The Job of a Copy Editor
Copy editors are the grammatical gatekeepers, so to speak, of the media world. They read over stories -- or, as the content is called in industry terms, “copy” -- and check for everything from typos to errant commas.
How Do You Become a Copy Editor?
There is no formal training needed to be a copy editor but, usually, people with these jobs have a love of language and an incredibly firm grasp of usage. And just about every copy editing job requires applicants to pass copy editing tests, which entail going over a sample story and correcting mistakes. These tests, like writing tests (which many journalists and editors must take), are standard across the industry.
Where Do Copy Editors Work?
Copy editors work at newspapers, book publishers and magazines. Of course there are also a multitude of jobs outside of the media world for copy editors. Essentially any company producing content -- websites, corporations, clothing manufacturers with catalogs -- might need a copy editor to vet stories and ensure they are grammatically correct. This means that copy editors can work in a wide array of fields. Also, many copy editing positions, like some fact checking positions, are part-time because many companies, especially magazine publishers, only need copy editing done when they’re finishing (or in media terms “closing”) an issue.
The Rules of Copy
While there are basic rules of grammar that remain fixed, a copy editor, along with journalists and writers, needs to know AP Style. AP Style is a usage guide provided by the Associated Press -- the country’s biggest news wire service -- and it’s the style most newspapers (and many magazines) have adopted. Since this a “style” guide, it’s not providing overarching rules of grammar but, rather, specific rules that have to do with everything from the serial comma to when you write a number out in letters as opposed to list it in numeric form. Also, while AP style is the standard, especially among news outlets, there are other style guides.