By Doug Fisher

Though this book is designed more for a copy-editing class, it has much to recommend it as a reference for the copy desk.

Rooney and Witte approach editing from what I think are the key rules: 1) It is not your copy; solve problems the least intrusive way. 2) If nothing else, do no harm – do not inject error into a story just because you felt you had to "edit" it. 3) When it doubt, see rules 1 and 2. Rooney and Witte summarize it as the "three C’s": Challenge the copy. Check published references. Change, but only when necessary.

Rooney’s work exposing fraud in the Illinois state auditor’s office led to the Chicago Daily News’ 1957 Pulitzer Prize for public service. He is a professor emeritus of journalism at Loyola University Chicago. Witte, a former Chicago journalist whose honors include the Lisagor award, is an assistant professor of journalism at Toccoa Falls College in Georgia.

That big-city journalism connection brings a sometimes gritty flavor, especially in the chapter, "What copy editors do." Their job description is sometimes accurately dark, but we don’t want to scare the best and brightest away from the copy desk. It could be leavened by quoting copy editors who can explain why they find joy and professional (if not always financial) fulfillment in their jobs.

However, that perspective also produces a valuable hands-on text grounded in the real world of a desk. A copy editor who follows the chapters on "The thrill of the hunt" and "Problem-solving for copy editors," both filled with common-sense advice, would do any desk proud. "The copy editor and the dictionary," explains how the dictionary can be a fickle friend.

Rooney and Witte also tackle some of the tough, but arcane, issues that can provoke newsroom skirmishes and that other texts tend to skirt. Among them are when it might be correct to use a comma with "because," when to change "said Doe" to "Doe said" ("It’s not an issue," they advise. "Unless the publication has a policy, let the reporter decide."), and whether to use commas around identifying phrases beginning with "of," as in "John Doe of 1234 West St." (Don’t do use commas is their advice, in line with several major newspaper style guides. The AP, unfortunately, dropped the guidance from its stylebook long ago and now is inconsistent about it on the wire.) 

One problem, however, is how closely some parts are tied to the AP stylebook. With AP’s vicissitudes, it risks putting chunks of the book behind the times.

Beefing up the chapter on numbers also would be more helpful. It’s to their credit, however, that they tackle it at all and do it from the perspective of how to translate into words the concepts numbers represent. Too many editing books skim those issues.

The grammar section can be a quick reference, though any good desk should already have at least one other more comprehensive book, and the chapter on writing headlines is useful, but somewhat limited and predictable.

Rooney and Witte also write at length about sizing photos and writing captions – pretty basic stuff, but still worth remembering in these days when pagination makes it easier, with the pull of a cursor, to run afoul of such things. (And where else can you get a quick refresher on the pica pole and the proportion wheel when the power goes out?)

The veteran can find valuable nuggets here, but this book will be most useful for the new copy editor or the reporter who has transferred to the copy desk.

As Rooney and Witte write: "You’re not in high school English any more. You may not duck a challenge simply by crossing out everything you’re not sure about or rewriting it in your words. If the writer’s words are correct, leave them alone; if they are wrong, fix them according to the writer’s intent and the rules set forth in accepted references. If you’re not sure whether some construction is right or wrong, find out."

Those are words every copy editor should live by.

 Doug Fisher, a former AP news editor, teaches copy editing and reporting at the University of South Carolina.