SPRING 2013
Adviser Update
Page 7A
Tighter deadlines demand good editors
By Rich Holden
W
ith apologies to Pete
Seeger:
Where have all the editors
gone, long time passing?
Where have all the editors
gone, long time ago?
Where have all the editors
gone?
Publishers laid them off
everyone.
Oh, when will they ever
learn?
Oh, when will they ever
learn?
Unfortunately, I’m afraid that
the answer to the last line is
“never.” News organizations
continue to consolidate their
editing and design operations,
particularly among the large
chains. This one-fits-all
approach works if you’re
dealing with national or
international news, but local or
state news is a different story.
How many times have
you read an article in your
local paper where you
knew names, places and
addresses were incorrect?
While it’s impossible to publish
a mistake-free, “perfect”
newspaper, having good
editors with what we call
institutional knowledge can
limit the number of mistakes.
John Russial, an associate
professor of journalism at
the University of Oregon and
a former newspaper editor,
cites advances in technology
as one of the reasons for
the declining number of
copy editors. He observed,
“Technology isn’t necessarily
put in place to make your lives