Future of copy editing

In class we watched a video about the end of the Rocky Mountain News. In almost all my journalism classes we have discussed the poor state of the newspaper industry. The internet and blogs are often considered the culprit for the sorry state of American newspapers. Why pay for a newspaper when you can find it online for free?

During this period of cutbacks and layoffs many are questioning the role of copy editors. The media journalist and blogger, Patrick Thornton, writes on his blog that the position of copy editor is outdated and obsolete. With blogs, there is no need to shorten stories or do page layout. He believes there should be some copy editors at newspapers, but more pressure needs to be put on writers to catch the majority of their mistakes and create their own headlines.

Self proclaimed "Web content guru," Karen G. Anderson, also writes about the role of copy editors during the age of the blog. From her experience as a writer and editor, she believes there will always be a need for copy editors. Computers will never find all the errors as well as a professional copy editor. She also questions the lowered standards for online content.

"Lack of copy editing in the world of web writing makes the 'old school' writer in me completely crazy. I think of my demanding copy editing professor at journalism school, Irv Horowitz, who used to tell complaining students that he wanted us to learn the craft at its highest level. 'You can always lower your standards later,' he'd growl.

Well, it's later. And we have. Does anyone (except us) notice?"