For copy desks, the times they are a-changin’ | Nieman Journalism Lab

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For copy desks, the times they are a-changin’

LINK: stevebuttry.wordpress.com ➚ | Posted by: Joshua Benton | May 26, 2012

Steve Buttry argues for both the value of copy editing and the need for change. (Steve’s employer, Digital First, is making big copy desk changes, including killing off the copy desk at the Denver Post.)

Journalists who have treated the copy desk as a safety net need to take more responsibility for the quality of their own work. And journalists who have specialized in copy editing will play multiple roles in a Digital First newsroom.

He recommends a restrained editing style (“Don’t rewrite a clear sentence just because it wasn’t written the way you would have written it”), a focus on SEO and speed, and a shift to social media and aggregation.

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