Comments on: Copy editing: Does outsourcing it make sense? http://blog.fagstein.com/2009/08/19/cp-pagemasters-and-outsourced-copy-editing/ Can you think of a better name? Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:25:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Transcontinental centralizes pagination in Maritimes – Fagstein http://blog.fagstein.com/2009/08/19/cp-pagemasters-and-outsourced-copy-editing/comment-page-1/#comment-113583 Transcontinental centralizes pagination in Maritimes – Fagstein Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:26:05 +0000 http://blog.fagstein.com/?p=6608#comment-113583 [...] The hidden reality is that these copy editors tend to be non-unionized and have lower salaries, they have little connection to and may not even be familiar with the communities they serve, and the local journalists don't have the time to correct all of the things a lazy, overworked copy editor hundreds of kilometres away might have done that they don't agree with. [...] [...] The hidden reality is that these copy editors tend to be non-unionized and have lower salaries, they have little connection to and may not even be familiar with the communities they serve, and the local journalists don't have the time to correct all of the things a lazy, overworked copy editor hundreds of kilometres away might have done that they don't agree with. [...]

]]> By: Toronto Star wants to outsource 78 editing jobs – Fagstein http://blog.fagstein.com/2009/08/19/cp-pagemasters-and-outsourced-copy-editing/comment-page-1/#comment-106973 Toronto Star wants to outsource 78 editing jobs – Fagstein Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:41:43 +0000 http://blog.fagstein.com/?p=6608#comment-106973 [...] I've written before about the larger issue of the outsourcing of copy editing jobs. Saying I'm against it would be transparently self-serving, but I'd like to think there's some magic in the designing of pages, writing of headlines and editing of copy that will be missed when the job is handed over to a third party that is interested more in volume than quality. [...] [...] I've written before about the larger issue of the outsourcing of copy editing jobs. Saying I'm against it would be transparently self-serving, but I'd like to think there's some magic in the designing of pages, writing of headlines and editing of copy that will be missed when the job is handed over to a third party that is interested more in volume than quality. [...]

]]> By: Laurence Miall http://blog.fagstein.com/2009/08/19/cp-pagemasters-and-outsourced-copy-editing/comment-page-1/#comment-91553 Laurence Miall Sun, 23 Aug 2009 22:01:15 +0000 http://blog.fagstein.com/?p=6608#comment-91553 I rather admire that you can discuss so dispassionately the pros and cons of outsourcing your own job! While I am not as familiar with The Montreal Gazette as I am with some other Canadian newspapers, and I have no clue how these papers are supposed to stop the current bleeding, one thing seems clear to me. If newspapers continue to cut staff, create a culture of low morale, make their papers smaller, eliminate and merge sections, they will simply downsize themselves into irrelevance. The other day, I purchased a weekend edition of the Globe and Mail because I had to kill some time at the airport. Boy, for $2.50, it was one hell of a disappointment. Thin, lacking substance, and full of columnists who clearly churn out their 750 words in an hour or so, chiefly because it's gossip, requiring no research. I contrast this to the magazines I'm happily subscribed to, The Walrus, The Believer, The New Yorker, and there is no question that the magazines are by far the better investment for me. Again, I'm not offering any informed opinion on this; I just think it's only logical that if papers make their product worse and worse every year, they will eventually just die out. Maybe in the future there will be fewer papers, but those that survive will have figured out that they will have to offer the best damn reading experience they possibly can. The seeming demise of newspapers does not mean we're all a bunch of apathetic troglodytes out there. If you're the sort of person who's going to buy a paper at all, you're quite likely also the kind of person who will notice shoddy copy editing. Standards must not only be maintained, they must be raised! I rather admire that you can discuss so dispassionately the pros and cons of outsourcing your own job!

While I am not as familiar with The Montreal Gazette as I am with some other Canadian newspapers, and I have no clue how these papers are supposed to stop the current bleeding, one thing seems clear to me. If newspapers continue to cut staff, create a culture of low morale, make their papers smaller, eliminate and merge sections, they will simply downsize themselves into irrelevance. The other day, I purchased a weekend edition of the Globe and Mail because I had to kill some time at the airport. Boy, for $2.50, it was one hell of a disappointment. Thin, lacking substance, and full of columnists who clearly churn out their 750 words in an hour or so, chiefly because it's gossip, requiring no research. I contrast this to the magazines I'm happily subscribed to, The Walrus, The Believer, The New Yorker, and there is no question that the magazines are by far the better investment for me.

Again, I'm not offering any informed opinion on this; I just think it's only logical that if papers make their product worse and worse every year, they will eventually just die out. Maybe in the future there will be fewer papers, but those that survive will have figured out that they will have to offer the best damn reading experience they possibly can. The seeming demise of newspapers does not mean we're all a bunch of apathetic troglodytes out there. If you're the sort of person who's going to buy a paper at all, you're quite likely also the kind of person who will notice shoddy copy editing. Standards must not only be maintained, they must be raised!

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