We're All Copy Editors Whether We Like It, Or Not

Years ago, I had worked as a copywriter in a graphic design company. As what my position implied, I did copywriting jobs for different projects in the automobile, banking, retail, and other industries. As a copywriter, I developed slogans, taglines, script and body texts of varying lengths to promote a business or person. The work is often associated with brochures, annual reports, flyers, advertisements, websites and other vehicles of marketing and advertising. Currently, I am taking a course in Editing Print and Online Media where students will be trained in the theory and practice of copy editing various types of content for print and online media. The course will also train students to write compelling headlines, photo captions and other display material.

Copy editing is the work that an editor does to improve the formatting, style and accuracy of the text. You may think that copy editing is just for editors working in newspapers and publishing companies but it is a task that I think everyone who is involved in communications should employ. Since copy editing will look into formatting, style and accuracy of the text most of the time, it normally comes before proofreading, which is the last stage in an editorial process.

Any writing that has a journalistic value or promotional value will involve some form of copy editing. I think that if everyone has copy editing skills, we will be able to avoid or at least minimize mistakes. I see occasional bloopers on billboards, printed materials (newspapers, brochures, ads, etc.), online news or press releases, and even on websites. For a lot of companies, a slight mistake on a text whether it's printed or online, costs money or even potential profit loss. On certain times, a mistake that cannot be reversed just because it's already published and made available publicly, could even cause legal issues.

So if you think that you're exempted from doing any kind of copy editing work, think again. Managers, supervisors, people holding high positions and ordinary staff, have a share of responsibility when it comes to copy editing. For me, this is my opinion. I think that if we all share a sense of accountability in looking through all our printed and online materials, we will be able to spot those areas that need to be corrected. And for those of us studying to be the next generation of communicators in this city, we have a great responsibility in our hands to spot any errors and correct it. For now, we will take the time to learn as much as we can, and put these into practice.