The Easiest Fix Ever!

This week's blog topic of copy editing couldn't be more relevant to my most recent newscast -- a show that had me cringing a little more often than I would have liked.  From incorrect OTS's, to irrelevant stories, to unintelligible sound bites, my show definitely wasn't perfect. However, it's at least good to know that with a few simple alterations, I could have had an almost perfect finished product.

Honestly, I think all of the mistakes that occurred in yesterday's newscast could have been prevented by better copy editing.  I now realize that copy editing is one of the most (if not the most) important things you can do for your newscast.  Even the simplest of errors -- for example, having an OTS that says "housing sales down" and having copy that reads housing sales are up (which is actually one of the mishaps that occurred during last night's show) -- can ruin a technically flawless story.  It's incredibly frustrating when a simple thing like that ends up taking your story from thoughtful and interesting to factually incorrect and therefore useless.

However, as frustrating as those simple errors are, they are prevented by a simple technique: copy editing.  Next week, for my last show ever, I am going to make sure I don't let these simple mistakes prevent me from having an impeccable newscast!