Featured Clips: Toronto Star: “There’s an App for That”
COURTESY OF THE TORONTO STAR
By Ann Hui
Copy editors everywhere were covering their ears when Craig Silverman, author of Regret the Error, blogged about three new apps that can be used for error prevention in newsrooms.
Now, before editors start looking into second careers or stealing office supplies, they should know that the apps aren’t designed to replace professional copy editors. Rather, they’re meant as an extra line of defence against errors, making it easier for readers who want to edit existing web content and submit corrections―kind of like a Wikipedia for content.
One of the widgets, designed by gooseGrade, for example, can be downloaded and added onto any existing blog or website. A “copy edit” button appears below content, which readers can click if they notice grammar, factual or other errors in the copy. The suggestions are then sent onto the site author, who can choose to accept or reject changes.
My only beef is with the name: gooseGrade’s “copy edit” button implies that the widget performs all functions of a copy editor―far from true. Professional editors not only edit for basic factual or grammar errors, but also spot legal issues, lapses in logic, and general flow.
But a widget like gooseGrade’s does present interesting potential for news sites.
Here at the Star, we have a public editor through whom errors are filtered through. But at other news sites, submitting errors is far from simple. With a copy-editing widget, not only will readers have an easier way of notifying journalists of mistakes―clicking a button right below the content is, after all, easier than tracking down an individual journalist or editor’s email address―but it also gives journalists a simple way of filtering and keeping track of feedback.
Giving readers a simple―and visible―way of correcting journalists’ errors can also help with the credibility issue so many news organizations are facing.
Want to know more?
Tech Crunch blogged about gooseGrade earlier this year, and blogs such as MediaStyle, maintained by communications consultant Ian Capstick, are already using it.
