Website Copy Editing

[HeinekenMan]

When it comes to the website, is there anyone still employed who is capable of writing or editing copy? I ask because this is what I just found on a story about Tiger Woods that came from the Orlando Sentinel's Web site:

Tiger Woods isn't in Orlando any more — he's at Mississippi clinic known for treated sexual addiction, two television stations are reporting.

1. I asked my wife to read it, and she caught the "any more" problem.
2. Did they actually set that off with an em dash and a comma?
3. They forgot an article before Mississippi. But hey, the person spelled Mississippi correctly!
3. Obviously, it should be treating instead of treated.

I doubt that this was a product of the sports department. And, yes, it is a national holiday. Lord knows who is handling the Web site stuff today. With all of the cuts, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that someone from HR was in charge this morning. But I still want to bash my brains in when I read this kind of ridiculousness.

Just a few minutes before I saw this lead, I read a headline on my hometown paper's Web site that said "Mobile dental clinic read to roll." That paper has a much smaller staff and, arguably, a lot less talent than the Sentinel. It seems that our industry is moving toward an online product, but it appears that nobody is bothering to invest in this product. I would guess that the people working for online are generally less talented and less experienced than their print counterparts.

Of course, the elephant in the room is that some TV stations in Mississippi are breaking this news. I don't even want to go there.

Does anyone edit the online copy in your newsroom?

Are the people writing for the web as qualified as the people writing for print?

 

[Mira]

I saw the topic Website Copy Editing and thought one thing: there is never website copy editing.

 

[imjustagirl]

Web site.

 

[imjustagirl]

I saw the topic Website Copy Editing and thought one thing: there is never website copy editing.

Oh, and shhhhhhhhhhhh....don't tell my bosses. Or SF_Express's bosses.

 

[kleeda]

Me edit pretty someday.

 

[Stitch]

When the production staff uploads the paper, I have to fix about half of the headlines and bylines since they set everything to uppercase.

 

[Magic In The Night]

Sometimes stories come over for editing to the newspaper end of things at our shop and they've been up for hours on the Web site with unbelievable errors, up to and including things you could get sued for. But remember, Web is the future. We know nothing.

 

[lone star scribe]

I doubt that this was a product of the sports department. And, yes, it is a national holiday. Lord knows who is handling the Web site stuff today. With all of the cuts, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that someone from HR was in charge this morning. But I still want to bash my brains in when I read this kind of ridiculousness.

Trust me, there is no one from HR working today. Or anybody else outside the newsroom and pressroom.

 

[HeinekenMan]

I generally write "Web site." One of my main clients requires "website" for search engine purposes. In the copy, you will see that I wrote it both ways. My guess is that "Web site" heads to the AP graveyard in 2-3 years.

 

[kleeda]

The problem with newspapers now is there aren't enough people working at night.
The problem with newspapers' Web sites as they need as many people editing during the day as they have at night.
Good luck with that.

 

[SF_Express]

I saw the topic Website Copy Editing and thought one thing: there is never website copy editing.

Oh, and shhhhhhhhhhhh....don't tell my bosses. Or SF_Express's bosses.

Ah, well, OK...

HeinekenMan is obviously talking about substaffed newspaper websites on a holiday, and not mainstream big sports-only websites, including this one, which is very well staffed right now. I can't claim you won't find a typo on the site, because I couldn't have claimed that about the New York Times in 1985.

Heineken, I think that's a tweener on the m dash/comma business. I think you could make the case that sentence only called for the one dash (it could have been a semicolon)....because they wanted the TV stations reporting to refer to the sex clinic, not the fact he wasn't in Orlando anymore.

Our place has been website one word for ages, and I too work for a freelance client that wants it that way as well.

If you think your hometown newspaper had a lot more people working on its website than the mighty Orlando Sentinel had working on its website today, sad to say, you're probably dreaming.


As far as TV stations "breaking" the Tiger in sex rehab in Mississippi story, said story has been floating around since before the weekend. He has also been in Phoenix and South Africa. If somebody finally gets it right, great, but until it's positive, it's not worth going out on a limb over.

 

[Big Buckin' agate_monkey]

Web site.

I know that's AP, but the dictionary does include "website."

 

[rpmmutant]

Web site.

I know that's AP, but the dictionary does include "website."

I have never understood why Web is capitalized in Web site or Website. I know it's part of the World Wide Web, but it's not like there is only one website in the world. It should be lower case, just like blogs!

 

[rpmmutant]

And it should be one word: website. That would prevent anyone from wanting to hyphenate the dang word one day. I hate hyphens.

 

[imjustagirl]

I will never ever ever ever ever say it should be website. Ever. Ever.

Ever. :D

And I know what Heineken was talking about specifically, SF. Mira was much more open, and people who rip Web site things read sometimes as those hanging on to the old days of newspapers before the big, bad internet came in and changed everything.

 

[Fredrick]

I heard that the new trend is get this, no editing whatsoever for online copy.
The new buzzword will be to "let the readers be the copy editors," to correct the mistakes in their comments sections. It will make them feel empowered and add clicks.
I thought I heard everything; now I have heard everything. This is a way to justify getting rid of almost all copy editors.

You may think Fredrick is a moron, but I swear I've heard this now from three different individuals, one of whom is an industry leader in NEW MEDIA. I laughed in her face.

 

[doug_funnie]

Web site.

I know that's AP, but the dictionary does include "website."

I have never understood why Web is capitalized in Web site or Website. I know it's part of the World Wide Web, but it's not like there is only one website in the world. It should be lower case, just like blogs!

Web site is probably capitalized for the same reason Internet is capitalized. It just is.

 

[Magic In The Night]

I heard that the new trend is get this, no editing whatsoever for online copy.
The new buzzword will be to "let the readers be the copy editors," to correct the mistakes in their comments sections. It will make them feel empowered and add clicks.
I thought I heard everything; now I have heard everything. This is a way to justify getting rid of almost all copy editors.

You may think Fredrick is a moron, but I swear I've heard this now from three different individuals, one of whom is an industry leader in NEW MEDIA. I laughed in her face.

Well that should work out just fine until somebody decides to contact a lawyer for libel.

 

[Ace]

I saw the topic Website Copy Editing and thought one thing: there is never website copy editing.

I thought it was supposed to be an oxymoron.

 

[Ace]

I heard that the new trend is get this, no editing whatsoever for online copy.
The new buzzword will be to "let the readers be the copy editors," to correct the mistakes in their comments sections. It will make them feel empowered and add clicks.
I thought I heard everything; now I have heard everything. This is a way to justify getting rid of almost all copy editors.

You may think Fredrick is a moron, but I swear I've heard this now from three different individuals, one of whom is an industry leader in NEW MEDIA. I laughed in her face.

Why did you laugh in her face?

Bottom line is that copy editors are disposable. At least until the powers-that-be find out that they aren't.