While this article is troubling for the fact that it sounds like the integrity of print news is vanishing, I can't say that I'm too surprised about this. When papers look at cutting back on staff, I'm sure they first go to the departments that have an abundance of people doing the same job, such as copy editors. They overlook the fact that each one is essential to maintaining the paper's value, integrity and credibility and only see an opportunity to save money. I was shocked to read that the Post-Dispatch went from over 40 copy editors to only 21. That's a bit drastic, I will say.
Papers need to keep in mind that the more errors that get printed, the more readership will fall because each error drops down credibility ratings, even if it's only ever so slightly. It's still a difference. If readership falls, the paper is going to be in the same situation, or worse in terms of finances. And it's sad that they are expecting 21 copy editors to do the work of 40. That's a lot of pressure and those 21 people are probably not even recognized for it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
You're right, cutting the amount of copy editors in half is kind of ridiculous. I also agree with the fact that a newspaper will lose some of its readers if the copy gets messy. But I am guessing that cutting the copy editors was the alternative to the newspaper folding entirely. I guess if it came down to this hard decision, I would have to cut some of the editors rather than losing hundreds of jobs.
ReplyDelete