The DI: It's not just the copy editors' faults

I wasn't sure if we were supposed to post a new blog or not, but I decided to write one anyway.

The other day I was sitting in class and a couple rows in front of me was a kid reading a copy of the Daily Illini. It happened to be Thursday morning, the day after I copy edit for the DI. I'm assuming he found a mistake because he said "damn copy editors" under his breath. I then took a little bit of offense.

I know we spend a decent chunk of each lab session picking apart the DI. And I'm lucky enough to not have to suffer through it on a paper that I worked on. However, when did it become the copy editors' job to catch everything? Do the writers not have know how to write to get published anymore?

You wouldn't believe some of the things I catch when I'm at work. We all fight over AP stories that come in because those have less errors. But when you've got an article from a staff writer, be prepared. I don't mean to be offensive. A lot of the staff writers are very good writers, but every once in awhile, there's an article so grammatically incorrect that it makes me want to cry.

Also, why does nobody blame the slotters? They're actually the ones with final say in an article. One thing I've noticed at the DI is that the slotters spend more time fixing our headlines than looking at the actual article. And quite frankly, more often than not, the headline the slotter uses to replace mine, I think is worse. But yet a lot of people don't even know what a slotter is, so the blame falls to the copy editor.

Yes, mistakes cover the DI all the time. I realize this. But I wish people would stop singling out one specific role at the DI. If you're going to work for the paper in any way, you need to know grammar, spelling and usage rules. I don't care if you're a designer, night editor, reporter, or copy editor. These are things you should know in your own field. Everyone should share the burden of a mistake.