“Missourian puts copy editors in charge of social networking”

Written in response to: http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/media-lab/social-media/113174/missourian-puts-copy-editors-in-charge-of-social-networking/

By Damon Kiesow

2.28.20111 (For Penn State University Journalism class)

            I continue to be interested in the ways copy editors are adapting to the increased usage of online sources for newsgathering purposes. This article discusses one paper’s attempt at gearing the focus of copy editors to the new realm of social networking. For this paper, the student-run staff has refocused their attention and reevaluated their priorities from print to web. Their main focuses now are online presentation and engagement.

            The importance of this article is that it again points out that the most successful online news sources are the ones that understand the concept of being interactive with their readership. It also points out the importance of getting news out quickly but still making sure the information is accurate. Making sure to engage the readers is an important task for these copy editors because the online news community is all about the constant conversation between the readers and the authors. At this paper, the copy editors are in charge of maintaining that engagement, and fostering an environment where comments are encouraged and where staff members respond.

            Since the paper is still working on creating a print version as well, there is a smaller team of editors and designers that develop the print paper based off of information that has already been published online. This shows that it is very clear the online publication is more important to them at this point than the print version. It’s almost as if the print version of their publication is more of an after thought to the online content.

            I’m really impressed that they assigned the duties of watching the comment boards to members of their staff. That way it’s not just the responsibility of the author to keep checking back on the comments, but other members of the staff are watching and providing their own feedback as well. This brings together the entire community of readers and staff and generates a well-rounded conversation than just the one author and the few comments from the readers.