Wendy Fawthrop: Solidarity from a Guild journalist

I proudly worked in the Register newsroom for 15 years as a copy editor and reporter before leaving in September 2018 to join the copy desk at the Los Angeles Times. Much of that time I was a co-team leader on the desk, overseeing the final editing of the Register and eventually SCNG's other daily papers.

It appears from Ron's letter that SCNG management is under a common misconception, assuming that copy editors do little more than fix spelling, insert commas, and perhaps trim a few words.

But the copy editor's role is integral to a news organization's goal of reporting and communicating the news. Sure, correcting grammar, spelling, punctuation, syntax and style is a big part of what we do. But so is helping to craft the presentation of that story, whether in print or online, through compelling and accurate headlines to draw in the reader as well as effective photo captions and other display type in concert with design.

That is creating. Without that creation, an excellent story will fail to gain the notice or interest of the reader.

Copy editing also includes fact-checking to catch errors made in an often rushed writing and line editing process. It sometimes means working with the reporter or line editor to craft a story into a more accurate, clear and compelling report. And it means spotting and handling issues of taste and appropriateness as well as potential bias, plagiarism and libel. The copy editor is the safety net that maintains a news organization's reputation for accuracy and trustworthiness and even keeps it from being sued.

It was because of a copy editor, Maria Vega, that the Register was one of few major U.S. newspapers that did not have an erroneous Page 1 headline on the morning of Jan. 4, 2006, declaring that 12 trapped miners in West Virginia had been found alive. Maria's close eye on breaking developments, her news judgment and her journalist's instinct under deadline pressure saved us from following AP, the New York Times and the Washington Post into a heartbreakingly wrong story promoted in 72-point type.

That's more than just building the newspaper for printing, as Ron calls it. If that is not at the core of what SCNG and other news organizations do, I don't know what is. The public might not always understand or appreciate what copy editors do. But most reporters and editors do. And any news organization's management should too.

Wendy Fawthrop is a former Orange County Register copy desk chief. She is now a multiplatform editing lead at the Los Angeles Times and a member of the L.A. Times Guild.