Newspapers in crisis, the copy-editing edition

Hour 2

Many of us are accustomed to getting our news from newspapers, and many of us are also familiar with the industry-wide crisis threatening their continued existence. But far fewer are aware of the behind-the-scenes work of copy editors, who toil in the dark (often a late shift) to fix the grammar, check the facts, and generally improve the stories filed by reporters and content editors. The copy desks of the nation’s newspapers are also suffering the industry slump, and today’s Radio Times will look at what they do, and why news readers should care. Guest host TRACEY MATISAK will talk with DAVID SULLIVAN, assistant managing editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer and a board member of the American Copy Editors Society (ACES); TERESA SCHMEDDING, news editor of the Daily Herald in suburban Chicago and new president of ACES; and MERRILL PERLMAN, former director of the copy desks at The New York Times.