I
magine pouring your blood,
sweat and tears into a lengthy,
time-consuming
research
paper, only to receive a less-than-
ideal score because of the mere fact
that you mistakenly interchanged
“there”, “their” and “they’re.” Or
perhaps your overuse of the passive
voice clouded the central points of
your work, leading to an inevitable
lower score. The absolute horror.
Well, it is for us copy editors, at
least.
Huddled at a single table amid
the beautiful mess known as The
Michigan Daily newsroom, we’re
perceived as one of the more quiet
tables.
Our
contribution
to
the
newspaper involves anticipating the
arrival of buzzing news articles and
intriguing opinion pieces so that we
may silently, yet slightly snarkily,
point out grammatical and factual
errors. All 24 of us are diverse in
backgrounds and experiences but
manage to bond over our mutual
understanding and appreciation of
the importance of “proofreading on
steroids.”
My fellow English nerds and I at
the copy desk are more than happy
doing what we do: bringing out the
best in others’ writing. Through the
three stages of copy editing an article
undergoes — from primary editor to
senior editor to the copy chief — each
of us seeks to make the content of the
article more accurate, the sentences
smoother and have the story look as
polished and professional as can be.
Copy
editors
single-handedly
establish
and
maintain
a
news
source’s credibility, making the daily
morning paper a worthwhile read.
Using our talented, watchful eyes, we
make sure our readers don’t have to
cringe at misused phrases or wince
out of frustration at the heinous sight
of an obviously incorrect “fact.”
As crucial as copy editors are to
publications, we’re just as necessary
to have around as friends who
are always eager to pounce on the
opportunity to enable our loved
ones to shine through their writing,
whether it be for an essay or a résumé.
We catch tiny mistakes that others
wouldn’t, saving our companions from
potential bad grades or rejections. Oh
yeah, we’re basically superheroes in
our own right.
Since high school, I have been
involved with editing publications
— the annual yearbook being the
main target during my pre-college
days. When you think of yearbooks,
it’s not typically the text within
the book that comes to mind right
away. However, if you were to look
back at your high school yearbooks,
you’ll notice the relevance of having
a written description, caption or
quote accompany an image that was
perhaps becoming a little fuzzy in
your memory over the years.
Now in college, by ensuring the
events and activities taking place on
campus and in the world are reported
accurately and clearly, I like to think
I am still working to achieve the
same goal of informing the people of
today and reminding the people of
tomorrow.
We’re
nitpicky,
outrageously
observant and need things to follow a
structured set of rules — probably not
the most lovable traits, but I promise,
we only intend to be supportive. As
such, be certain to let the copy editors/
proofreaders/general supporters in
your life know how much they are
appreciated.
Wednesday, February 14, 2018// The Statement
7B
Copy That: We see
things others don’t
BY SADIA JIBAN,
DAILY COPY EDITOR
ILLUSTRATION BY
HANNAH MYERS
Taking Out the Trash
BY MICHELLE SHENG