In brief, the copy reader should hew and polish the story to exactly the form in which it should appear in print. He is a skilled workman, employed to trim away the rough edges. By this it is not meant that the copy reader is expected to give the story the grace and elegance of literature. He should give it, if it has not already, grammatical exactness, freedom from ambiguity, and the force that goes with direct, simple statement of fact. This is the groundwork of the copy reader’s task—to make the story correct in form as in fact.
Less obviously, he must make the story conform to style—not only to the general laws of news writing, but to the special, arbitrary style of the newspaper for which it is written. Every good newspaper has an individuality, expressed partly in what is rather vaguely termed its style. The general style of a newspaper, its habitual attitude toward news, can be learned only by close observation of its columns. Specific rules, however, are laid down to cover the more mechanical aspects of style, such as punctuation and capitalization. No two newspapers agree in all the details of style. In giving an address, for example, the word “street” may be printed St., Street or street. Capital letters are used sparingly by some papers, liberally by others. Ages may be spelled out, as eighty-one years old, or the figures, 81, may be used. Style determines the method of giving titles: it may be “the Rev. William Jones” in one newspaper, “the Reverend William Jones” in another and “Rev. William Jones” in a third. “Program” or “programme” may be the form required. All such rules, which the newspaper makes in order to get uniformity, are usually embodied in a style-book, issued for the guidance of both the editorial and the mechanical department.
Compositors, as a rule, follow style as regards capitalization and like details, no matter how the copy is marked, unless the specific direction “follow copy” appears in the margin. Proofreaders, too, are instructed to observe style. It is always desirable, however, that copy when sent to the printer should be correct in every detail. The linotype operator loses time if he is compelled to read ahead to supply a missing word. Mistakes that get into type are marked by the proofreaders and corrected, but all this takes time and increases the cost of composition. The ideal piece of copy has every word and every punctuation mark correct. This is the standard, as regards mechanics, toward which the copy reader should strive. Sometimes, when he is working under pressure, he may find it impossible to correct any except the glaring mistakes. Here enters the factor of time. When a big story comes into the office only a few minutes before time for going to press, the copy reader cannot afford to hesitate over a misplaced comma; his first concern is to get the story to the printers, with the facts straight. Incidentally, it is a good general rule that the copy reader should not make a change in a minor detail of style unless he is sure he is right. When in doubt about a comma, omit.
Just what is meant by style may be seen from the following extracts regarding the use of figures from newspaper style-books:
“When an indefinite sum is mentioned, do not put in figures, as a dollar, about a hundred dollars, a million dollars, millions of dollars, etc.”—Chicago Record-Herald.
“When figures are given in round numbers, say 1 million dollars instead of $1,000,000; also ¼ million for 250,000; ½ million for 500,000; ¾ million for 750,000. Also ‘The attendance was ten thousand’; but ‘The attendance was 10,375.’”—Kansas City Star.
RULES ABOUT LIBEL
Only at the price of eternal vigilance on the part of reporters and editors can libelous matter be kept out of the newspaper. No item is too small to contain a potential libel suit; indeed it is the small items that most frequently cause trouble. Routine items, especially those from police sources, should be watched carefully. A story of considerable length that appears dangerous is always closely edited, but too often minor stories, because of their very insignificance, are allowed to slip by the copy desk and into print without thought of their mischief-making possibilities.
A vest-pocket card containing libel warnings and headed “Look at This Every Day,” is given by the St. Louis Republic to each of its copy readers. First is this note:
“Editors and reporters should never forget that no news article is valuable enough to compensate for a libel suit. Take no chances. When in doubt, consult the head of your department.”