Innocent query, or NostraHoppes?

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/apse_presidents_blog/

The first paragraph of the most recent entry is worth looking at closer:

I'm not old enough to remember this, but do you think the day will come where you write a story, write your own headline and post it on the web and then publish it in a newspaper? That takes out a lot of people inbetween.

Anyone with even a first-grader's between-the-lines reading comprehension knows what that is saying: If you are a copy editor, you're f---ed.

Let's see who gets chopped in the next round of Tribune slashes.

I don't think that Hoppes, who is as plugged in as anyone, threw that graph out as a pure hypothetical.

 

Chopping out copy editors is self-sabotage, period. Regardless the medium.

No, I am not a copy editor.

 

I've sorta done this before. Of course, it's gone through a news editor. Always gotta give it to an extra set of eyes.

 

I know of at least one paper that has no copy editors. I'm sure the writers would absolutely appreciate it if there were.

 

I'm not a copy editor and short of an internship in 1993, I've never been a copy editor.

Getting rid of copy editors is the worst thing anyone can do. But, most papers I treat reporters about 1,000 times better than they do copy editors. I don't agree with that on any level, but I think if you asked a most managers who were more important, they would pick the reporter.

If they eliminate copy editors, I can't wait to see how many writers get fired/suspended/disciplined for posting something that a copy editor would have been smart enough to edit out.

 

Do they at least check over each other's copy? We made that the policy at a copy-editorless paper I worked.

 

Well, you know, this is Exhibit A why copy editors are needed. A good one would have said: "Hey, Lynn, you really think the (minimal) discussion you get on your blog is worth freaking out your entire copy desk for the sake of a hypothetical, by hinting that either they're going to get whacked or you fail to understand their importance (so what if we all cut off our ears? would that be so bad?). Or, Lynn, if it ISN'T a hypothetical, do your bosses really want you serving as an early warning system for people who are going to be laid off? Not a good idea, Lynn. How can we rework this? Wanna call me back in 10 minutes? Or we could rework it together over the phone?" See, that's what you lose when there isn't that copy editor.

 

I don't know the answer to that, but the copy I see in print would suggest they don't. They're criminally understaffed, so I wouldn't be surprised if the copy editing gets lost in the workload.

 

Orlando used to be one of the most overstaffed papers in the country. Dallas used to be worse, but that changed a long time ago.

 

That ship's done sailed at my place. We have one copy editor left from when I started. Reporters now paginate, even in the newsroom.

 

It could be, and I don't like that idea. Then again, it could be a bit misinformed, like I think some of his other posts are. For example, I would think that Steeler fans who want a newspaper as a keepsake would want the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette or the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, not the Tampa Tribune or St. Petersburg Times. While his idea might be right that people just don't want keepsakes, I don't think you can tell that by the fact they ignored Tampa papers.

I think that and the whole "we tell people to fly Southwest" thing are the biggest things I've disagreed with. I know in my area, if you want to save money, you avoid Southwest like the plague.