One of the best parts of attending the ACES conference is picking up all of the practical editing tips at the workshops.
At a workshop on libel for editors, Charles DeLaFuente, suggested editors pay careful attention to tone in stories. DeLaFuente, who is a lawyer and a copy editor at The New York Times, said the tone of a story may not get you sued.
But if there is an error or libel problem in a story, your troubles will be compounded if the story is written in a snarky way or uses loaded words.
If the headline on a story says “Lawyer Beats Rap,” it implies the lawyer got off on a technicality. That might not be enough for a libel suit, but it could compound problems for the newspaper if the lawyer uses it to show a jury that the reporter or newspaper took sides in a story. DeLaFuente’s session was packed with great reminders on what to watch for in stories.
