Copy Editors as Creators of Real Value? Why, You're Making Me Blush.
The Washington Post had a good piece a few days ago about an increasing number of typos in their paper -- a trend that corresponds with a decrease in the number of copy editors there.
The article cites a decade-old study that emphasizes how messy copy can hurt a newspaper's bottom line (that means money, to all you publisher types). The idea is that "each misspelled word, bad apostrophe, garbled grammatical construction, weird cutline and mislabeled map erodes public confidence in a newspaper's ability to get anything right."
In times of extreme austerity, I tend to think of quality control as a luxury. I figure it's better to have good reporting with a few typos than to have pristinely edited fluff -- or worse. So it never occurred to me that copy editing is so integral to a news agency's money-making ability.
Maybe if this idea catches on I could someday be emboldened to ask for help paying for health insurance.
Nah.
About June
June Casagrande was born in March and lives in a small house. She wrote a grammar/humor book called "Mortal Syntax" and, before that, one called "Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies." She sincerely hopes you buy a million copies of each.
Connections
Causes June Casagrande Supports
Planned Parenthood, ClimateCrisis.net, the Richard Dawkins Foundation, Pet Orphans of Southern California, KIVA
Oh, June, I'm a firm
Oh, June, I'm a firm believer in pristine copy. It pains me to see so many errors in what should be trusted media. I've often lamented the reduction of copy editors during this economic mire.
copy
I also appreciate good copyediting. A friend once said trying to read a piece with lots of typos and errors was a bit like trying to watch a play or movie while people are talking loudly in the theater.
So true
Plus, on top of that, a lot of people don't realize that copy editors also ensure logic and flow. For example, I came across a sentence today that said something like: "Since the competition carries big prize money, entries, locations and rules and restrictions apply." It was my job to say: "What? Entries apply?" and then bounce it right back to the writer.
Working in marketing, where
Working in marketing, where I frequently have to proofread documents that are going to be reproduced by the millions, my eye is just trained to notice misspellings and obvious grammar mistakes. I'm nowhere up to your standard, June, but I do notice, and I do, at some level, assume that if the copy is carelessly put together, probably the underlying research and reporting are, too.
When I taught marketing at the uni, I always told my students that, although I do not grade grammar and spelling and such, I do notice, and it does affect my overall impression of quality and worth. And, as marketers, they need to have a reasonably keen eye for typos, so I was not giving them a pass.
Exactly
" ... it does affect my overall impression of quality and worth."
Even when spelling and grammar don't count, they still count! No one's perfect, but it's worth a little extra effort to polish a document -- any document.
Plus it shows respect for
Plus it shows respect for the reader. That's important.
Grading term papers, I truly appreciated the students who gave me well-written work in a form that didn't have me wanting to poke out my own eyes after a day's reading. Personally, I want the print media to uphold a high standard, in part to slam the brakes on the dumbing down of America.
Hear, hear, Ellen!
Hear, hear, Ellen!
Yes
And my good excuse to write less frequently to June, so I don't give her the opportunity to laugh at my grammer and typos. I think the way I order sentences is by Chinese rules and then I have to translate them into correct English.
Just put Ellen's book on my wish list.