It’s a Dirty Job, but Someone Has to Do It

On March 24, in the “Talk to the Newsroom” column of the New York Times, Merrill Perlman, manager of the newsroom copy desks, answered readers’ questions. One reader, Robert Cloud, managing editor of

St. Martin’s Press, voiced concern about the dearth of “literate freelance copy editors.” Perlman agreed that the breed seems to be vanishing and added that she believes that the way in which we use the English language has affected the skill with which we use it. Information is no longer conveyed to us primarily in print form but rather through aural media. How else, she asks, to explain the “morphing of ‘home in on’ to ‘hone in on’,” for example. What are the qualifications of a good editor, and how does one acquire them? A forthcoming blog post will begin the discussion.

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