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Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism University of Southern California
Producers

The Importance of Copy Editing

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Writing is of utmost importance in journalism. Succinct, informative, accurate and engaging writing can really determine how successful a newscast is. No matter how great video and sound are, a package or story cannot be brought to life without good writing. 

As lead producer, I had to write the teases for this week's broadcast. I found this extremely challenging -- you can't give too much information away, but you have to give just enough to make the viewer want to keep watching the show. This means teases have to be clever and intriguing enough to draw viewers in and keep them in their seats.

Aside from writing teases, copy editing is also necessary and important. A day in the newsroom flies by so quickly and in such a rush that errors in writing are common. Hence, it is important for team members to copy edit other people's stories and update them if necessary. It is a team effort.

Despite the fact that everyone has set duties and deadlines, team members should try to take some time to check other members' work. Going this extra mile can really make a drastic improvement to the newscast. I struggled with this on Tuesday because I was so consumed by the work I had to do. Luckily, going to the studio a little early and double checking scripts really helped in catching small errors. 

To improve copy for the newscast I hope to invest more time in editing stories in iNews. I hope to be able to speed up the time it takes for me to finish my responsibilities, so that I can dedicate more time to make sure our show is phenomenally written!

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