A Poynter.org chat on Tuesday that featured Neil Holdway, treasurer of the American Copy Editors Society, revealed potential avenues for copy editors and, one would think, other journalists.
Some of those strategies came from people who participated in the copy editing careers chat on Tuesday, including one person whose suggestion came in too late to make the chat, so I bring it to you here.
Chris Smith wrote, “Enjoying the talk. Happy Mardi Gras from New Orleans. Sorry I can’t be at ACES event this year. As someone working outside journalism but blessed with a moderate copy editor portion of my job, I worry a little that pros looking to move to corporate jobs may overestimate how much time they’ll get to spend doing copy editor work on the other side.
“But that shouldn’t stop them from applying; our bigger problem on the corporate communications side is a declining number of people with a journalism education on resume.”
The laws of supply and demand, which hold true even in a staggering economy, mean that Smith’s observation is a hopeful one for journalists who can treat their degree and experience as a good jumping-off place.
Malecia Walker, a copy editor at Black Enterprise, wrote: “I’ve been seeing a lot of need for copy editors in the sciences and medicine. … It’s such a specialized field, one would imagine additional education is necessary.”
Holdway wrote that ACES’ membership is growing to include people in “corporate publicity, investment newsletters, academic journals and more.” In response to Walker, he said conference sessions include “financial or economic copy editing.”
Questions about careers? E-mail Joe for an answer.
Next chat: Please join us at 3 p.m. Tuesday for a careers chat with Sandra L. M. Csizmar, mobile specialist at the Hartford Courant. She is a featured guest in our ongoing series of conversations with people in or inventing new journalism jobs.
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