I was first assigned copy editing during the preparation of a chapbook, for a university creative writing class. I didn’t know what the position entailed, but once I was given pages to nitpick for grammar and spelling, I knew I’d found a calling for my skill set.
But what other copy editing opportunities actually exist out there?
According to the Canadian Journalism Project, copy editors are the most forfeited position of all newspaper jobs. Due to profit losses many newspapers are shutting down, and those that stay afloat need to cut costs. This forces other staff to take on the missing responsibilities.
Kamloops’ daily newspaper closed this year because of declining revenue. In 2013,Sun Media also closed 11 publications, the cuts being attributed to changes in ad revenue. Print ads cost more than internet ads, and we’re reading more online content than we are print these days.
A year ago, the Toronto Star faced layoffs that included copy editors; they are now outsourcing those duties to Pagemasters, a global business which provides much cheaper editorial services.
This year, the Globe and Mail also laid off three copy editors. Pagemasters had previously announced a deal to edit copy for them as well.
In 2012, the Winnipeg Free Press laid off a number of its employees including a copy editor. Only a couple of months later, as a result of about 500 jobs being cut by Sun Media, the Winnipeg Sun eliminated five copy editor positions. The Quebecor CEO who made these cuts cited falling ad revenue as the reason. To reduce costs, “non-core activities” would be shut down, he said – copy editing apparently being one of those.
According to the American Society of News Editors Survey, the amount of employed copy editors began decreasing from 2008 to 2009. In 2008 there were 10,664 copy editors; only 4,778 remained in 2013.
So why are copy editors undervalued industry-wide? Is correcting typos and fact-checking a weight that we can’t afford to bear anymore?
The layoff of copy editors is symptomatic of an age that doesn’t care. In our time online we are more concerned about finding “Five ways you’re exactly like Claire from Modern Family” and, therefore, “Fiv ways your exactly like Clare from Modern Family.” The rise of self-publishing also sees the need for correct spelling dwindling. See: 50 Shades of Grey’s initial release and its myriad of typos.
Copy editors are rarely noticeable. Since they are not paid to write, their names aren’t associated with daily or weekly articles or columns. Many magazine and newspaper sites (Metro, Us, Time magazine) don’t list their staff on accessible “contact” or “about” pages, leaving the reader to recognize only the names associated with the articles they’re reading. This means only those who write or take photos for the articles tend to get any recognition. Everyone behind the scenes is essentially invisible.
But the work of copy editors is everywhere on a page. Or rather, it’s only when they miss something that the reader notices.
The lack of a thorough copy editor is obvious in embarrassing ways, such as spelling mistakes (“it caused him to lung violently”) and inconsistencies like parentheses that begin and never end. Sometimes you’ll find yourself wondering if they fired the copy editor mid-page when articles appear hastily thrown online with an apparent disregard for proofreading.
What is copy editing?
The copy editor defends your written work from style inconsistencies, typos, factual errors, plagiarism, and libel, among other things.
Each paper typically has its own custom style guide, but may also adhere to other stylebooks like the Canadian Press style and the Associated Press style. These guides dictate when to capitalize words (President vs. president) or when to use hyphens (postwar vs. post-war). By the way, since we’re in Canada, it’s “defence,” not “defense.” As style guides are constantly undergoing revisions, copy editors must stay on top of these changes.
Research matters, too. If you’re going to present something as a fact, then it better be verifiable truth. A fact-checker makes sure that a robbery occurring in city A isn’t actually a robber from city A, committing a robbery in city B.
Libel—a form of defamation occurring when someone believes their reputation has been harmed relating to something written that can be proven to be untrue—is another danger, and may be the result of poor research. If you wrote something about your local mayor that you couldn’t prove, it would be unpublishable.
For example, if the line: “John Doe was a cult leader who steals from taxpayers” can’t be proven, then it can’t be printed. If a mayor admits to smoking crack, it’s not libellous to report. However, if something has been reported and many reputable sources make similar claims, then you can throw in an “alleged” or “reported.”
As for plagiarism, it’s self-explanatory. Submitting content that’s not your own, or artfully weaving passages of someone else’s work into your articles without crediting the original author is defined as plagiarism.
At the Manitoban, the copy editor is also the proofreader. Copy editors edit for accuracy, style, content, structure, grammar, spelling, consistency, and coherence, and then proofread everything again on production night, once that copy has been laid out.
While I’m writing primarily in terms of the Manitoban, there are fields other than journalism that require copy editors as well.
Content distributed in print or online both require copy editors, proofreaders, or someone designated to fill either of those roles.
The Brandon Sun has four copy editors. Rhubarb, a Manitoba secular Mennonite magazine, has two (both of whom occupy the roles of assistant editors). Grain magazine, Saskatchewan’s literary quarterly, has a proofreader. Chatelaine has a copy editor and an assistant editor for copy and research.
Quill and Quire, a Canadian magazine for book reviews and news, has no copy editors or proofreaders on their online masthead – a duty that is likely filled by its other editors. The National Post doesn’t have a copy editor on their masthead either, but the role may be taken up or divided among any position on the paper’s lengthy list of employees.
While book publishers may not have copy editors on staff, they typically pay a freelance copy editor to edit their manuscripts. Freelancers are abundant, and are usually part of an editors’ association and/or certified by the Editors’ Association of Canada. Sometimes these titles get recognition near the book’s jacket; other times their names are nowhere to be seen.
If you’re reading this and thinking, “I always correct people on their punctuation and grammar,” then a copy editor job is absolutely for you. You may want to find a different calling, though. Beside being practically invisible in terms of recognition, copy editors are an endangered species.
