Follow a process when editing
Not long ago, we had a situation in our household: the case of the missing milk. “Someone” had put the half-gallon of milk on the running board of the truck when he was loading groceries into the vehicle, and that was the last that he saw of it. Not a happy ending. Compare that to [...]
More views: Leaner copy desks
A quick post to bring your attention to an article published on vocus.com about the connection between mistakes in news products and leaner copy desks. The article was written by Katrina Mendolera, editor in chief of inVocus, who earned her master’s degree at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. We have posted before about [...]
Copy editors: How little do you care?
The other night, we were watching a TV show, and someone said: “He could care less.” Our heads snapped in each other’s direction. NO! The expression is, “couldn’t care less.” It means that someone cares so little, that the person could not possibly care less. The phrase is commonly misspoken and misstated. Why do I [...]
Everyone must be a safety, now
I learned, and I always have passed along, that copy editors are the gatekeepers of a news operation — the last line of defense against errors being published. And then not long ago, while I was listening to an analyst describe what just happened during an NFL game, I realized that the last line of [...]
Train yourself for smaller copy desks
Washington Post ombudsman Andrew Alexander recently wrote about readers’ concerns about errors in the paper and on the Web site. The causes are obvious and have been much discussed: Fewer people have less time to read more copy. Some copy isn’t reviewed at all. At ACES, Neil Holdway’s recent post discusses the “good old days,” [...]
