LA Observed: Legal newspaper cans entire copy desk

[Jim McBee]

Word out of the Los Angeles Daily Journal newsroom is that the lega...

[Casey Rogers]

Wow. Desperate times call for desperate measures I guess. But seriously, no copy editors? What about the designers? Are they expected to proof all the pages before going to press? If nobody is looking at pages before the night is through then you can expect error-riddled copy, declining circulation and a probably end of product.

[Curt Milton]

I've worked at a place where I not only designed the pages but did the copy editing as well. It wasn't pretty.

Firing the copy desk will look like a good idea until the day arrives that the paper gets sued for something that made it into print only because a dedicated copy editor wasn't there to stop it.

[Casey Rogers]

Yeah I've worked as both a copy editor/designer too. I'm just wondering who is shouldering the copy editing responsibilities. Because surely, no one in their right minds would put out a paper that hasn't been copy edited right? I believe every journalist should be capable enough to copy edit, but honestly, not everyone has those skills like people who've sat on the copy desk for years.

[coffeymaker]

Losing your copy desk, is like losing your best friend.

Instead of letting go countless numbers of journalists, why don't they start by letting go some of the top executives. Think about it. One executive's salary would probably equal the salaries of 10-15 journalists and then some. Wouldn't that be more economically feasible than letting go an entire copy desk. I would think so.

The copy desk works the nights, weekends and holiday shifts without questions asked. The copy desk is the backbone of the newsroom. If you break the backbone, then you have nothing.

[Michael Higdon]

Jesus Christ that's rough....speaking of Jesus, think we could hire him to copy edit?

[Paul Hampton]

Does anyone know how many E's are in chiselers?