Copy Editors Under Fire

How kan the publissshing world liv w/out copyEditors?

Writers of all stripes depend on copy editors, and many great authors have worked in that thankless field as well. Unfortunately, these guardians of the written word are the first casualties of the new media economy.

USA Today reported yesterday that the CEO of MediaNews Group has considered outsourcing “overseas” the copy edit work for the 54 newspapers owned by his company — a move that could become more common in our struggling economy. A number of unions quickly responded in this Romenesko post.

“A MediaNews proposal to wipe out copy desks at newspapers across the country threatens not only hundreds of jobs, but also quality and credibility values the beleagured newspaper industry needs now more than ever,” replied a spokesperson in a joint statement from the Northern California Media Workers Guild, Southern California Media Guild/Local 9400, and the Newspaper Guild-CWA.

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.