In 1982, the Kent Commission was set up to analyze the state of the media in Canada with regard to objectivity. The CRTC made recommendations based on this report stating media corporations were not allowed to own more than one radio or television station in a single market, and similar recommendations were made with regard to newspapers. The government overruled this and now we have examples like Canwest Media owning the two major newspapers in Vancouver (The Province and The Sun). Media is now so heavily consolidated that conglomerates control most of North Americas heavily circulating newspapers.A good copy editor is hard to find. Must have a passion for language and interest in Journalistic principles: accuracy, fairness, ect. Most copy editors work in groups or news rooms. A good editor needs to be more objective than a reporter. He needs to be a better writer than a reporter. His grammar must be spot on. He needs to be well-travelled. He needs to be able to fix things without losing the original writer’s style. He needs to have experience as a writer and have experience in media first. Slot editors and rim editors have similar jobs, but the slot editor is running the show. With the emergence of online news sites along with the amount of people logging on to these sites copy editing has become a much larger job than before. In order to save on labor costs companies have merged a lot of the post editing process onto the laps of copy editors. But as the chapter states, “Good copy editors are a rare breed. Just ask any editor or publisher trying to hire one” (6).
This chapter focuses on the emerging importance of the copy editor in today’s digital world. With online news sites becoming increasingly popular and newsrooms looking to shave expenses the copy editor has become an integral piece of the puzzle. This has led copy editors to take on a larger workload while receiving little remuneration. It also details the difficulties in designing brochures. It briefly touches on the timetables most groups have to face in order to meet deadlines. It then goes to say that most of these timetables are actually compressed into smaller units making the need for those who can work under pressure a valuable asset.
Note: Image from CBC News.
Good insight into the importance of an editor in the news industry. It will be interesting to see how conglomerates and convergence effect the news industry in the future.
ReplyDeleteErik & Dale
The points that were mentioned about a good copy-editor having even better writing skills than a reporter, that they must be well-traveled and tech-savvy-keeping up with the digital realm-are all valid points, and ones that an aspiring copy-editor must ahdere to if they wish to make it in the writing business, “Good copy editors are a rare breed. Just ask any editor or publisher trying to hire one.” The bar is super high now-a-days as well, and the importance of a good copy-editor remains ever vital.
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