News Editing is an important function in the field of journalism. There is a lot of ignorance among the public regarding the importance of editing the news. Some laymen may just think that the newspaper reporters simply have to gather enough news material to fill the columns of their newspapers. Some others may think that all the newspaper reporters write the headlines over the news stories filed by them. Sometimes even the working newsmen may not realize the importance of editing the news. The word editing is derived from the Latin word editus, past principle of the verb edere – meaning to put forth, to give out, or to publish. Editing is all about making a copy worth publishing by perfecting it to suit the requirements of the publication which also includes the choice of stories.
Editing is importantly used to make it easy for the reader to comprehend whatever he reads in a particular publication. This includes sifting, cleansing, and sorting out the best out the moulds of stories and giving it a finishing touch and a fine headline to attract the audience or readers.
Those who edit the news are called copy-editors or sub-editors. Generally sub-editors are graduate reporters and they get good salaries. Some reporters may have certain complaints against the editors that they have spoiled their good stories, by interfering with their original prose or by cutting the important parts of their stories or by giving misleading headlines to their stories. “Some reporter may even nurse a feeling in his heart that an editor has run other stories instead of his highly deserving story. But there are also many experienced reporters who would accept the fact that the editors have improved their stories by correcting the errors and properly trimming them. It is the duty of the editors to offer the readers only the best stories in their newspapers by rejecting the less deserving ones. There is no doubt that a bad editor can even ruin the news value of good story by miswriting the headlines or by cutting the essential by an experienced editor can enhance the news value of the stories. The good editors will not make a wide choice of stories which are available on their desks but also improve greatly their effect and language by their editing.
Good editing is very necessary for a good report. The editor tries his level best to improve on the original effort made by his reporter. He would like to give it a good headline and also improve the phraseology of the report to enhance its effect. No editor worth his salt would like to spoil intentionally the good work done by a reporter. Rather he would do his utmost to fill up the holes in the story and give it a dress up to make it presentable. The editors not only have to decide which story should reach their readers and with what emphasis by they have also the final responsibility for the maintenance of accuracy and clarity in their news items. They also try to see that the story confirms to their style as well as it is understood correctly.
Good editing means scrupulous attention to the spellings and grammar of everything which appears in the newspaper. Correct spellings are not only necessary for accuracy but they are also necessary for maintaining the good image of the newspaper. A good copy editor or a sub-editor is expected to improve the phrasing of the stories. To make the stories read better he may shorten or lengthen the sentences, improve the vocabulary or even rearrange the paragraphs. The sub-editor may improve the story and remove the flaws in it. Thus, the sub-editor’s desk is the last chance for repairing and improving the news items.
Copy-Editing Elements and Usage
As a journalist, assigned copy-editing duties, you should always strive for accuracy, rather than speed. You might adopt the slogan, “All I miss, they will print.” Before you try filling the seat of copy editor, make sure you have a copy of the locally produced stylebook, as well as a copy of the latest version of The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual.
Both books are designed to standardize all news writing and word usage for internal publications and for news releases to civilian media. The copy-editing guidelines covered in this section are as follows: Style Editorializing Contradictions in completeness, Names, Numbers, Spelling, Punctuation, Capitalization, Abbreviations, Military terms, Religious terms.
Style
Everyone in your office should be acquainted with the locally accepted stylebook, but it is up to the copy editor to catch any violations of good style. It is annoying for an editor to pick up a story and find, for example, the word “avenue” spelled out one time, abbreviated as “ave.” a second time and written as “av.” ‘a’ third time. An office that is careless or inconsistent about little things may eventually become careless or inconsistent about big things.
Once a news medium loses respect for you, you might as well close shop. No newspaper will take the chance of publishing sloppy or carelessly prepared material. Spelling, punctuation, capitalization, abbreviation and other mechanical aspects of grammar are details of writing that have a tremendously important impact on the clarity, readability and effectiveness of your copy. Once your office gets away from using a set stylebook, your news copy will slowly become a hodgepodge of inconsistencies.
Editorializing
Editorializing happens when a writer consciously or unconsciously expresses doubt, censure or praise in a news story. The only persons permitted to express an opinion in a straight news story are the persons in the story itself. Even then, the opinion quoted must be attributed to the person who gave it. News stories should be written in the third person. The writer’s personal opinions should never be injected into a news story. Facts should be reported as they are found, without personal pronouns referring to the writer. Editorials are articles in newspapers or magazines in which the views of their editors or those in control of the periodicals are intentionally presented.
However, such articles are clearly identified and purposely set apart from the publications’ news and features. The electronic media also offer editorial opinions, but they, too, take care to keep them separate from their regular newscasts. Editorials require a very specialized style of writing — the fundamentals of which will not be covered in this training manual. The focus of this section is the inclusion of personal opinions in your news writing through carelessness or by design. Consider the following examples of editorializing in straight news copy, then note the following suggestions offered to eliminate the implied opinions: Poor: Lt. Post is exceptionally well qualified for the position. Improved: Lt. Post, with a degree in law, has eight years of experience as a Navy legal officer. Poor: An interesting program is planned for tonight at the Officers’ Club. Improved: Here is tonight’s program at the Officers’ Club.
Principles of editing
The main consideration in editing is to tell the story in the fewest words possible. Condensation is essential because there is more material than can be used. The second consideration is clarity, which is obtained by avoiding intricate sentence structure and by using familiar words. The third consideration is forceful expression. The sub-editor must constantly seek the most effective way to express the ideas of the story. The forth consideration is respect for accuracy.
It means looking out for small factual errors, which disfigure an otherwise good story. Editing involves more than making sure words are spelled correctly, language is used properly, punctuation is in the right places and spelling is accurate. These, however, are important details that separate a polished publication from a sloppy one. As gatekeepers of a publication, editors must have a clear idea about what the mission is. So part of editing involves being missionaries and Part also involves being ambassadors of ideas. It is with experience that the best ideas most often come from the bottom up, not from the top down. So editors should be encouraging writers to pursue their own story ideas. This is done with prompting, nudging, cajoling, pushing--whatever works. Editing requires good listening. The writer should be heard first, and then the editor responds. The conversation process enriches stories, because two heads are better than one. Conversation should be taking place when the idea is first being formulated; it should take place during and after the reporting phase; it should take place before the story is written and it should take place after the editor has fully processed the story. At each stage the editor should bear in mind that it is the reporter's story on the one hand, but it also is the reader's story. It is not the editor's story. Story ideas are similar to loaves of bread. All of the elements need to be brought together and kneaded. Then the dough is popped into the oven until it rises and is ready to eat. The punctuation has an important function in a story. Its function is to help guide the reader through the sentence or paragraph in a way that will make the wording more understandable.
Revision
Editorial changes, normally made in ink for the printer, are better made clearly in pencil on the typescript if the writer is going to see the changes. A reasonably legible photocopy can then be sent to the author for checking and revision process. The editor can draw attention to doubtful points with a marginal note.
Structural Reorganization
Reorganizing a whole write up, argument or section ought to be the writer’s responsibility, but the editor must have good reasons for asking for major reorganization, and they should suggest how it should be done.
Expansion
If a step in the argument is missing, or if further experimental evidence is needed, only the writer can supply the missing material.
Shortening
Shortening an article to a given length may be done by the author but is often better done in the editorial office. If the writer is asked to do the work the editor must indicate how it might be done, which sections, paragraphs, tables or illustrations could be deleted, which part could be condensed, and which marginally relevant theme might be cut out.
Copy-editing: preparation of copy for press
Editing may also involve rewriting. While editing a story, the sub-editor should, as far as possible, look for errors in spelling, grammar and syntax (sentence structure)and correct these and ‘pass’ the copy. But an instant second look might sometimes compel him/her to rewrite it. The opening paragraph may lack the punch, or the copy may seem confusing, or the news may be hidden below. Hence, rewriting may become necessary for the sake of clarity.
Copy editing is the process by which an editor makes formatting changes and other improvements to text. Copy, in this case a noun, refers to material (such as handwritten or typewritten pages) to be set (as in typesetting) for printing. A person who performs the task of copy editing is called a copy editor.
The copy editor's job may be summarized in the 5 Cs: to make the copy clear, correct, concise, comprehensible, and consistent. Copy editing typically entails correcting spelling, punctuation, grammatical and semantic errors; ensuring the type script adheres to the publisher's house style; adding standardized headers, footers, headlines and so on. These elements must be addressed before the typesetter can prepare a final proof copy. The copy editor is also expected to ensure the text flows well, that it makes sense and is fair and accurate, and that it will cause no legal problems for the publisher.
Newspaper copy editors are sometimes responsible for choosing which wire copy the newspaper will use, and for rewriting it according to their house style. In many cases, a copy editor will be the only person other than the author to read an entire text before publication. Newspaper editors often regard their copy editors as their newspaper's last line of defense. A copy editor may abridge text, which is also called "cutting" or "trimming." This means reducing the length of a novel or article, either to fit broadcast or publishing limits, or to improve the material. This may involve simply omitting parts of the text, but sometimes it is necessary to rewrite uncut parts to account for missing details or plot. Some abridged texts are only slightly shorter, but others may be reduced dramatically, particularly when a literary classic is abridged Besides an excellent command of the language, copy editors need a broad general knowledge to spot factual errors, good critical-thinking skills so that they recognize inconsistencies, diplomatic skills to help them deal with writers, and a thick skin.
Source: Internet
Editing is importantly used to make it easy for the reader to comprehend whatever he reads in a particular publication. This includes sifting, cleansing, and sorting out the best out the moulds of stories and giving it a finishing touch and a fine headline to attract the audience or readers.
Those who edit the news are called copy-editors or sub-editors. Generally sub-editors are graduate reporters and they get good salaries. Some reporters may have certain complaints against the editors that they have spoiled their good stories, by interfering with their original prose or by cutting the important parts of their stories or by giving misleading headlines to their stories. “Some reporter may even nurse a feeling in his heart that an editor has run other stories instead of his highly deserving story. But there are also many experienced reporters who would accept the fact that the editors have improved their stories by correcting the errors and properly trimming them. It is the duty of the editors to offer the readers only the best stories in their newspapers by rejecting the less deserving ones. There is no doubt that a bad editor can even ruin the news value of good story by miswriting the headlines or by cutting the essential by an experienced editor can enhance the news value of the stories. The good editors will not make a wide choice of stories which are available on their desks but also improve greatly their effect and language by their editing.
Good editing is very necessary for a good report. The editor tries his level best to improve on the original effort made by his reporter. He would like to give it a good headline and also improve the phraseology of the report to enhance its effect. No editor worth his salt would like to spoil intentionally the good work done by a reporter. Rather he would do his utmost to fill up the holes in the story and give it a dress up to make it presentable. The editors not only have to decide which story should reach their readers and with what emphasis by they have also the final responsibility for the maintenance of accuracy and clarity in their news items. They also try to see that the story confirms to their style as well as it is understood correctly.
Good editing means scrupulous attention to the spellings and grammar of everything which appears in the newspaper. Correct spellings are not only necessary for accuracy but they are also necessary for maintaining the good image of the newspaper. A good copy editor or a sub-editor is expected to improve the phrasing of the stories. To make the stories read better he may shorten or lengthen the sentences, improve the vocabulary or even rearrange the paragraphs. The sub-editor may improve the story and remove the flaws in it. Thus, the sub-editor’s desk is the last chance for repairing and improving the news items.
Copy-Editing Elements and Usage
As a journalist, assigned copy-editing duties, you should always strive for accuracy, rather than speed. You might adopt the slogan, “All I miss, they will print.” Before you try filling the seat of copy editor, make sure you have a copy of the locally produced stylebook, as well as a copy of the latest version of The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual.
Both books are designed to standardize all news writing and word usage for internal publications and for news releases to civilian media. The copy-editing guidelines covered in this section are as follows: Style Editorializing Contradictions in completeness, Names, Numbers, Spelling, Punctuation, Capitalization, Abbreviations, Military terms, Religious terms.
Style
Everyone in your office should be acquainted with the locally accepted stylebook, but it is up to the copy editor to catch any violations of good style. It is annoying for an editor to pick up a story and find, for example, the word “avenue” spelled out one time, abbreviated as “ave.” a second time and written as “av.” ‘a’ third time. An office that is careless or inconsistent about little things may eventually become careless or inconsistent about big things.
Once a news medium loses respect for you, you might as well close shop. No newspaper will take the chance of publishing sloppy or carelessly prepared material. Spelling, punctuation, capitalization, abbreviation and other mechanical aspects of grammar are details of writing that have a tremendously important impact on the clarity, readability and effectiveness of your copy. Once your office gets away from using a set stylebook, your news copy will slowly become a hodgepodge of inconsistencies.
Editorializing
Editorializing happens when a writer consciously or unconsciously expresses doubt, censure or praise in a news story. The only persons permitted to express an opinion in a straight news story are the persons in the story itself. Even then, the opinion quoted must be attributed to the person who gave it. News stories should be written in the third person. The writer’s personal opinions should never be injected into a news story. Facts should be reported as they are found, without personal pronouns referring to the writer. Editorials are articles in newspapers or magazines in which the views of their editors or those in control of the periodicals are intentionally presented.
However, such articles are clearly identified and purposely set apart from the publications’ news and features. The electronic media also offer editorial opinions, but they, too, take care to keep them separate from their regular newscasts. Editorials require a very specialized style of writing — the fundamentals of which will not be covered in this training manual. The focus of this section is the inclusion of personal opinions in your news writing through carelessness or by design. Consider the following examples of editorializing in straight news copy, then note the following suggestions offered to eliminate the implied opinions: Poor: Lt. Post is exceptionally well qualified for the position. Improved: Lt. Post, with a degree in law, has eight years of experience as a Navy legal officer. Poor: An interesting program is planned for tonight at the Officers’ Club. Improved: Here is tonight’s program at the Officers’ Club.
Principles of editing
The main consideration in editing is to tell the story in the fewest words possible. Condensation is essential because there is more material than can be used. The second consideration is clarity, which is obtained by avoiding intricate sentence structure and by using familiar words. The third consideration is forceful expression. The sub-editor must constantly seek the most effective way to express the ideas of the story. The forth consideration is respect for accuracy.
It means looking out for small factual errors, which disfigure an otherwise good story. Editing involves more than making sure words are spelled correctly, language is used properly, punctuation is in the right places and spelling is accurate. These, however, are important details that separate a polished publication from a sloppy one. As gatekeepers of a publication, editors must have a clear idea about what the mission is. So part of editing involves being missionaries and Part also involves being ambassadors of ideas. It is with experience that the best ideas most often come from the bottom up, not from the top down. So editors should be encouraging writers to pursue their own story ideas. This is done with prompting, nudging, cajoling, pushing--whatever works. Editing requires good listening. The writer should be heard first, and then the editor responds. The conversation process enriches stories, because two heads are better than one. Conversation should be taking place when the idea is first being formulated; it should take place during and after the reporting phase; it should take place before the story is written and it should take place after the editor has fully processed the story. At each stage the editor should bear in mind that it is the reporter's story on the one hand, but it also is the reader's story. It is not the editor's story. Story ideas are similar to loaves of bread. All of the elements need to be brought together and kneaded. Then the dough is popped into the oven until it rises and is ready to eat. The punctuation has an important function in a story. Its function is to help guide the reader through the sentence or paragraph in a way that will make the wording more understandable.
Revision
Editorial changes, normally made in ink for the printer, are better made clearly in pencil on the typescript if the writer is going to see the changes. A reasonably legible photocopy can then be sent to the author for checking and revision process. The editor can draw attention to doubtful points with a marginal note.
Structural Reorganization
Reorganizing a whole write up, argument or section ought to be the writer’s responsibility, but the editor must have good reasons for asking for major reorganization, and they should suggest how it should be done.
Expansion
If a step in the argument is missing, or if further experimental evidence is needed, only the writer can supply the missing material.
Shortening
Shortening an article to a given length may be done by the author but is often better done in the editorial office. If the writer is asked to do the work the editor must indicate how it might be done, which sections, paragraphs, tables or illustrations could be deleted, which part could be condensed, and which marginally relevant theme might be cut out.
Copy-editing: preparation of copy for press
Editing may also involve rewriting. While editing a story, the sub-editor should, as far as possible, look for errors in spelling, grammar and syntax (sentence structure)and correct these and ‘pass’ the copy. But an instant second look might sometimes compel him/her to rewrite it. The opening paragraph may lack the punch, or the copy may seem confusing, or the news may be hidden below. Hence, rewriting may become necessary for the sake of clarity.
Copy editing is the process by which an editor makes formatting changes and other improvements to text. Copy, in this case a noun, refers to material (such as handwritten or typewritten pages) to be set (as in typesetting) for printing. A person who performs the task of copy editing is called a copy editor.
The copy editor's job may be summarized in the 5 Cs: to make the copy clear, correct, concise, comprehensible, and consistent. Copy editing typically entails correcting spelling, punctuation, grammatical and semantic errors; ensuring the type script adheres to the publisher's house style; adding standardized headers, footers, headlines and so on. These elements must be addressed before the typesetter can prepare a final proof copy. The copy editor is also expected to ensure the text flows well, that it makes sense and is fair and accurate, and that it will cause no legal problems for the publisher.
Newspaper copy editors are sometimes responsible for choosing which wire copy the newspaper will use, and for rewriting it according to their house style. In many cases, a copy editor will be the only person other than the author to read an entire text before publication. Newspaper editors often regard their copy editors as their newspaper's last line of defense. A copy editor may abridge text, which is also called "cutting" or "trimming." This means reducing the length of a novel or article, either to fit broadcast or publishing limits, or to improve the material. This may involve simply omitting parts of the text, but sometimes it is necessary to rewrite uncut parts to account for missing details or plot. Some abridged texts are only slightly shorter, but others may be reduced dramatically, particularly when a literary classic is abridged Besides an excellent command of the language, copy editors need a broad general knowledge to spot factual errors, good critical-thinking skills so that they recognize inconsistencies, diplomatic skills to help them deal with writers, and a thick skin.
Source: Internet
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