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| Does editing affect your bottom line? Posted: 08 May 2011 09:39 AM PDT I came across some interesting research about professional editing of web copy. The assertion is that, in the "rush to be first online", material is published without going through the copy desk. So, does this result in sloppy copy? According to the research, the short answer is "Yes". The study was carried out in the USA by Fred Vultee of Wayne State University, Arizona, and the findings were presented at the 15th national conference of the American Copy Editors Society (ACES) in March. Fred was considering the question: "Does quality of online editing affect the bottom line?" While noting that this is hard to measure, he focused on three criteria: professionalism, grammar and organisation. Fred made some fascinating findings, including that the readers in the study:
The study used reader perceptions of quality, and concluded: "Readers care about what copy editors do, and copy editors can tell managers that their jobs are therefore critical to their organisations." That’s comforting news for some of us. Fred points out, though, that the study was just the beginning. It was based on results from 66 readers – not a huge number – and it didn't record anything about readers' incomes (which can be relevant to how you target copy for your audience). He plans to consider whether poor editing stops readers visiting a website altogether. You can read a report about Fred Vultee’s study and access his conference presentation on the ACES website. I'd love to know what you think. Meanwhile, I’ll eagerly await more of Fred’s findings. © Frances King |
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