On Friday, June 30, 2017, Editors Canada president Anne Louise Mahoney sent the following letter to the News Guild of New York in support of the copy editors at The New York Times, as the paper plans to reduce the 100 positions to 50.
Dear copy editors of The New York Times:
The Editors’ Association of Canada (Editors Canada) wishes to express our support for you as The New York Times plans to drastically reduce its copy editing staff.
As your colleagues north of the border, we appreciate your efforts to bring much-needed attention to the importance of the profession of copy editor. As editing professionals, we know that the copy editor’s role is crucial. Without the copy editor, a huge range of errors can all too easily slip into print—not only spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes, but factual errors, biased language, unclear passages and other problems, all of which can seriously undermine the credibility and effectiveness of a piece of writing. The result is not only unprofessional, but could lead to legal action against the publisher. While copy editors tend to be invisible, their work is indispensable.
We wish you well as you continue to speak out about the value of the copy editor in the publishing process, and we hope for a positive outcome for your current situation.
Sincerely,
Anne Louise Mahoney
Certified Professional Editor
President, Editors Canada
president@editors.ca