18) | **High** — clean up freely, protect identity if needed | Extra care required. Remove any detail that could identify them if anonymity was promised. Parental consent issues may apply. |

---

## Editing Ethics and Standards

### The Core Rule
An edited transcript must be a shorter, clearer version of what the subject actually said. It must never become a version of what the editor wishes they had said.

### What You Can Do
- Remove filler words, false starts, and verbal repetition
- Condense a long, circling answer to its essential point
- Reorder exchanges for narrative flow (with disclosure if your publication requires it)
- Fix obvious mis-speakings where the intended meaning is clear and the subject would agree (e.g., they said "2019" but clearly meant "2020" based on context) — always note this in editorial notes
- Insert bracketed clarifications for pronoun ambiguity: "He [the defense attorney] said..."
- Tighten interviewer questions (the interviewer's words are not sacrosanct the way the subject's are)

### What You Cannot Do
- Add words the subject did not say, even if they "would have said it that way"
- Merge separate answers into one answer without disclosure (composite editing requires transparency)
- Change the subject's vocabulary to sound more articulate, more folksy, more dramatic, or more moderate
- Remove qualifiers that weaken a quote but change its meaning ("I think this might be a problem" cannot become "This is a problem")
- Rearrange clauses within a sentence to change emphasis without disclosure
- Present paraphrased material in quotation marks

### The Bracket Test
If you need to add a word to make a quote work, put it in brackets. If you need more than three bracketed words in a single quote, the quote does not work — paraphrase instead and attribute with "she said" or "he explained."

---

## Style Guide: Handling Common Transcript Problems

### Filler Words
**Rule:** Remove in all modes except Verbatim Cleanup.
**Includes:** um, uh, er, like (when not a comparison), you know, I mean, sort of, kind of, basically, literally (when not literal), right?, so (sentence-initial filler), actually (when adding nothing), honestly (when not contrasting with dishonesty)
**Exception:** Keep a filler word when it signals hesitation that is editorially meaningful — when the subject paused before a difficult admission, "um" tells the reader something. Note in editorial notes why you kept it.

### False Starts
**Rule:** Remove in all modes except Verbatim Cleanup.
**Example:** "The problem is — well, what I would say is — the real issue here is funding" becomes "The real issue here is funding."
**Exception:** Keep a false start when the abandoned thought reveals something the completed thought conceals. If someone starts to say "We knew about the contamination" and then corrects to "We learned about the situation later," both versions matter. Flag in editorial notes.

### Repetition
**Rule:** Keep the strongest version of a repeated point. Cut the others.
**How to choose:** The version with the most specific detail wins. If equal in specificity, the version with the most natural phrasing wins. If the subject repeated a point three times, they consider it central — make sure the surviving version is prominently placed.

### Off-the-Record Material
**Rule:** Remove entirely. Do not paraphrase. Do not hint at it. Do not leave a visible gap that implies something was removed.
**Process:** If the subject said "this is off the record" and the interviewer agreed, every word from that point until the subject or interviewer explicitly returned to on-the-record status is off the record. There is no partial off-the-record. The agreement governs.
**Dispute:** If there is ambiguity about whether off-the-record was properly invoked (e.g., the interviewer did not agree, or the subject said it after the fact), do not resolve this in editing. Flag it for the editor-in-chief or media lawyer. The edited transcript should note: [OFF-THE-RECORD PASSAGE REMOVED — DISPUTED, SEE EDITOR'S NOTE].

### Profanity
**Rule:** Follow the publication's house style. The three standard approaches:

| Approach | Example | Typical Use |
|---|---|---|
| Print in full | "That's bullshit and everyone knows it." | Long-form magazines, literary journalism, most digital publications |
| First letter and dash | "That's b------- and everyone knows it." | Legacy newspapers, broadcast transcripts |
| Remove or paraphrase | He dismissed the claim forcefully. | Family publications, corporate media, broadcast standards |

**If no house style is specified:** Print profanity in full. Censoring an adult's speech without editorial reason is a form of editing their voice. Note in editorial notes that profanity was preserved and flag it for the editor.

**Exception:** Slurs (racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, gender identity) follow different rules. Most publications do not print slurs in full even in direct quotes. Consult the publication's policy. When no policy exists, describe the slur rather than printing it: "He used a racial slur directed at [group]."

### Dialect, Accent, and Non-Standard Grammar
**Rule:** Do not attempt to render dialect, accent, or non-standard English phonetically. It reads as mockery on the page regardless of intent.

**Specifically:**
- Do not write "gonna," "wanna," "gotta" — use "going to," "want to," "got to" (everyone says these contractions; spelling them out for some speakers and not others is discriminatory)
- Do not drop g's ("runnin'," "talkin'") unless the subject specifically requested this representation of their speech
- Do not correct grammar that is characteristic of the subject's dialect (e.g., "We was" in African American Vernacular English is grammatical in that dialect — correcting it to "We were" erases the subject's voice)
- Do not exoticize speech patterns. If a non-native English speaker uses an unusual construction, clean it up to standard English unless the construction is the point of the quote

**The test:** Would you apply the same spelling and grammar conventions to a university professor? If not, you are applying a double standard.

### Incomplete Thoughts and Trailing Off
**Rule:** If the subject trailed off and the meaning is clear from context, complete the thought in brackets or end with an em dash.
- Clear meaning: "And after that we just—" [with context making it obvious they stopped going to the clinic] becomes "And after that we just stopped going."
- Unclear meaning: "And after that we just—" [no clear context] becomes "And after that we just—" (preserve the trailing off, note in editorial notes that the meaning was unclear)

### Crosstalk and Interruptions
**Rule:** In most editing modes, resolve crosstalk by giving each speaker their complete thought in sequence. Note in editorial notes where crosstalk occurred.
**Exception in Verbatim Cleanup:** Mark overlapping speech with [CROSSTALK] and preserve both speakers' fragments.

### Laughter, Sighs, and Non-Verbal Sounds
**Rule:** Include [laughs], [sighs], [long pause] only when the non-verbal moment changes the meaning of what follows. A laugh before a serious statement signals irony. A long pause before an answer signals difficulty. Routine social laughter adds nothing — cut it.

### Numbers and Data
**Rule:** In print, follow AP style (spell out one through nine, use numerals for 10 and above). In broadcast, spell out all numbers as they would be spoken ("fourteen hundred" not "1,400"). Exact figures stated by the subject should be preserved exactly — do not round "thirty-seven percent" to "about forty percent."

---

## Attribution Standards

### Direct Quotes (Quotation Marks)
Use only for words the subject actually spoke. Editing for clarity (removing filler, tightening) is acceptable inside quotation marks as long as the meaning is unchanged. Adding words — even common ones — is not acceptable inside quotation marks.

### Bracketed Insertions
Use [brackets] inside direct quotes to clarify references: "He [the mayor] told us." Three bracketed insertions is the maximum per quote. Beyond that, paraphrase.

### Paraphrase
Use when the subject's point is clear but their phrasing is too tangled, too long, or too repetitive to quote directly. Attribute with "she said" or "he explained" — never present paraphrased material in quotation marks.

### Partial Quotes
Use when one phrase from a longer statement is worth quoting directly, but the full statement does not hold together as a quote. Embed the quoted fragment in paraphrased context: She called the proposal "a waste of everyone's time" but said she would still attend the hearing.

### Ellipsis in Quotes
Use sparingly. An ellipsis inside a quote (...) signals that material has been removed. Never use an ellipsis to join two separate statements into one — that is fabrication. Use only to compress a single continuous statement.

---

## Output Format

### For Verbatim Cleanup
Full transcript with speaker labels, paragraph breaks, [inaudible] markers, and footnotes for transcription corrections. No word count target — length matches the original.

### For Print Q&A
Edited transcript in Q&A format with **Q:** and **A:** labels. Editorial notes section at the end. Target word count honored (plus or minus 10%). Ends with a "Next Step" note.

### For Broadcast-Ready Edit
Edited transcript with broadcast markup ([CLIP], [PAUSE], [BRIDGE], [AMBIENT]). Estimated read time. Sound bite recommendations with timecodes if available. Ends with a "Next Step" note.

### For Composite Edit
Unified Q&A or narrative transcript. Source annotations (which interview each passage came from) in editorial notes. Contradiction log if applicable. Ends with a "Next Step" note.

### For Fact-Check Pass
Original transcript with inline tags ([CHECK], [SINGLE SOURCE], [DEFAMATION RISK]). Numbered fact-check list at the end. Total claim count and breakdown by category.

### For Pull-Quote Extraction
Numbered list of 5-10 pull quotes, each with: the edited quote, context line, recommended uses, and misrepresentation flag if applicable.

---

## Quality Criteria
- [ ] Subject's vocabulary, register, and characteristic expressions are preserved throughout — no "upgrades" to their language
- [ ] Filler and false starts removed without altering the meaning of any answer
- [ ] No answer has been "improved" — words not spoken by the subject are not added (bracketed clarifications excepted)
- [ ] Running order puts the most substantive exchange first (unless chronological order was specified)
- [ ] Editorial notes are honest and specific about every judgment call — which passages were cut, which were condensed, which required interpretation
- [ ] Output meets the requested word count (plus or minus 10%)
- [ ] Dialect and non-standard grammar handled without condescension — the same conventions applied to every speaker regardless of background
- [ ] Off-the-record material fully removed with no paraphrase, no hint, no visible gap
- [ ] Profanity handled according to stated house style or preserved in full with a flag for the editor
- [ ] Fact-check pass tags every verifiable claim, not just the ones that sound suspicious
- [ ] Composite edits include source annotations tracing every passage to its original interview
- [ ] Contradictions between interviews flagged, never silently resolved
- [ ] Pull quotes work as standalone statements — a reader with no other context will not be misled
- [ ] Subject type correctly identified and editing latitude calibrated accordingly
- [ ] Output includes at least one concrete next action (send for subject approval, review flagged editorial notes, run fact-check, consult media lawyer for sensitive material)
- [ ] The edited transcript, read alongside the original, would survive scrutiny from a hostile source who claims they were misquoted

---

## Example 1: Print Q&A

### Input
**Raw transcript excerpt (1,050 words, target 480 words):**
**Mode:** Print Q&A
**Subject type:** Expert (materials scientist)
**Subject:** A materials scientist who developed a biodegradable packaging alternative to single-use plastic

---

**Q:** Can you describe what your material actually is? Like, how would you explain it to someone who doesn't have a science background?

**A:** Yeah, so, um, the — it's basically, at its core, it's a composite material. We're combining — we take plant-based fibers, so these are agricultural waste streams, things that would otherwise be composted or just discarded — and we're combining them with a biopolymer matrix. And the biopolymer we use is derived from, it's a bacterial fermentation process. So you grow specific bacteria, they produce this polymer as a byproduct, and you harvest that. And then when you combine those two things together in the right proportions, and there's a lot of work that went into figuring out what "the right proportions" are, you get a material that has — that has comparable mechanical properties to the plastics we're trying to replace, but that will fully degrade in a soil environment within, we're measuring 18 to 24 months, which compared to, you know, standard petroleum-based plastics, that's — that's a dramatic improvement.

**Q:** What's the thing that took the longest to figure out?

**A:** Oh, that's — the mechanical properties question was hard. Because there's this fundamental tension that we kept running into — the more degradable you make something, generally speaking, the less structurally stable it is under the conditions it needs to perform under. So if you're packaging food, you need moisture resistance, you need to handle some compressive load, you can't have it just softening in a humid environment. And making the material more moisture-resistant tends to mean making it less biodegradable. So it's — you're constantly pulling in opposite directions. We spent — I'd say two, two and a half years just on that one question, on the moisture barrier problem. And the solution we landed on was actually — it came from an unexpected place, it came from looking at how certain seed coatings in plants work, because they have this same challenge, right, they need to protect the seed until germination and then fully break down, and nature has a pretty elegant solution to that. So we borrowed from that.

**Q:** Are you at a stage where this is commercially viable?

**A:** We think so, yes. We've been — we've been working with three packaging manufacturers over the last year on pilot programs. And the early results are — they're encouraging. The cost per unit is still higher than conventional plastic, I'm not going to pretend otherwise, it's about 30 to 40% higher right now at current production volumes. But what we're seeing — and this is the part that matters for the commercial question — is that the cost differential narrows significantly at scale. So when we model this at the production volumes these manufacturers would need to fully transition, the gap closes to somewhere between 8 and 15%. Which is in a range that several brands we've talked to have said they can absorb, particularly given the regulatory environment around single-use plastics in a number of markets.

### Output

**Edited Transcript**

**Q:** How would you describe your material to someone without a science background?

**A:** At its core, it's a composite material. We take plant-based fibers — agricultural waste streams that would otherwise be discarded — and combine them with a biopolymer derived from a bacterial fermentation process. When you combine those two things in the right proportions, you get a material with mechanical properties comparable to the plastics we're trying to replace, but one that fully degrades in a soil environment within 18 to 24 months. Compared to standard petroleum-based plastics, that's a dramatic improvement.

**Q:** What took the longest to solve?

**A:** The mechanical properties question. There's a fundamental tension: the more degradable you make something, generally, the less structurally stable it is under the conditions it needs to perform in. If you're packaging food, you need moisture resistance — and making a material more moisture-resistant tends to make it less biodegradable. You're constantly pulling in opposite directions. We spent two and a half years on the moisture barrier problem alone. The solution came from an unexpected place — we looked at how certain seed coatings in plants work. They have the same challenge: protect the seed until germination, then fully break down. Nature has a pretty elegant solution to that. We borrowed from it.

**Q:** Is this commercially viable?

**A:** We think so. We've been working with three packaging manufacturers over the last year on pilot programs. The cost per unit is still higher than conventional plastic — about 30 to 40% higher at current production volumes, I'm not going to pretend otherwise. But the cost differential narrows significantly at scale. When we model this at the volumes these manufacturers would need to fully transition, the gap closes to 8 to 15%. Several brands we've talked to have said they can absorb that range, particularly given the regulatory environment around single-use plastics in a number of markets.

---

**Editorial Notes**

- *Answer 1:* Removed filler ("Yeah, so, um"), false starts ("We're combining —"), and a parenthetical aside ("there's a lot of work that went into figuring out what 'the right proportions' are") that added length without new information.
- *Answer 2:* Condensed opening false start ("Oh, that's —"). Removed verbal repetition. "Two, two and a half years" consolidated to "two and a half years" — chose the higher figure since the subject self-corrected upward. This is a judgment call the editor should review.
- *Answer 3:* Removed stutter ("We've been — we've been"). Removed meta-commentary ("and this is the part that matters for the commercial question") — the reader can judge what matters.
- *No material was cut in full.* All three answers address distinct topics and are retained.
- *Subject type:* Expert — medium editing latitude applied. Technical vocabulary preserved; delivery cleaned.

**Next Step:** If the subject has approval rights, send the edited version with these editorial notes attached. Review the judgment call in Answer 2 ("two and a half years" vs. "two, two and a half years") — consider whether the hedged version is more honest. Run fact-check-prompt on the 30-40% and 8-15% cost claims and the 18-24 month degradation figure before publication.

---

## Example 2: Broadcast-Ready Edit

### Input
**Raw transcript excerpt (620 words, target: 90-second radio segment):**
**Mode:** Broadcast-Ready Edit
**Subject type:** Ordinary person affected by events
**Subject:** A retired teacher describing how a factory closure affected her town

---

**Q:** What happened when the plant closed?

**A:** Well it's — you have to understand, that plant was, it was the town, basically. I mean when I say the town I mean — my husband worked there, my brother-in-law worked there, the woman who did my hair worked there on second shift. The grocery store, the — you know, the two restaurants we had, the hardware store, they all existed because of that plant. So when they announced — and they didn't give us much warning, it was maybe six weeks — when they announced the closure, it wasn't just, oh, twelve hundred people lost their jobs. It was — the whole town lost its reason for being there. And I know that sounds dramatic but I'm a retired teacher, I taught there for thirty-one years, I watched generations of kids grow up planning to work at that plant the way their parents did. And then one day that's just — that's just gone.

**Q:** What does the town look like now?

**A:** It's — I don't like talking about it because people want you to say it's a ghost town and it's not, exactly, people still live there, I still live there. But the grocery store closed about eight months after the plant. One of the restaurants held on for maybe a year. The school consolidated with the district over in Millfield because we lost so many families. So I taught in that building for thirty-one years, and now kids from our town ride a bus forty-five minutes each way. And that — that's what gets me, actually. Because the plant, that's economics, I understand that. But the school — losing the school felt like losing the future.

### Output

**Broadcast-Ready Edit (estimated read time: 1 minute 25 seconds)**

**Q:** What happened when the plant closed?

**A:** That plant was the town. My husband worked there. My brother-in-law worked there. The woman who did my hair worked there on second shift. [PAUSE] The grocery store, the two restaurants, the hardware store — they all existed because of that plant. They gave us maybe six weeks' warning. [PAUSE] It wasn't just twelve hundred people losing their jobs. The whole town lost its reason for being there. [CLIP — "The whole town lost its reason for being there."] I taught there for thirty-one years. I watched generations of kids grow up planning to work at that plant the way their parents did. And then one day that's just gone.

[BRIDGE — presenter link needed here to transition from closure to aftermath]

**Q:** What does the town look like now?

**A:** People want you to say it's a ghost town. It's not, exactly. People still live there. I still live there. [PAUSE] But the grocery store closed about eight months after the plant. One restaurant held on for maybe a year. The school consolidated with the next district over because we lost so many families. [PAUSE] I taught in that building for thirty-one years, and now kids from our town ride a bus forty-five minutes each way. [CLIP — "I taught in that building for thirty-one years, and now kids from our town ride a bus forty-five minutes each way."] The plant — that's economics. I understand that. But losing the school felt like losing the future. [CLIP — "Losing the school felt like losing the future."]

[AMBIENT — if available, ambient sound of empty main street or school bus could underscore this section]

---

**Editorial Notes**

- *Subject type:* Ordinary person — high editing latitude. Cleaned delivery aggressively to let the content land.
- *Answer 1:* Removed false starts ("Well it's — you have to understand, that plant was, it was the town"), meta-commentary ("I know that sounds dramatic but I'm a retired teacher"), and repetition. Restructured for spoken delivery — short declarative sentences, natural pauses.
- *Answer 2:* Removed hedging opener ("I don't like talking about it because"). "The district over in Millfield" simplified to "the next district over" — proper noun removed because it adds nothing for a radio audience unfamiliar with the area. "That's what gets me, actually" removed — the content speaks for itself.
- *Three clips marked.* The strongest is the school/bus quote — specific, visual, emotional, under 10 seconds.
- *Estimated duration:* 1:25 at broadcast reading pace (approximately 150 words per minute).

**Next Step:** Record a scratch read at broadcast pace to verify timing. Select one of the three marked clips for the segment teaser. If using ambient sound, verify the town has not been identified in a way that compromises the subject's request for partial anonymity (if applicable). Review with producer before final cut.

---

## Example 3: Composite Edit

### Input
**Two interviews with the same subject — a hospital administrator discussing staffing shortages:**

**Interview 1 (conducted January 15):**

**Q:** How bad is the staffing situation right now?

**A:** We are — I'll be honest with you — we are running at about 78% of what we need in nursing staff. That's across all departments. Some departments are worse. The ICU is at maybe 65%. Emergency is, I think, around 70%. And these are not numbers I'm comfortable sharing publicly but you asked me directly, so. We're short. We've been short for eighteen months. It's not getting better on its own.

**Interview 2 (conducted March 8, same subject, follow-up):**

**Q:** Last time we spoke you mentioned staffing numbers. Has anything changed?

**A:** Yeah, so, we're — we've made some progress. We hired about forty nurses in the last quarter, which sounds like a lot but against a deficit of, I want to say it was a hundred and ten at the time we last spoke, it's — it's a start. The ICU is better, we're up to maybe 72% there. But I'll tell you what changed is not so much the numbers, it's the morale. When people are working short every single shift, they burn out, and then they leave, and then you're shorter, and it's this — it's a cycle. Breaking that cycle is harder than filling the positions.

**Q:** You said last time you weren't comfortable sharing those numbers publicly. Has your position on that changed?

**A:** [long pause] I've thought about it. I think the public has a right to know. If you're bringing your kid to the emergency room at 2 a.m. and the nurse taking care of them is also covering three other patients because we don't have enough staff — you deserve to know that's happening. So yes. You can use the numbers.

### Output

**Composite Q&A — Hospital Staffing**

**Q:** How bad is the staffing shortage?

**A:** We're running at about 78% of what we need in nursing staff across all departments. Some are worse. The ICU was at about 65%; the emergency department around 70%. We've been short for eighteen months. It's not getting better on its own.

**Q:** Has the situation changed in recent months?

**A:** We hired about forty nurses last quarter, but against a deficit of a hundred and ten, it's a start. The ICU is up to about 72%. But what changed is not so much the numbers — it's the morale. When people are working short every single shift, they burn out, they leave, and then you're shorter. It's a cycle. Breaking that cycle is harder than filling the positions.

**Q:** Why share these numbers publicly?

**A:** [long pause] If you're bringing your kid to the emergency room at 2 a.m. and the nurse taking care of them is also covering three other patients because we don't have enough staff — you deserve to know that's happening.

---

**Editorial Notes**

- *Source mapping:*
  - Answer 1: From Interview 1 (January 15). Filler and hedging removed. "I'll be honest with you" removed — unnecessary frame. "These are not numbers I'm comfortable sharing publicly" removed because the subject later gave explicit permission to publish (see Answer 3).
  - Answer 2: From Interview 2 (March 8). Filler removed. "I want to say it was" condensed — the subject was recalling a figure from memory, not hedging on accuracy.
  - Answer 3: From Interview 2 (March 8). Preserved nearly verbatim. [long pause] retained because it is editorially significant — the subject weighed this decision in real time. The final sentence ("So yes. You can use the numbers.") removed because it is a meta-statement about the interview itself, not content for the reader.
- *Contradiction flag:* The subject said in Interview 1 that they were "not comfortable sharing publicly" but reversed this in Interview 2. The reversal is genuine and documented — the subject had time to reconsider. No deception by the editor. However, the editor should note this change of position in any accompanying article text to give the reader full context.
- *Questions rewritten:* The composite questions are new constructions that introduce each topic naturally. They do not pretend to be verbatim interviewer questions from either session.
- *Subject type:* Executive (hospital administrator) — low editing latitude on specific claims. Numbers preserved exactly as stated. "About" and "maybe" qualifiers preserved where the subject used them.

**Next Step:** Verify all staffing percentages with the hospital's HR department or public filings before publication — the subject was speaking from memory in both interviews. Confirm with the subject that they consent to combining material from both sessions. If the publication's ethics policy requires disclosure of composite editing, add an editor's note: "This interview is drawn from two conversations conducted in January and March."

---

## Known Limitations

- **This skill edits — it does not fact-check.** Claims made by the subject (statistics, dates, proper nouns, historical references) are preserved as spoken. The journalist and fact-checker must verify every claim independently before publication. Mode 5 (Fact-Check Pass) flags claims but does not verify them.
- **Legal review is the journalist's responsibility.** For subjects with legal exposure (whistleblowers, anonymous sources, people discussing ongoing litigation), editorial choices about what to remove or keep can have legal consequences. This skill produces a working draft. Review with a media lawyer before publication when the subject is legally vulnerable.
- **Approval rights change the workflow.** If the subject has transcript approval rights (contractual or by agreement), the edited version is a draft, not a final product. Send all editorial notes to the subject with the edited transcript so they can understand and respond to every change. Approval rights do not give the subject the power to add new material — only to dispute edits.
- **Composite editing requires informed consent.** Combining material from multiple interviews without the subject's knowledge raises serious ethical questions. Most publication ethics policies require that the subject be informed. This skill flags the issue but cannot resolve it — the editor and the publication's standards editor must decide.
- **Audio quality determines the ceiling.** If the original transcript is full of [inaudible] passages, garbled text, or transcription errors, the edit can only be as accurate as the source material. Verbatim Cleanup mode addresses transcription errors when the audio is available; all other modes work from the text as provided.
- **The skill cannot hear tone of voice.** Irony, sarcasm, anger, grief, humor — these are carried by vocal delivery, not text. An answer that reads as straightforward on the page may have been delivered sarcastically. The journalist who conducted the interview must review the edit for tonal accuracy. If you are editing someone else's interview, ask the interviewer about tone in any passage that could be read multiple ways.
- **Cultural and linguistic context has limits.** The style guide covers standard patterns for filler, dialect, and non-standard grammar in English. Interviews conducted through interpreters, interviews with non-native speakers, and interviews in multilingual settings require additional editorial judgment that this skill cannot fully provide. Consult a native speaker or cultural editor when uncertain.
- **Broadcast timing is approximate.** Estimated read times assume a standard broadcast pace of 150 words per minute. Actual delivery varies by presenter, and subjects who speak slowly or with long pauses will produce segments that run longer than estimated. Always record a scratch read before cutting to time.
- **Pull quotes out of context carry risk.** Mode 6 extracts quotes designed to stand alone, but any quote removed from its full context can be misread. The misrepresentation flags are a starting point — the editor must make the final judgment about whether a standalone quote fairly represents the subject's position.

## Related Skills
- [reportage-structure](../reportage-structure/SKILL.md)
- [copy-editor-assistant](../../editing/copy-editor-assistant/SKILL.md)
- [fact-check-prompt](../../editing/fact-check-prompt/SKILL.md)
- [interview-question-generator](../../../tv-documentary/scripting/interview-question-generator/SKILL.md)
- [transcript-cleanup](../../../podcast/post-production/transcript-cleanup/SKILL.md)