Newspaper Writing and Editing

by Willard Grosvenor Bleyer

(2) Making the story conform to the so-called “style” of the newspaper.

(3) Improving the story in any respect.

(4) Eliminating libelous matter.

(5) Marking copy for the printer.

(6) Writing headlines and subheads.

The good copy-reader must be able to catch instantly, and correct quickly, errors of all kinds. Good copy, or “clean copy,” as it is called, should be free from mistakes in spelling, grammar, and rhetoric; but rapid writing too often leads to carelessness, and the copy-reader’s work is correspondingly increased by the necessity of doing what the writer has neglected to do. The correction of such errors, however, is not the most important part of his work. He must be able to detect and correct errors of fact. As every art, science, business, occupation, sport, recreation,—in short, every form of activity, is the subject of news, the copy-reader should be able to pass intelligent judgment on the accuracy of stories written about these various activities. He must also be familiar with proper names that appear in the news, such as names of prominent persons and places the world over, the titles of well-known books, plays, pictures, and musical compositions, the names of railroads and important corporations, and special trade-mark names. To no one in the newspaper office and to few outside of it, can the words of Terence more truly be applied than to the copy-reader, humani nihil a me alienum puto, “I consider nothing human to be outside of my sphere.”

Like the good reporter, the copy-reader must be an accurate judge of news values. He must be able to see the significance of the news in the story. He must be able to decide how much space it is worth. If the real point of the news has been buried by the writer, the copy-reader must get it out and give it the prominence that it deserves. The ineffective lead must be rewritten, the needless details cut out, and the parts of the story rearranged for the best effect.

To improve the style of the story, he must consider carefully the construction of paragraphs and sentences, the choice of words and figures. Each paragraph should be given an effective beginning that will catch the reader’s eye in rapid reading. Close connection should be maintained between the sentences in the paragraph. The copy-reader must transform the weak, rambling sentence into a firm, coherent statement with an emphatic beginning. For the trite, colorless word or phrase, he must substitute the fresh, picturesque one. The too figurative flights of exuberant fancy in one young reporter’s copy must be toned down, and the bald, prosaic narrative or description in another’s given life and interest. In short, the copy-reader’s work is constructive as well as critical; it is as important for him to rewrite and rearrange as to cut out and boil down.

The responsibility of determining whether or not any statements or implications of the story as written are libelous also rests upon the copy-reader. He must know the law of libel, therefore, as it is construed in his state, and must prevent violations of it in the matter that he edits. Less often he is called upon to decide whether or not anything in the news story violates laws regulating the transmission of printed matter through the mail. Whenever the copy-reader is uncertain on any important point involving the management of the newspaper, he refers the question to his superiors.

Some Common Errors. In reading copy rapidly the beginner will do well to be on the lookout for certain kinds of common errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. The quick eye of the copy-reader will catch the frequently misspelled words without difficulty, but uncommon proper names are more likely to cause trouble, and in cases of doubt, books of reference should be consulted. To prevent errors in grammar from slipping through in a story, the copy-reader should note such points as (1) the agreement of the verb with the subject, particularly when they are separated from each other by words or phrases; (2) the relation of pronouns to their antecedents; (3) the position of participles in relation to the words that they modify; (4) the use of coördinate conjunctions to connect elements of the same kind; (5) the position of correlative conjunctions with relation to the elements that they connect.