Featuring work and conversations by journalism students from the Meek School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi in Oxford.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Copy editors are being axed?
Looks like more dismal signs of the times when it comes to newspapers. Read the following developments in these articles and post what you think. Your responses are due by Monday, 4 June.:
Newspapers around the country are continuing to face massive losses in revenue, and as this happens pay cuts and layoffs are necessary. However, copy editors seem to be taking the majority of these layoffs.
I think that forcing content producers to take over the rolls of the copy editors is a big error, especially since many reporters are already stretched to the limit. With websites like Twitter, Newser, and the infinite blogs speed is king, and the faster a story has to be formulated, reported, and edited by the same person the more likely errors will occur.
If this happens the already jaded public may abandon all faith in the trained and ethical journalists, and instead trust bloggers who may not ever leave their homes. Editors are a crucial part of the journalistic process and with many losing their jobs it seems that one more nail is in the coffin for a hard copy newspaper.
As the on-going evolution of newspaper and the landscape of media continues to change, titles and positions will have to change as well. Editors are a crucial part of the journalism and newspaper process in every aspect. Removing such positions will be a painful and noticeable initially but I think as time goes on these newspapers and media outlets will learn to adapt. When an industry undergoes such drastic change, it is inevitable that it changes in every way even if it means cutting or adapting certain jobs.
After reading these two articles I immediately became dejected. Yes, this is where the industry is heading, but this issue needs to be looked at in depth. I personally look at the newspaper as a functioning machine, made up of writers, reporters, editors, etc. When one piece is removed, the machine lacks what it needs to function. Thus, I believe that the removal of these positions is cutting out a very important part of a functioning group. Writers should be able to edit their own work, but everyone is human and makes errors. These copy editors who slave over text for hours looking for any tiny error are needed to make the final product correct and presentable. More than one opinion is needed in someones original work. A writer can be trained to do these things, but that will take time. Maybe one day a writer will be able to publish their work as a final product with their own edits, but only time will tell in my opinion.
The first article is describing how editing jobs in journalism are now being shifted into the hands of reporters most in part to the fast pace technological world of today. Newspapers such as the Denver Post have eliminated their copy desk all together. The second article describes editorials again being laid off at the Denver Post and recognizes key names such as sports writer Woody Paige who appears on the ESPN network show Around the Horn almost daily is even getting a significant pay cut.
After reading the two articles, I can only conclude that as these print publications continue to lose revenue, employees must be laid off in order to keep the publications afloat. It is unfortunate because copy editing is so important to the production of a publication. Copy editors are specialized in catching errors that already busy reporters and editors may not always have the time to correct, and many mistakes can go unnoticed. Although editors and reporters CAN be their own copy editors, losing these employees definitely puts more pressure on the reporters and editors which cannot have a positive outcome for the future of these publications.
Newspapers around the country are continuing to face massive losses in revenue, and as this happens pay cuts and layoffs are necessary. However, copy editors seem to be taking the majority of these layoffs.
ReplyDeleteI think that forcing content producers to take over the rolls of the copy editors is a big error, especially since many reporters are already stretched to the limit. With websites like Twitter, Newser, and the infinite blogs speed is king, and the faster a story has to be formulated, reported, and edited by the same person the more likely errors will occur.
If this happens the already jaded public may abandon all faith in the trained and ethical journalists, and instead trust bloggers who may not ever leave their homes. Editors are a crucial part of the journalistic process and with many losing their jobs it seems that one more nail is in the coffin for a hard copy newspaper.
As the on-going evolution of newspaper and the landscape of media continues to change, titles and positions will have to change as well. Editors are a crucial part of the journalism and newspaper process in every aspect. Removing such positions will be a painful and noticeable initially but I think as time goes on these newspapers and media outlets will learn to adapt. When an industry undergoes such drastic change, it is inevitable that it changes in every way even if it means cutting or adapting certain jobs.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading these two articles I immediately became dejected. Yes, this is where the industry is heading, but this issue needs to be looked at in depth. I personally look at the newspaper as a functioning machine, made up of writers, reporters, editors, etc. When one piece is removed, the machine lacks what it needs to function. Thus, I believe that the removal of these positions is cutting out a very important part of a functioning group.
ReplyDeleteWriters should be able to edit their own work, but everyone is human and makes errors. These copy editors who slave over text for hours looking for any tiny error are needed to make the final product correct and presentable. More than one opinion is needed in someones original work.
A writer can be trained to do these things, but that will take time. Maybe one day a writer will be able to publish their work as a final product with their own edits, but only time will tell in my opinion.
The first article is describing how editing jobs in journalism are now being shifted into the hands of reporters most in part to the fast pace technological world of today. Newspapers such as the Denver Post have eliminated their copy desk all together.
ReplyDeleteThe second article describes editorials again being laid off at the Denver Post and recognizes key names such as sports writer Woody Paige who appears on the ESPN network show Around the Horn almost daily is even getting a significant pay cut.
After reading the two articles, I can only conclude that as these print publications continue to lose revenue, employees must be laid off in order to keep the publications afloat. It is unfortunate because copy editing is so important to the production of a publication. Copy editors are specialized in catching errors that already busy reporters and editors may not always have the time to correct, and many mistakes can go unnoticed. Although editors and reporters CAN be their own copy editors, losing these employees definitely puts more pressure on the reporters and editors which cannot have a positive outcome for the future of these publications.
ReplyDelete