Why Copy Editors are Necessary

I'll continue with my tale of space exploration momentarily, but I wanted to draw attention to this little tidbit. See, SecondLaw is currently trying to find a job here in the city after leaving a certain major Philadelphia newspaper where she was employed in the thankless, long-hour, never-get-a-weekend-off position of copy editor for many years. The trend in newspapers today is towards fewer editorial staff members, meaning that less people actually take a look at what is published before it's published. It's even worse online, where everyone wants to be the first to break a story, and speed trumps accuracy. Often, that means that what is published hasn't been checked enough and glaring errors can appear. Every now and then, they're just funny.

For instance, I saw this printed in the New York Times online today. Sad news to be sure. It seems Robert Novak has a tumor and will no longer be writing his regular screed for the Chicago Sun-Times and instead has an imminent appointment with death. But it seems the New York Times wasn't willing to let him go without a parting shot, which I caught hiding almost out of sight in the next to last sentence.

I for one wish him the best of luck with his new brain. Perhaps it will serve him better than his old one, which tends to forget things like who told him about Valerie Plame.