Elegy for copy editors

[dfisher]

Nice piece in the NY Times today by Lawrence Downes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/opinion/16mon4.html

It is sad, as he notes, that the copy editor seems to be invisible, even at the Newseum.

I don't know whether a copy editor polished this, but what a beautiful piece of prose:
But they also do a lot more. Copy editors are the last set of eyes before yours. They are more powerful than proofreaders. They untangle twisted prose. They are surgeons, removing growths of error and irrelevance; they are minimalist chefs, straining fat. Their goal is to make sure that the day’s work of a newspaper staff becomes an object of lasting beauty and excellence once it hits the presses.


This from my dean (Charles Bierbauer, formerly of CNN): Downes’ lament ... for the absent copy editor overlooks one quirky collection at the Newseum. On the walls of the lavatories—he may not have paid a visit--there are displays of the typos and ill-considered headlines that copy editors did not catch. All the more reason to pay homage to the copy editors who have long been our saviors from embarrassment and lawsuits.

Oh, that says sooooo much, doesn't it?

[Chris Wienandt]

For the record, ACES has a letter in the mail to the Newseum offering to collaborate on an exhibit extolling and explaining the work of copy editors.

And we've submitted a letter to the editor to The New York Times declining to declare ourselves dead just yet.

Watch for a piece on the ACES Web site, as well.

[dfisher]

For the record, ACES has a letter in the mail to the Newseum offering to collaborate on an exhibit extolling and explaining the work of copy editors.

And we've submitted a letter to the editor to The New York Times declining to declare ourselves dead just yet.

Watch for a piece on the ACES Web site, as well.

And I hope you'll share the responses with all of us.

[Chris Wienandt]

But of course!

[contrarysounding]

Catchy -- and bittersweet.