Copy Editing

[ilai]

Ian finally breaks the silence (lameness, laziness, torpor, whatever you call it) to highlight a couple of glaring errors in the Metro today.

• Error the First: an article describes a Brookline septuagenarian as "a Korean War veteran who also spent time in Figi in the Peace Corps."
• Error the Second: a headline about the impending deadline of MGL c. 148, §§ 26F^1/2 ("Nicole's Law") reads "All homes must have CO2 alarms by end of month."

Now Ian will crawl back into his den until spring.

Comments

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

I'm stuck by the glare of the actual sunlight this morning and can't see the glare of these errors. Care to share?

[ilai]

Oof, I wish I were back in bed :-) "Fiji" is misspelled in the article, and the headline writer is confused about how many oxygen atoms are in carbon monoxide.

This is why I'm not a copy editor.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

In my defense my brain was looking for grammar errors; I read the words and knew what they meant so I didn't look much at their spelling. Honestly I don't look at the spelling of most capitalized words.

Re: This is why I'm not a copy editor.

[ilai]

My brain is kind of wired to spot details like that, though I sometimes wish it wouldn't, because it makes it harder to focus on the content of the message rather than the delivery...

[ilai]

(Although the sunlight did burn, it did make it easier to wake up this morning....)

[marcusmarcusrc.livejournal.com]

CO2 alarms! See, people _do_ care about climate change!