Some more findings: Little editing

Here are a few more startling findings–this time from the Columbia Journalism Review and a survey on magazine websites:

    *  59 percent of those surveyed said that either there was no copy editing whatsoever online
(11 percent), or that copy editing is less rigorous than in the print edition.

    *  40 percent said that when Web editors, as opposed to print editors, are in charge of content decisions, fact-checking is less rigorous (17 percent said there was no fact-checking online when Web editors made the content decisions).

    *  54 percent said that when errors were eventually pointed out, on sites where the Web editor made content decisions the errors were corrected, but without any indication to the reader that there had been an error in the first place.

And that’s taking respondents at their word!

Does this mean that Web people care less about traditional journalistic standards than print people? Well, let’s put it this way: in the online world, speed is the name of the game. Web sites are interested in maximizing traffic on the theory that that’s the way to attract advertisers, and quantity often trumps quality when it comes to that. Thus, given the prevailing business model (advertising is still king), the question arises: Is online content, with its rapid turnaround requirements, held to the same standards as its print equivalents? Survey says no! We conclude that while Web people don’t always favor speed over accuracy or elegance of style, they nevertheless seem to factor speed (i.e., who is first with the news, or the controversial views, as the case may be) into the equation in a way that tends to undermine traditional journalistic standards.
Read the full report.

Blog Guy's Confession:  The above confirms my worst fears. I used to believe I was a careful editor, but I can attest to the dangers of getting something up fast and the lack of copy editing. It seems any time I dash something onto  this blog and hit the publish button and go away---I will find the most horrible, attrocious errors the first time I look at it again.  Thank God , this is a blog for former news types.  Often as soon as a bad headline or typo hits, I will get an email saying:  "Typo in -----"
Copy editing is essential.  I need to repeat that twenty times.