2009 CONFERENCE

A success, thanks to you

In a year when leading journalism organizations nationally and internationally have canceled or postponed their annual conferences, the American Copy Editors Society conference, under way through Saturday in Minneapolis, has 254 registered participants attending its annual presentation of training workshops -- 80 percent of attendance last year in Denver under markedly different economic conditions.

This level of support speaks to the interest in and continued need for copy editing as a vital and necessary part of media in a time of unprecedented change.

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Help the Education Fund by searching with GoodSearch

The ACES Education Fund has registered with GoodSearch, a search engine that donates 50 percent of its advertising revenues to charities designated by its users. Add www.goodsearch.com to your favorites list, then designate the Education Fund as your charity and search as you would anywhere else. The results will be supplied by Yahoo.

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Tribune's short-sighted moves will come back to haunt them

Company's decision to gut copy desks, consolidate
operations will diminish quality, papers' independence

At the annual conference of the American Copy Editors Society, more than 250 people who care deeply about quality in journalism gathered to learn, to share and to support each other. At the same time, the Tribune Co. was gutting copy desks at papers around the country.

We know journalism is changing, and we're changing with it. We're learning multimedia, social media, SEO, XTML. We know that today, being current with technology isn't enough -- so we're moving forward with it. ACES is at the forefront of training copy editors to integrate traditional duties with new technologies.

But the means of delivery is one issue; quality is another. To stand out from the oceans of poorly written, error-riddled chatter, rumor and commentary on the Internet, news organizations must maintain their quality standards if they want to maintain their reputations as credible sources. Traditionally the fact-checking, question-raising, prose-clarifying and typo-fixing was done by the copy editors. Now, it is still done by the copy editors -- at publications that recognize the importance of a set of critical eyes on a piece of writing.

We know journalism has to make money. But there are short-term ways to make money and long-term ways. Short-term gains are no good if they end up undermining the foundation of the business, and cutting quality control -- the copy desk -- decreases the value of the product, perhaps irreparably.

We know there are serious problems facing the industry. We are passionate about journalism and want it to survive. We want to be part of the solution, by making the news -- wherever and however it may appear -- be as accurate, clear and relevant to our readers as possible.

2009 ELECTIONS

Bechtel joins national board

Hendricks, McLendon and Holdway re-elected to officer posts; Schmedding, Hunt and Prebula to continue on board

Three officer positions and four seats on the ACES Executive Committee were up for election in 2009. The three incumbent officers did not draw any opposition, while 10 people ran for the open board positions. The four seats were won by three returning incumbents, Daniel Hunt, Missy Prebula and Teresa Schmedding, and one new board member, Andy Bechtel (pictured). Their terms begin in June.

Vice president for membership Sara Hendricks is the night editor at the Temple (Texas) Daily Telegram. Treasurer Neil Holdway is news editor at the Daily Herald in suburban Chicago. Secretary Lisa McLendon is deputy copy desk chief at The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle. On the Executive Committee, Andy Bechtel is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Daniel Hunt is A1/sports presentation editor at The News Journal in Wilmington, Del.; Missy Prebula is deputy national slot at the New York Times and Teresa Schmedding is senior news editor at the Daily Herald in suburban Chicago.

There was an outstanding crop of candidates this year and we invite those who were not elected to take a more active role in ACES.

ACES to launch web internship for copydesk.org

ACES is soliciting applications for a Web intern to help webmaster and national board member Daniel Hunt with the organization and upkeep of the society's multimedia platforms, as well as an upcoming re-launch of copydesk.org.

This program, open to college students enrolled for fall 2009 classes, will pay a $1,000 stipend. You will help generate content and assist in development for copydesk.org and its associated platforms. This job is ideal for any student studying journalism who has an interest in Web design and programming.

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Five receive 2009 scholarship

UCLA's Kuo named Aubespin scholar

ACES has selected five winners of its 2008 scholarships: Audrey Kuo, a 2008 graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles; Rachel Hanson, a senior at the University of Utah; Kristen Huth, a senior at Pennsylvania State University; Benjamin Karp, a senior at Vanderbilt University; and Anna Young, a junior at James Madison University.

As the top candidate, Kuo was named the Aubespin scholar. The scholarship is named for Merv Aubespin, the former editor at The Courier-Journal in Louisville who is considered the "godfather" of ACES. Kuo receives $2,500, and the other winners each receive $1,000. In addition, all winners get free registration for the Minneapolis conference.

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Early results of industry survey

The American Society of Copy Editors recently completed the statistics-gathering phase of a survey designed to update information on the job satisfaction and concerns of copy editors at U S. news organizations.

In March, 278 copy editors rose to the challenge and filled out the survey online, offering their thoughts on their job, resources and the future of the industry. One goal ACES had in conducting the survey was to gather up-to-date information on the news copy-editing profession as the board maps the future of the organization.

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Social networking for past scholarship winners

If you've won an ACES scholarship in the past and are on Facebook, join a new group started by Kathy Schenck here: http://www.copydesk.org/facebook/scholars.php. You can also check out our general Facebook page here: http://www.copydesk.org/facebook/.

ACES announces plans
for mentor program

Are you having a career crisis? Or do you just want someone to talk with about your goals? American Copy Editors Society is developing a mentor program for members. You can be just starting out, thinking about making a change or interested in climbing the corporate ladder and not quite sure how to take that first step. What matters is that you could benefit from another's experience. Learn more

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ABOUT ACES

  • The American Copy Editors Society is a professional organization working toward the advancement of copy editors in newspapers, magazines, Web sites and other journalistic endeavors. Our aim is to provide solutions to copy desk problems through training, discussion and an awareness of common issues.
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    2009 CONFERENCE

    • Niko Dugan at ACES' 2007 conference in Miami
    • For the full index of coverage, including speaker handouts, visit the conference page.