How Important are Copy Editors?

Copy editors rarely get any public recognition for their work. Although they may not share a byline in the stories they proof read, fact check and protect from libel lawsuits, they serve a vital purpose. But as newsrooms across the country reduce staff to save money (and ultimately their publications), copy editors are often some of the first positions to go.

Washington Post Ombudsman Andrew Alexander recently wrote about the impact a reduction of copy editors will have on the journalism industry.

"Little mistakes take a huge toll on credibility. A groundbreaking newspaper industry study on credibility a decade ago warned that 'each misspelled word, bad apostrophe, garbled grammatical construction, weird cutline and mislabeled map erodes public confidence in a newspaper's ability to get anything right.'"

Click here to read the full column.

NPR's On the Media recently interviewed former copy editor John McIntyre who said significant cuts at copy desks will have a greater impact than more typos.

"There are cases of potential libel that were caught on the copy desk. There were cases of plagiarism and falsification that were caught on the copy desk at The Baltimore Sun. There are any number of stories that wound up more clearly focused and better explained because the copy desk raised substantive questions," McIntyre said.

Click here to listen to the interview or read the transcript.

And just for fun, click here to see to see a newspaper correction that will leave you asking how that could have happened.