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Copy Editing for Diversity
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OOOps
Posted by
Tracy Quan
1/10/2004 11:40:59 PM
I suppose I should provide a link to the piece I just carried on about. It is in the Op Ed section of the NY...
I suppose I should provide a link to the piece I just carried on about. It is in the Op Ed section of the NY Times, Jan 10, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/10/opinion/10BROO.html
And I find it unnecessarily paternalistic.
What do others think?
We and They
Posted by
Tracy Quan
1/10/2004 11:35:01 PM
I was taken aback by a recent David Brooks column in the NY Times which talks about immigration. He sounds well-meaning and all that but...
I was taken aback by a recent David Brooks column in the NY Times which talks about immigration. He sounds well-meaning and all that but refers constantly to migrant workers as a group so alien that they will never read his column. I could not help feeling that if I were one of the migrants whom he wishes (apparently) to help, I would find that column insulting or alienating.
In 2004 is it really appropriate for a columnist to take such a blinkered and provincial tone? He is not talking about Martians who are theoretical beings -- he is referring to living, breathing local people. Had he been referring, as a white American, to blacks, I think he would not have taken this tone. (I hope!) His language, tone, approach, etc. made the argument easy to follow -- so I can appreciate it as a devise. But I am troubled.
'Diversity' is a horribly misused word in newsrooms
Posted by
Rick Adamczak
11/15/2003 10:45:58 PM
To me, the lack of diversity in newsrooms means one thing - the lack of journalists who are conservative. Or, for that matter, the lack...
To me, the lack of diversity in newsrooms means one thing - the lack of journalists who are conservative. Or, for that matter, the lack of those who are independent.
When will there be true diversity in the newsroom with a balance of liberal, conservative and mainstream points of view?
Ideology is much more important than skin color.
getting the details
Posted by
Robert Knilands
10/27/2003 3:48:33 PM
Often the witnesses have supplied only a sketchy description to the police. So getting more information can be a difficult task.
Also, I've ne...
Often the witnesses have supplied only a sketchy description to the police. So getting more information can be a difficult task.
Also, I've never seen a crime description that referred to someone simply as "Asian."
And -- these tips are being presented as tips for copy editors, not metro editors or reporters. If the copy editors need to supply missing info, I'm curious as to how that gets done in the real world of deadlines, with most people leaving before the crime story goes to the desk, etc.
Try calling the police department after the "officer who handled the case" has left and try to get more info. See how far you get.
In short, blaming the desk (which is a common problem at many newspapers) for not being "diverse" in this case is extremely short-sighted.
One more thing: One tip is to "learn a second language." I guess those classes I had in college were simply a figment of my imagination.
Push your sources
Posted by
Gerard Walen
10/27/2003 10:57:17 AM
Regarding police descriptions, any editor, not just on the copy desk, should question an incomplete description in a story, and then have the rep...
Regarding police descriptions, any editor, not just on the copy desk, should question an incomplete description in a story, and then have the reporter do his or her job: Ask questions.
Don't accept "Hispanic," "black" or "white." Press the source for details. Did the criminal have dark hair/eyes, speak with an accent; was his hair close-cropped, straight, in an afro; did he walk with a limp or wear glasses? Unless a story breaks late, don't just rewrite the police report for a brief -- make a call: "Excuse me, Ms. Police Spokeswoman, this report says the bank robber was 'Asian.' Can you give me a more complete description so our readers will have a better idea what the robber looks like?"
Don't just pass on the copspeak to readers.
Unless reporters and editors press for more complete and realistic descriptions, sources will only continue to give us the sketchy ones.
police descriptions
Posted by
Robert Knilands
10/25/2003 1:58:03 PM
In regard to the police descriptions:
Sometimes the info available from the police is sketchy at best.
Blaming the reporter or copy editor...
In regard to the police descriptions:
Sometimes the info available from the police is sketchy at best.
Blaming the reporter or copy editor or accusing them of not doing their jobs is a disservice.
Also, these problems would be less prevalent if newspapers would have copy editing positions, not designer/paginator/proofreader positions where no copy really gets edited the way it should on the desk.
Addendum:
Posted by
Alex Dering
10/25/2003 8:29:02 AM
During the last post's Times bashing (one of my favorite pastimes) I should have mentioned that not ALL of the mouthbreathers at the Times are,...
During the last post's Times bashing (one of my favorite pastimes) I should have mentioned that not ALL of the mouthbreathers at the Times are, in fact, mouthbreathers.
Jonathan Landman, for instance, apparently had the mental capacity to put one and one together and tried to save the Times' reputation.
I suspect there are probably three, maybe four, other people at the Times who can still see around a few corners.
They have my deepest respect.
Basic question...
Posted by
Alex Dering
10/25/2003 8:23:23 AM
I've read the article. (Always a good step before asking a question.)
Can you please tell me which of the COPY EDITOR points are unique...
I've read the article. (Always a good step before asking a question.)
Can you please tell me which of the COPY EDITOR points are unique to diversity as opposed to already in place when copy editors do their jobs properly?
Every one of the steps mentioned as being for diversity was taught in some form while I was at UMass in the late-1980s. Back then, they weren't called diversity points. They were called doing your job right.
Write thoroughly, write fairly, write for all the audience, examine all sides of the issue, etc.
(Granted, this was a public university, and therefore incapable of producing a journalist of the same stature as those towering giants at the New York Times who couldn't collectively figure out that a drug-addict sleeping on a couch in the building wasn't in Maryland simultaneously, but I wander off topic.)
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