Here’s how the rolling MediaNews Group policy of getting rid of copy editors (something abruptly announced at the Contra Costa Times and other Bay Area MediaNews properties a couple of weeks ago) is playing out at the Denver Post. Steve Myers at Poynter quotes Post editor Gregory Moore on the scheme to spread copy-editing chores around the newsroom:
Under the old system, Moore said, a story often would be read six or seven times. Now it will be two or three, perhaps more if it’s a big, high-stakes story. For this to work, staff will have to be trained on a variety of skills, such as writing headlines for print and the Web and, of course, copy editing.Noted: That “Downward sprial” headline goof in the Post showed up the day before Myers wrote about the MediaNews copy editor purge.
