by Rhonda L. Larson
While many of the students in Cohort 10 who have, or hope to pursue, careers in publishing are NOT planning on branching into the news media field, a recent trend in the news media business may signal an emerging or future trend in nontrade publishing. In the past month, five Gannett-owned newspapers eliminated their copy desks. The NetNewsCheck website (http://www.netnewscheck.com/article/35765/copy-editors-get-digitally-redefined) reported that Kate Marymont, the senior VP of news in Gannett’s publishing division, said the change, which included replacing other traditional editors, such as city and assignment editors, was part of an overhaul to make the newsroom “more digitally focused.” The idea, apparently, was to “redefine” the role of copy editors, and not do away with the process or function.
Teresa Schmedding, president of the American Copy Editors Society (ACES), and the deputy manager editor-digital for the Daily Herald Media Group in Chicago, indicated this kind of move risks the integrity of news media outlets. “It’s been proven that people value quality of content and that your credibility is directly tied to that.” According to the article, Schmedding also said she believes copy editors are more critical than ever given the “abundance of misinformation flying about cyberspace coupled with the demands on reporters to crank out copy.”
In 2011, the ACES annual conference focused on the future of editing. Attendees summarized the message with “The copy editor is dead. The content editor is alive.” (http://editingandpublishing.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/does-copyediting-have-a-bright-future/) Kourtney Kinsel, in a blog for Texas Christian University’s Editing and Publishing course, wrote, “far from predicting the extinction of copyediting as a crareer, this statement [from the ACES annual conference attendees] attest to the changing role of the copyeditor. Above all else, the title shift from “copyeditor” to “content editor” marks a turn towards a job with more defined characteristics. For example, content editors specialize in communication by helping to make content go public.”
However, Fred Vultee posted in ACES’s Copydesk blog in 2013 that, even though the shrinking number of copy editor positions is not quite as drastic as it may seem, due to job title changes, the number of positions has declined considerably—possibly 28.9 percent from 2001 and 30.5 percent from 2007 (http://www.copydesk.org/blog/2013/06/01/editing-job-losses/). He cited a summary of a study, based on the American Society of News Editors (ASNE) 2012 newsroom census, which indicated “the editing side of the newsroom had fared worst in the past decade of recession- and Internet-related job cuts
(http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/203244/asne-survey-there-are-about-half-as-many-copy-editors-today-as-10-years-ago/)
While the readers of this newsletter will likely all agree on the importance of copy editing (or “content editing”), and that the role will continue to evolve as publishers from every sector of the industry provide different types of content and formats, it’s important to consider what this will mean to us individually as publishing professionals, and for our readers and employers ? How will we ensure readers are provided quality, accurate content, and that our employers are not sued, or have their reputations besmirched? Ultimately, will publishers protect themselves by hiring adequate editorial staff (regardless of how the positions are titled), and allowing those professionals time to do their jobs?
While many of the students in Cohort 10 who have, or hope to pursue, careers in publishing are NOT planning on branching into the news media field, a recent trend in the news media business may signal an emerging or future trend in nontrade publishing. In the past month, five Gannett-owned newspapers eliminated their copy desks. The NetNewsCheck website (http://www.netnewscheck.com/article/35765/copy-editors-get-digitally-redefined) reported that Kate Marymont, the senior VP of news in Gannett’s publishing division, said the change, which included replacing other traditional editors, such as city and assignment editors, was part of an overhaul to make the newsroom “more digitally focused.” The idea, apparently, was to “redefine” the role of copy editors, and not do away with the process or function.
Teresa Schmedding, president of the American Copy Editors Society (ACES), and the deputy manager editor-digital for the Daily Herald Media Group in Chicago, indicated this kind of move risks the integrity of news media outlets. “It’s been proven that people value quality of content and that your credibility is directly tied to that.” According to the article, Schmedding also said she believes copy editors are more critical than ever given the “abundance of misinformation flying about cyberspace coupled with the demands on reporters to crank out copy.”
In 2011, the ACES annual conference focused on the future of editing. Attendees summarized the message with “The copy editor is dead. The content editor is alive.” (http://editingandpublishing.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/does-copyediting-have-a-bright-future/) Kourtney Kinsel, in a blog for Texas Christian University’s Editing and Publishing course, wrote, “far from predicting the extinction of copyediting as a crareer, this statement [from the ACES annual conference attendees] attest to the changing role of the copyeditor. Above all else, the title shift from “copyeditor” to “content editor” marks a turn towards a job with more defined characteristics. For example, content editors specialize in communication by helping to make content go public.”
However, Fred Vultee posted in ACES’s Copydesk blog in 2013 that, even though the shrinking number of copy editor positions is not quite as drastic as it may seem, due to job title changes, the number of positions has declined considerably—possibly 28.9 percent from 2001 and 30.5 percent from 2007 (http://www.copydesk.org/blog/2013/06/01/editing-job-losses/). He cited a summary of a study, based on the American Society of News Editors (ASNE) 2012 newsroom census, which indicated “the editing side of the newsroom had fared worst in the past decade of recession- and Internet-related job cuts
(http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/203244/asne-survey-there-are-about-half-as-many-copy-editors-today-as-10-years-ago/)
While the readers of this newsletter will likely all agree on the importance of copy editing (or “content editing”), and that the role will continue to evolve as publishers from every sector of the industry provide different types of content and formats, it’s important to consider what this will mean to us individually as publishing professionals, and for our readers and employers ? How will we ensure readers are provided quality, accurate content, and that our employers are not sued, or have their reputations besmirched? Ultimately, will publishers protect themselves by hiring adequate editorial staff (regardless of how the positions are titled), and allowing those professionals time to do their jobs?