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| USA Today
copy editor Paul Soucy, left, received a trophy and a $3,000
check for winning the first Robinson Prize. Introducing Soucy at the ACES
banquet was one of the contest judges, J.A. Montalbano of
the Albuquerque Tribune. |
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Back-to-back winners
Recipients of the Robinson Prize and Aubespin
scholarship
show gratitude and wit in brief remarks at the ACES banquet
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By Matthew Crowley
Humility and humor from two American Copy Editors Society honorees
preceded Friday night's keynote speech.
First, USA Today news copy editor Paul Soucy humbly accepted
the society's first Robinson
Prize, a $3,000 award in recognition
of excellence in editing and love of the profession. Then, Diego
Sorbara was recognized for winning the $2,500 Aubespin scholarship.
Soucy said winning the prize was a great honor. He said copy
editors don't get much recognition, except maybe in in-house
headline contests. If a paper wins a big prize, like a Pulitzer,
Soucy said the copy desk may be last in the praise parade, behind reporters,
editors, photographers, and even clerks.
"The reason this is so special is that it doesn't come from
somebody in a glass office, it comes from other copy editors,"
Soucy said. "It comes from other people who eat lunch at their
desks. It comes from people who are coming into work in the opposite
direction of traffic, when everyone else is going home. It comes from
people who haven't watched prime-time television in prime time in the last
15 or 20 years."
The 36-year-old Soucy said he was proud of the society and his
membership in it.
"That’s about all I have," Soucy said, smiling wryly. "As a
copy editor, I don't want to go on too long."
In a moment of technological magic, Pam Robinson, a co-founder
of ACES for whom the award is named, spoke via computer audio
file. Robinson, too, showed humility, saying maybe the award
should have a different name.
"Well, OK," she relented. "Maybe not."
Soucy's "No. 1 love is language," said his boss, Susan Miller,
news copy desk chief, in her nomination letter. She called him
"a master of style, grammar and language," and noted that "his
humorous, no-nonsense style has engaged and energized colleagues
throughout the newsroom."
Like the best copy editors, Soucy "approaches his job like a
reader," said Owen Ullmann, USA Today's deputy managing editor
for news. "His knowledge and love of the written language have
made him a catalyst in our newsroom for elevating stories and
making sure we always connect with our readers."
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Sorbara, a University of Missori senior, won the $2,500 Aubespin
scholarship, named for early ACES supporter Merv Aubespin of the Louisville
Courier-Journal. |
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Soucy graduated from Drake University in Des Moines,
Iowa, in 1992. He worked at the Des Moines Register from 1992
to 1998, and has been at USA Today since 1998. He and his wife,
Tracy Lucht, live in Vienna, Va., with a dog and a cat.
The Robinson Prize recognizes those who demonstrate excellence
in editing, promote the copy editing profession, foster a sense
of teamwork among colleagues, inspire others and champion the
interests of readers.
ACES' other big prize winner was Sorbara. The 22-year-old University
of Missouri senior was recognized at the banquet for winning
the Aubespin scholarship in December. Four other students received
$1,000 scholarships.
Sorbara spoke as society members were digging diligently into
desserts. The sight fit, he suggested; two things copy editors
love are food and brevity. He promised a brief speech.
The 22-year-old Sorbara said he entered journalism partly because
he has an ease with language. The ease came even though English
was his second language; he came to America as a child when his
family arrived in Chicago's suburbs from Argentina.
Sorbara acknowledged that worry has wracked newspaper workers
lately. The sale of Knight Ridder to McClatchy and the pending
sale of a dozen former Knight Ridder papers has created uncertainty.
But he said now isn't time to panic.
"We need to chill out," Sorbara said.
Sorbara, who will eventually work on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
copy desk, said it's an exciting time to be a copy editor. Copy
editors will be critical newsroom players as newspapers adapt
to the Internet and redesign, he said.
"These are not strikes against newspapers," he said. "They're
challenges to make us all do better."
Change has helped make work better, not worse, for copy editors,
Sorbara said. For example, he said, nobody has to paste up layouts
now thanks to software.
"We're better equipped than ever before," he said. "The only
time we need to start worrying is when we stop speaking English."
Matthew Crowley is a business copy editor for the Las Vegas
Review-Journal. He can be reached at matthew_crowley@copydesk.org. |
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