Hmm. This is the first troll post I've encountered since joining this Web site. That said ...<p>I've been *both* a copy editor and a reporter and, as such, your post is highly insulting. Sure, I've found plenty of grammatical and usage errors in stories (y'know, the ones that any "schmuck" can find ... but if so, judging from the letters and guest columns we receive, God forbid we just let any "schmuck" do our job), but I've also found factual mistakes, just plain wrong "quotes" and all sorts of fun stuff. I've found mistakes introduced by the reporter, another editor, both, or some other newsroom source.<p>I am socially active to a degree, am well-read and maintain my own damn contacts in the community in which I reside. How the hell do you think I catch most of the mistakes I find? By just reading a damn dictionary? By relying on the AP Stylebook? Hardly. It comes from being exposed to the world, much as a reporter (and a lot of people outside the journalism profession) doing his or her job does.<p>I, too, keep abreast of what the competition is doing, and I strive to maintain the quality of the paper we put out, despite the fact that such efforts aren't always appreciated (I chalk that up to human nature, more than anything else).<p>But, hey, yeah, let's belittle the copy editors nine times out of 10. We've already cut the proofers, why not the CE's next? The next time a paper or magazine gets slammed with a multi-million-dollar lawsuit because of a FUBAR that might have been caught had it gone through another line or two of scrutiny, I won't shed anything but reptilian tears. But I will shed genuine tears for yet another body blow to journalism's credibility amid a population that's increasingly partisan, uninformed and seeing conspiracies everywhere (particularly in the "leftist" and/or "corporate" media).<p>Maybe I've been lucky so far. I work in a newsroom where copy editors and reporters respect each other. Perhaps I need to get out into some massive 500-person newsroom in order to build up a nice, thick skin and a hatred for most reporters. But if that's the price I have to pay in order to find out where you're coming from, reporters, forget it. It's too steep. I'd rather quit the profession first and actually make some real money elsewhere.<p>After all, any old schmuck off the street with basic English skills and half a brain can do my job.<p>Gatekeeper<p>-30-
|