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Get more of Bill Walsh in his books. Yes, I Could Care Less: How to Be a Language Snob Without Being a Jerk — $14.99. The Elephants of Style : A Trunkload of Tips on the Big Issues and Gray Areas of Contemporary American English — $16.95. Lapsing Into a Comma : A Curmudgeon’s Guide to the Many Things That Can Go Wrong in Print — $16.95.

THE COPY EDITOR CAN SAVE THE DAY Bill Walsh, a copy editor for The Washington Post, knows that his position requires paying attention to details. But it also means having a sense of humor and having sensitivity to each situation.

He says copy editors are what most people would call proofreaders, but they are much more. They read written material to make sure it makes sense to someone other than the writer. They correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization and word choice. They eliminate wordiness and repetition and sometimes trim writing. They fact-check. They guard against offenses as serious as libel and as frivolous as a snicker-worthy double meaning or typographically unattractive spacing. They try to steer clear of clichés and overly vogue usages (or overly dated ones). They keep the audience in mind. They write titles, headlines, photo captions. Sometimes the job also includes design, laying out a page for print or electronic display. 

IT’S NOT A JOB FOR THE FAINT OF HEART SUMMER 2014

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The job of copy editors is to make content sexy to readers: write headlines, fact-check and edit, improve stories, design, proofread and post online. Our role is as ever changing as the industry itself, and flexibility is key nowadays. | BRYAN BASTIBLE, COPY EDITOR/PAGE DESIGNER AT THE BEAUMONT (TEXAS) ENTERPRISE

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ANNE GLOVER is the digital content manager for tampabay.com.

PAM NELSON is a copy editor for the magazines and newsletters team at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

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What value do copy editors bring to any media outlet?

NELSON: Copy editors enhance credibility. Readers are suspicious, as well they should be, when they find errors in copy. Copy editors can prevent grammatical, spelling and word usage errors, but they can also head off problems in logic and help writers see the questions they have left unanswered. A skeptical copy editor can raise the one crucial question — is this true? — before a piece is published. Through fact-checking, a common duty for copy editors on publications, a diligent and alert copy editor can verify that the facts asserted in the article are accurate.

GLOVER: They are the ultimate in credibility and quality control. With things moving so fast these days because of digital urgency, it is extremely helpful to have people whose job is to make sure a story, a graphic or a photo caption is as accurate as it can be.

Newspapers are cutting back on copy editors as part of continued cutbacks in the industry. What ramifications will this have for the individual media outlets and the industry?

NELSON: My former employer, the News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C., created a publication hub in 2011.

The newspaper moved the copy editing and design jobs to Charlotte, N.C., where the hub would be housed at another McClatchy Co. newspaper, the Charlotte Observer, and would produce three daily newspapers and more than a dozen weeklies. The decision meant many copy editors and designers with local knowledge in Raleigh were laid off and decided not to disrupt their lives and move 180 miles away. The change seems to have led to errors in production and in copy editing that could have been prevented. In fact, a Tumblr blog has sprung to document the errors. Errors happened before the move, of course, but the move put a spotlight on any errors that showed up. It undermined the N&O’s image as a well-edited newspaper, whether that was a fair assessment or not.

To be clear, the real problem with the hub is that copy editors no longer have time to do the work. I do not fault the professional and hardworking people at the hub for making mistakes (I’ve made plenty in my career!).

I get that they are in a production-oriented role that needs to be assessed occasionally. That said, there’s some-

thing about the creative endeavor that should be valued as well. I fear that in the desire to be efficient, we will start settling over and over again for “good enough,” that institutional memory will be lost, that a little of the shine that comes from clever presentation and great shortwriting will be dulled by haste.

How has the role of the copy editor changed recently?

NELSON: If we are speaking about newspaper copy editing, then the role has changed. One aspect is that copy editors must be more aware of search engine optimization. They need to be sure that the headlines they write and the copy they edit have the right keywords to be found. For the last few years that I worked in newspapers, the copy-editing and page-design functions were separated, but with the layoffs and cutbacks, it is more common that copy editors are doing more than editing and writing display type. They are designing print pages.

They are enhancing copy for search-engine optimization.

They are posting online. They are performing quality assurance on the fly.

GLOVER: Many copy editors are being asked to perform duties for a newspaper’s website. Some embrace it and see it as opportunity. Others resent it and make it quite known — not always a good strategy in a newsroom where multitasking is expected. Copy editors are expected to read the paper and understand the website.

Again, some adapt, others stick their head in the sand.

How do you expect it to change in upcoming years?

GLOVER: I expect copy editors to be more involved in digital duties. They will be asked to assist with social media (ours already do); assist with video efforts (writing a script, doing a voiceover, etc.), learn how to edit Web pages (ours already do.)

What is fun about the job?

NELSON: When I was newspaper copy editor, I enjoyed writing headlines. During the last 10 years of my newspaper career, I worked on the features sections, where I could write headlines that matched the photo or illustration or that sometimes prompted the illustration. The main idea was to attract the reader’s eye, and we did not worry about search engines. I could write headlines with continued on page 39

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I wish I could call these my own words, but they were passed down to me: A copy editor’s job is to make every story/edit the best-told story it can be for the reader. | NATALIE NICOLE WEBSTER, NEWSPAPER PRODUCER AT E.W. SCRIPPS CO.

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plays on words. That was great fun. Headlines for online copy generally avoid plays on words and have to stand on their own so a headline writer has a different task.

In my current job as a copy editor for publications aimed at certified public accountants, I like days when I am busy. I miss the pace of daily newspapers so when the copy and proofs are coming at a quick pace, I am happy.

GLOVER: Writing headlines. Catching a big mistake from going anywhere. Reading for a living!

Find PAM NELSON’s blog, including various quizzes, online at grammarguide. copydesk.org/

What is the hardest part about the job?

NELSON: For me, one of the hardest parts nowadays is fighting some of my old training. I have to stop myself from editing under so-called zombie rules. For example, in my early training at the News & Observer, we were taught not to use “since” to mean “because.” Now, I know that usage rule does not hold water, but I still feel a twinge when I see an instance that I would have automatically changed.

By the way, I still do change some instances when I think “since” would lead a reader down the wrong path.

GLOVER: The constant pressure of doing more with less even though they promised you would get to do less with less. Sigh.

What is the best training to be a good copy editor? Why? NELSON: When I started working at the News & Observer in 1987, we had a well-staffed copy desk. New copy editors’ work was printed out (we had a marvelous computer program that did this automatically), and supervisors went over the copy, marking style, usage and other problems that we newbies had missed. It was sometimes disheartening to be faced with my own shortcomings, but it was good training (even if some of the zombie rules were enforced). I cannot imagine any newspaper copy desk would have time to do that today.

Copy editors should take writing courses. Learning to write well is still the best training for editing. A good teacher who gives rigorous and regular feedback is worth his or her weight in gold. Prospective copy editors should take courses in a wide variety of disciplines. A

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good course in prescriptive grammar would not be bad — not that copy editors should follow all the rules, but they should know them. They also should be trained or train themselves in the latest technology for editing and publishing. Learn how to use Microsoft Word and the Track Changes function.

Online courses exist for copy editing. I have heard good things about the copy editing certificate from the University of California, San Diego Extension.

The American Copy Editors Society and the Poynter Institute’s News University offer a certificate in editing.

I have completed that. The most valuable section for me was a course titled “Getting It Right: Accuracy and Verification in the Digital Age.” If I were teaching a copy editing or journalism course now, I would work hard on developing my students’ lie-detection ability. The epidemic of hoaxes and pranks online could be ameliorated if people would simply apply their common sense. I would have students develop that healthy skepticism: If your mother says she loves you, check it out.

GLOVER: There is no substitute for having the basics right so you can tackle the harder stuff. Style and grammar are only the tip of the iceberg. So get those down.

Work on a publication practicing those skills. It can be a newspaper or a website, but you need experience under pressure.

To keep up with a rapidly changing industry, you have to see what the best minds are talking about. Create a Twitter list or a Facebook group list that gives you a sense of what others are doing in the media industry, not simply newspapers.

“The best copy editors are voracious (and promiscuous) lifelong learners,” said writer Mark Nichol, former editing instructor at the University of California, Berkeley.

How helpful or accurate is Nichol’s statement?

NELSON: I recently wrote a blog post that offered advice to aspiring copy editors. One of the things I recommended was reading widely and deeply. Depending on what field they are in, copy editors need to know history, science, pop culture, politics, medicine, geography and much more. I have learned a great deal from reading the copy I have edited. continued on page 41

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The copy editor’s role should always be to guard against error. Nowadays, however, copy editors may have additional responsibilities, such as Web management and social media interaction. | RACHEL STELLA, REPORTER AT LaSALLE (ILL.) NEWS TRIBUNE

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GLOVER: Yes. And to survive they will have to be. They will have to leave the comfort zone of print and learn how to be good at social media, how to storyboard a video, how to research a graphic, how to understand HTML enough to fix something that’s wrong ... the list is endless. I am still learning, and I am in senior management. Today I learned how to create a parade route in a Google map, and I was thrilled to learn it because it will come in handy one of these days.

A CERTIFICATE IN EDITING from Poynter News University and the American Copy Editors Society shows that you have a solid foundation in the editing practices and standards from the industry leaders in the craft. www.newsu. org/courses/ACESediting-certificate

Given today’s media environment, what would you recommend for a student looking for a career as a copy editor?

NELSON: Many copy editors will end up as freelancers and contract workers. It might be best to learn all you can about marketing yourself.

Developing a specialty could be the most effective way to make yourself employable. Medical and scientific writers and publications need copy editors. So do business writers and publishers. Also, being fluent in more than one language is valuable.

Perhaps one route to success is to learn a way to apply your copy editing skills in other endeavors. For example, say you get a degree in finance or accounting and start working for a bank or another financial institution. You could become the office expert on writing and grammar and usage by volunteering to help others in drafting memos or other pieces. You could be a de facto copy editor, making your job all that more secure. But that experience (keep before and after copies of everything you edit) could lead to another job.

GLOVER: Be proficient on multiple platforms: newspaper, social media, video and Web. Start getting comfortable now with requests to do a variety of tasks. Be ready to say yes if someone offers you an opportunity in the form of a task you have never done before. n

INSPIRATION FOR STRONG LEDES

By Howard Spanogle

Strong ledes are magnets for readers. And copy editors often spend time working with reporters on the lede to make sure it is precise, informative and attention-grabbing.

PILLS FOR PERFECTION Thirty minutes until the test. Pop a couple pills; 30 milligrams should be enough for tunnel vision needed to make it through the four-hour SAT. A mere 200 points is all that stands between boom or bust, average or excellence, McDonald’s or Harvard. And those 200 points are possible in a pill. It’d just be a one-time thing with a monumentally positive outcome. Definitely worth it, just this once. Test time.

Abby Godard and Kate Magill, Arlingtonian, Upper Arlington (Ohio) High School

GETTING ALONG WITH YOUR ROOMMATE Beyond the processes of choosing a school and purchasing textbooks lies an entirely different obstacle for college success: learning to get along with a roommate.

Reporting team, Irish Eye, Dublin (Ohio) Scioto High School

A DAY IN THE LIFE Senior Connor Crowley is a man on a mission: engineering school or bust.

But there will be no bust. He is applying to 13 schools.

Amanda Brooks-Kelly, The Optimist, Bloomington (Ind.) High School South

BEST BUDDIES Seated on matching red chairs, two boys, both in glasses, both seniors, both with smiles plastered across their faces, are both members of Best Buddies. One with intellectual disabilities, one without. James Willging and Abdenour “Wawe” Rouabbi are best friends.

Alex Perez, The Little Hawk, City High School, Iowa City, Iowa

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As a copy editor, I sum up my job like this: Everything’s my fault. In short, copy editors try to make bad writing good and to make good writing better. | BILL WALSH, COPY EDITOR, THE WASHINGTON POST

THE SEVEN DEADLY COPY-EDITING SINS

BY ANNE GLOVER

This information originated as a handout for a Poynter Institute seminar for journalism educators in June 1995. Find a version of it online at www.poynter.org/ uncategorized/2085/ the-seven-deadlycopy-editing-sins/ SUMMER 2014

To be the perfect copy editor, take note of the following “deadly sins.”

• Arrogance: This misstep also can be described as selfishness: Your layout, your efforts to be clever in your headline at the expense of clarity, the choices you make about using space in your section say to the reader, “I don’t care about you. This was more convenient for me.” I see many variations on this: grouped captions that make it unclear which photos they accompany, type that the reader cannot read, photos played too small, a story that is hard to follow because of the layout, art heads that do not say anything.

• Assumptions: You assume that the reporter did the math or that the photographer got the name wrong, not the reporter. Or you assume that the reporter meant something that he or she did not. Or you assume that someone else would take care of the weekend planning because you were about to go on vacation. Or you assume that you could use a certain typographic style on your front page because that is what you saw the 1A designer do.

• Sloppiness: This quality manifests itself in many ways, such as the following: widows left scattered throughout the page; no page number in a tease; a jumpline referring readers to the wrong page; a cutline saying someone is in the photo when they clearly are not; a cutline name spelled differently from the name in the story; a bad break in a headline that makes it difficult to understand.

• Indifference: You treat a great story as though it is simply another daily feature by giving it a small headline or playing it in a 15-pica wide hole down the side of the page. Or you play a piece of stunning art in a mediocre way because you cannot see its need to run large or with a great crop. Its cousin is same-

ness: Every page is predictable, from the headlines to the size of the art to the basic layout of the page.

Give readers something to take away with that day’s page: an interesting headline, a tease, a great crop on a photo, a helpful info box.

• Ignorance: You run a photo of the wrong congressman from your district because you have not been paying attention. Or you decide World War II ended on June 6 because you do not bother reading the package your newspaper had on 1A about VE Day. Or you think you will be clever by using another language in a headline, but you use the wrong tense in the verb. Or you think a television show is coming on that night when it had changed nights a month ago. Readers always know these things, and you damage the newspaper’s credibility when you show that you do not.

• Laziness: You do not bother to check to see if your publication has file art to go with a profile because it is not your job and someone should have put it on the “budget” (list). Or you do not bother teasing something because you cannot find out what page it is on. Or you do not finish up the advance page because your shift is up and you think someone else can finish it for you the next day. Or you do not bother looking up something in the stylebook because you are pretty sure the word is correct. Or you do not want to check the background of a story in the electronic library because you think the copy chief will catch it.

• Inflexibility: You cannot possibly change that front page because it is late in the night. How important can a downed helicopter in the bay be? Or you have that page all done so why are they asking for another information graphic on it now? Or you resent having to work a later shift when someone is out. Or you do not feel comfortable working on sports pages. n

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At a large paper, our job was to be the last line of defense.

We were the last eyes on all the copy in the newspaper, and it was up to us to make sure it was as accurate and as clear to the reader as possible. | ALEX CHIHAK, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHECK THE FACTS: 10 TIPS FOR EDITORS

BY PAM NELSON

Checking facts is part of some copy editors’ jobs.

When I have trained copy editors on newspaper desks, I tell them that the main fact-checkers are the writers, followed by the line editors. But I also tell copy editors that inaccuracy in a published piece hurts everyone’s credibility.

I did not learn to check facts in my first few years as a copy editor. I was more focused on correcting grammar, usage and style and on writing a good headline. At The Raleigh News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., the necessity for fact-checking was driven home. Copy editors were held responsible for mistakes that slipped through.

Today’s time-strapped newspaper desks have precious little time for fact-checking, but here are some tips for fact-checking. By no means is this list definitive. Editors have many more things to consider — fairness, balance and internal consistency among them.

1. If a date is mentioned in the story, either recent or historical, check it. Nothing will undermine credibility like misstating the date of a historic event. Even if you are almost certain that Pearl Harbor was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, check it. If a writer refers to the Enlightenment occurring during the 17th and 18th centuries, check it.

2. If the name of a well-known person appears in a story and you have any hesitation about it at all, check it. I can’t even count the number of times I have corrected the spelling of actor Dan Aykroyd’s name.

You should also check the spelling of lesser-known people if you have time or doubts.

3. If a writer uses a place name that is unfamiliar to you or that is often misspelled, check it.

4. If there is arithmetic in a story, check it. Keep a calculator handy. If a writer says that the Declaration of Independence was signed 238 years ago, check SUMMER 2014

it (2014 – 1776 = 238). If a percentage change is mentioned, check it. If a person’s age appears in a story and you can check it, do. Check the birthdate of well-known people and do the math.

5. If the story refers to a number of items within the story (15 steps to better health), count the items. Make sure a well-known list (12 zodiac signs, 50 states) is complete if it is meant to be.

6. If a story refers to someone as “the late,” make sure the person is dead. Also, if a story refers to someone you remember as having died, check it. I once caught a reference to Howard Jarvis, the California property tax protest leader, as scheduled to appear at a local anti-tax rally. Jarvis died a few years earlier.

7. If a story uses a quote that seems off (a teacher misusing grammar, a politician or a law enforcement officer seeming to say the opposite of what you would expect), check the quote with the writer or the source.

8. If a story refers to a direction, check it. That may mean getting out a map and looking at the direction. I recently read a published story that referred to Morganton, N.C., as a two-hour drive east of Charlotte, N.C. Having grown up near both Morganton and Charlotte, I was 99.9 percent sure that Morganton was northwest of Charlotte, but I pulled out my North Carolina map to check. (I was correct. I’d also question whether it was a two-hour drive and would have checked that if I had been the copy editor on the story.)

9. If a story refers to a recent event (a crime, the passage of legislation), check a previous story to see whether the facts mesh. If they do not, don’t assume that one story is right and the other is wrong. Do more checking.

10. If something seems odd to you, check it. This is a lesson I have had to learn over and over. Do not risk letting a mistake slip through. n

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Today’s copy editor wears many hats, covering everything from cleaning up stories to publishing Web content in a day’s work. The modern copy editor must be part designer, part graphics specialist, part Web guru and part editor. | THOMAS KYLE-MILWARD, COPY EDITOR INTERN AT THE OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, ORE.

SENDING EDITORS OUT THE DOOR

BY HOWARD SPANOGLE

Enter: Aspiring journalism students probably have learned there is a reason for red or green lines under words typed on the computer. Though finding ways to eliminate the green lines — signifying construction problems — may be illusive, correcting spelling errors indicates that these individuals are on their way to developing copy-editing expertise.

Depart: After ongoing deadlines and dozens of articles in draft, print and online versions, students walk out of the journalism lab more proficient in copy editing. After writing, editing and critiquing their own words and others’ work as well, they have acquired skills. As a result, their copy receives applause and their writing for other classes merits recognition.

Their future is better because they have learned to use their eyes, their ears and their brains to make words fluent and powerful. The growth process happens because they are working in an atmosphere with peers who are trying to achieve the same copy standards: accuracy, fairness and distinction.

The editors care. The adviser instructs. Soon that attitude permeates the staff: from reporters to managing editors and from photographers to business managers.

One wrong word or punctuation mistake insults the entire staff as well as loyal readers. Soon reporters learn that their stories turn out better when they search for the right words in their first drafts. Eventually everyone becomes capable of detecting a goof: a misspelled name, an erroneous identity, confusing punctuation, an awkward phrase and unintentional implications.

Errors or copy weaknesses are something everyone learns to spot. Knowing how to rephrase or rewrite sentences happens as editors train reporters by reading SUMMER 2014

stories carefully. Staffs critique each issue or yearbook proofs, and novices read so-called “finished copy” before it goes to the printer. The process advances a sensitivity that spreads from one journalist to another and from one department to another. The journalism lab always should be alive with the joy of achieving clarity and accuracy — a cause for celebration every day.

EYES The process begins with opportunity: seeing carefully on each interview. Observing how interviewees function in their environment. Noticing the dress and the desk.

Noting the equipment and the interaction with peers or students. Seeing the correct room number. Detailing the correct number of awards. Observant reporting starts copy editing on the right track.

In the journalism lab, eyes continue to be an important tool for copy editing. Even novices can quickly see problems: an overdose of contractions, “which” when the restrictive construction calls for “that,” words and phrases that need rewriting as parallel constructions (all infinitives, all ending in “ing” or all prepositional phrases).

Of course, the eyes can easily notice other copy needs: short paragraphs, said tags at the end of quotes and readable word order — shortest to longest in lists within sentences.

It is easy to imagine the alertness and the interaction that is happening in a lab where words receive this kind of care.

EARS In addition to the eyes, the ears become another helpful editing tool. Editors may read an inappropriate phrase aloud in a way that lets reporters hear that they need to improve the sentence.

Hearing, of course, begins with the reporting. Hearing continued on page 49

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continued from page 47

the tone, the concerns, the enthusiasm or the disappointment. Hearing human emotions, convictions and aspirations, not simply language being pronounced. Then reporters have a stronger basis for developing copy that communicates both facts and feeling.

Ears also require careful listening to students’ own writing. Reading copy aloud to oneself and to others should be happening daily. This simple skill reveals whether the writing is dull or lively, padded or pertinent, flat or compelling. Again it is a skill that every student journalist must value as a free asset — worth more than the computer hardware.

How well journalists are using their ears becomes evident in how diverse articles and approaches are. If a publication produces only formula stories, then staff members need to challenge one another to listen to the total world. Hear statements, but also record sounds of pets, sirens and machines. Most of all, hear local color — the way people share anecdotes and phrase commands.

Authenticity stands out when copy editing frees sounds.

BRAINS In journalism labs, 20 to 30 brains in action quickly emerge as the most valuable tool imaginable. Basic brain action happens when everyone is using The Associated Press Stylebook as the standard for word usage, from word choice to word order to punctuation details.

When words appear incorrectly, they distract readers. Instead, brain action should assure that readers encounter no ugly mistakes that send the STOP message to them. Always, brains must be working to make the sequence a smooth journey to comprehension.

Brains also require that editors ask questions: Should the story be that long? Would a sidebar or sidebars make the presentation more effective? What other sources

should reporters interview? How should the writers interweave background information about individuals and organizations? What kinds of statistics would add specific insights? How should the writers, photographers and graphic designers add breadth and depth to the presentation?

In addition, brains enable writers to produce copy with sensitive nuances and with poetic agility. Obviously, this kind of copy editing takes a higher level of analysis.

Is the tone appropriate? Are the similes and metaphors consistent and appropriate for the subject and for the sources? Also, this kind of copy editing speaks to the verbal artist. Soon the artist will be concerned about the musical quality of the article as well as the factual accuracy.

The best copy editing delivers sight, sounds and thoughts to readers. It requires staff members to demonstrate attention, knowledge and stamina — all of which demands daily energy. More than ever there is no room for laziness and sloppiness in the copy-editing process, but there is always room for growth — how to make the publication better.

In high school journalism labs, the advantage is that all members of the staff become journalists learning copy-editing skills from Day 1. They arrive equipped with the important tools — eyes, ears and brains. They learn from the unending process that requires paying attention from the first word to the final check before printing. Of course, advisers are instructors who almost unknowingly make the change happen.

The experienced staff leaves with skills that make their lives better and their potential and opportunity unlimited. They have refined their expertise, produced credible results and earned noteworthy respect. Rather than finding the task annoying, the staff attitude turns out to be WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY. n

PREVENT WORD CRIMES WITH QUICK BRAIN ACTION

BY HOWARD SPANOGLE

1. Use SHORT PARAGRAPHS for all copy.

2. REQUIRE NEW PARAGRAPHS for direct quotes. The separation adds impact to sources’ words.

3. IDENTIFY SOURCES the first time they appear in a story.

4. For quotations, use the simplest attribution verb: SAID (but not says).

5. RESERVE CONTRACTIONS (isn’t, can’t, etc.) for spoken quotations. This standard helps distinguish the sound of voices from the written text by the reporter.

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6. DELETE PAD WORDS: some, many, just, really, very, interesting.

7. AVOID SEXISM. Use plural nouns — students, teachers, citizens or individuals.

They result in plural pronouns: “they, them, their” rather than “he” or “she.”

8. TARGET STRONG WORDS, especially nouns and verbs, in titles and headlines.

9. BECOME GOOD FRIENDS with The Associated Press Stylebook. Seek and search.

10. RETHINK LEADS with writers to encourage terrific results: Strong leads are magnets for readers.

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