We're Talkin' About Practice

I'm calling out copy editors right now. Or better yet, I'm calling out people in charge of newspapers. I'm sick of the botched headlines, jumps and stats that I find in the sports section. Plain and simple, if you're a copy editor and you don't know a thing about sports, don't change something unless you ask.

And as for headlines, I think the reporters and columnists should write them. Is it really that hard for someone who already knows the article inside and out to throw down a headline? I'm not saying it's easy to write a headline, but the author of the article should be able to at least put something together that is free of sports-related errors.

People outside of the sports realm may think it isn't that big of a deal, but I'm here to tell you that it is. When I sit down and painstakingly search for statistics to go along with my story, I expect them to be checked, not decimated. When I write something that I am truly proud of, it's heartbreaking to wake up in the morning and see vomit printed in bold above my article.

This is why I am proposing that newspapers figure out a way to employ at least one copy editor that has some sports knowledge. I mean we're not talking about a lot of sports knowledge here ... just a little bit. They need to know the bullet points of sports, or at least have the patients to jump on a computer and look something up. If you don't have a sports background, please don't trust your sports instincts. That's just silly.

I understand that copy editors may feel like they don't get the appreciation they deserve. I will be the first to say they are absolutely necessary. Trust me, after taking my news editing class, I've realized they are a big part of the machine that is journalism. Without them, people would laugh at some articles they see in the newspaper each morning. But all I'm saying is that they need to step their game up and understand how bad it makes sports writers feel when they see glaring errors in their stories that weren't there to begin with.

Studying here at U of I, we are asked to get a broad education in news-editorial journalism because we are supposed to know a little about everything. But when your working at a newspaper, you can't forget this. Yes, it's important to know which piece of legislation is being passed by what court on what day. But how about who won the NCAA Tournament? I would argue that there are just as many people waking up to look at ESPN.com as there are checking their YAHOO NEWS.

I mean, honestly, I hope I didn't make any mistakes in this blog because I didn't have a copy editor look over it ... for real.


B