Pick of the links (12 Feb-22 Sept 2009)

• Web version of a mag production desk
  A suggested migration path for print subs.
• No need for sub-editors – Roy Greenslade
  (with 100 comments adding to the debate)
• The Guardian’s follow-up to Roy’s rant
  ‘Subeditors are under attack from cost-cutting newspaper groups – and Roy Greenslade. So do they have a future?’
• How do you sub live stories – and add value?
  Adam Tinworth on the nature of real-time news.
• A survival guide for sub editors and other curmudgeons
• FT plans for new ‘web ready workflow’ leaked; ‘right first time’ approach for filing copy
  ‘…sub-editors will edit, check and revise these elements and add multimedia and interactive features, and be responsible for revising content for print and online.’
• Automated sub-editing – could this replace you?
  ‘Tansa provides enterprises with advanced text proofing tools.’
• The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks
  Say no “more”.

Subslink: 39 strange but true newspaper headlines

Bit of fun after recent rantings. Headlines include, the ridiculous:

Alton Attorney Accidentally Sues Himself

the badly-worded:

Chicken with artifical legs dies a hero

and the intriguiing:

Hairdo kills mum

For the full list, go here.

Freelancing in the nude?

Nice tablecloth. Pic: Cronewynd/Flickr

Was bemused to listen to the awful Freelance National Anthem - but think the endline is wrong. Freelance writers have the the joy of working in pyjamas. Working ‘in the buff’ is just plain wrong. Or am I being naive?

What do you wear when working from home? And, less contentiously, what time do you get dressed?

Maybe the writer just couldn’t find a rhyme for pyjamas…

Storking the typo-makers

You can publish then edit all you like but, beware, the original may still be ‘out there’ – and there are people willing to spot it, tweet it, snap it, blog it and generally announce it to the world. Like this one from Tom Ackroyd who took a snapshot of a 3News headline typo tonight (since corrected) and uploaded it to Twitpic before tweeting me:

Too heavy for the stalk: newborn weighs in at 6.4kg

Beauty. It makes me think fondly of all those job adverts for sub-editors asking for the ‘ability to spot a literal at 50 paces’.

Even funnier is that the original 50-pace typo spotter uknzguy has pointed out that the error has been immortalised in the URL.

Note to self:  check my permalinks! Thank Buddha, there’s an edit function in WordPress for just this kind of cock-up.

‘My tornado hell’, my red pen heaven

My Tornado Hell (revisited) – I can’t quite believe this now classic 2006 feature, about a windy day in Kensal Rise, went past the Evening Standard’s subs’ desk unscathed. Maybe the copy editors didn’t know where to start. Either that or writer Caroline Phillips has got mates high up.

…vomiting clementines, speared American walnut floating shelves, non-demurring loss adjustors called Simon, primal screams and a brilliant trauma specialist therapist, all wrapped up in a windy metaphor triple decker sandwich.

Best thing I’ve read in ages. Someone send Caroline to a war zone, please.

Here’s the follow-up: Tornado Alley, the final fallout
And the Mumsnet thread, featuring my favourite comment from Unquiet Dad who’s cast My Tornado Hell: the movie with Jude Law starring as THE ASSESSOR

Confessions of a Twitterer

Writer Matt Hill posted this a couple of days ago on microblogging service, Twitter:

So I wrote ‘little bastard’ instead of ‘child’ on some web copy; mainly for the amusement of a proofreader. Who missed it. I’m in trouble.

Funny but I am well and truly shocked. Are there really proofreaders on the web?

So you think you’re a good sub?

Would you have checked the Sarah ‘Africa is a country’ Palin story? Turns out this top tale is a hoax anecdote by a fake advisor to McCain, name of Martin Eisenstadt – allegedly checkable with a bit of surfing around the online joint. The wind-up perps, real names Eitan Gorlin and Dan Mirvish, blame sloppy work by traditional news media and by bloggers:

“With the 24-hour news cycle they rush into anything they can find,” said Mr. Mirvish.

Maybe just mention this story if any web types tell you that checks and edits are a ‘nice to have’.

It actually got me feeling sorry for the hockey mom. More on the story at the NY Times…

PS I can see a potential future of disclaimers – ‘Status for this story: unverified’. For copy editors, perhaps the line is: if the story sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

PPS Status of this post: unverified and slung up as soon as I heard the news from BhamPostJoanna on Twitter. Cheers Jo G

Obama: 10 funny headlines…

…and captions, story links, blog posts, videos and animations on the man with the initials B.O.

1. Nation Finally Shitty Enough To Make Social Progress (The Onion)
   
2. Black Man Given Nation’s Worst Job (The Onion)
   
3. “All right, now what do I do?” (Uncyclopedia)
   
4. Obama a Maria Carey fan (The Hindu)
   
5. Bark Obama the speaking dog (who’s actually called Herpe, watch him woof Obama here!)
6. Time To Take The White People’s Guns! (Wonkette; see the animation at Get Your War On)
   
7. Obama Prays To Baby Jesus All The Time (Wonkette)
   
8. Australia to invade US if Obama elected (Dead Brain)
   
9. Black/Brown Prime Minister? (from the lovely Speak You’re Branes)
10. Obama – f**kin legend (ok this so was my niece’s Facebook status, sue me.)

Would you sub the Welsh?

With more redundancies announced today at the Evening Standard and the Independent, perhaps there’s a burgeoning career for someone copy checking road signs?

The Welsh apparently reads, “I am not in the office at the moment. Please send any work to be translated.” It all went wrong following an automated email response – full story here.

Hitler gives good headline

This vintage headline from the Birmingham Mail must be true – I saw it on a teatowel. Thanks to JS for suggesting it for the Top 10 (er, 11) rudest headlines but it’s getting a post to itself.