Copy Editors Love the Work, Feel Undervalued
By Alyssa Appelman
How did the pandemic affect job satisfaction for copy editors, proofreaders and fact-checkers? What kinds of skills do copy editors want professors to teach? What challenges are copy editors facing?
As a copy editor-turned-journalism professor, I decided to dive into these crucial industry questions during my research sabbatical in 2021-2022. I joined forces with my long-time research colleague Kirstie Hettinga, and we conducted a survey and follow-up interviews with members of ACES: The Society for Editing, the Editorial Freelancers Association, the News Leaders Association and the Society of Professional Journalists.
We’re excited to share some project results with you, as well as links for more information.
1. Job Satisfaction and Passion
Survey participants indicated overall positive perceptions of their jobs across multiple measures, including high job satisfaction, high perceptions of work quality, low role overload, and low burnout. They also reported high satisfaction with their schedules, but they were more neutral regarding prospects for advancement and satisfaction with their salaries. Many specifically noted a strong passion for the field and the work. Our job satisfaction manuscript describes further comparisons: freelance editors, book editors, editors who worked fewer hours, and long-time editors reported higher job satisfaction than the other participants.
Participants also reported a mixed impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the freelance editors were already working from home and liked the flexibility and autonomy, while some editors experienced more significant workload and employment shifts.
2. Undervalued and Misunderstood
Several survey participants said they felt undervalued by their employers and clients, and some thought this work was misunderstood by the general public. In our interview manuscript, we explored these perceptions more deeply. As we know, editors are often not publicly credited for their work; participants saw this lack of visibility, combined with subsequent misperceptions about the work, as negatively affecting the value that people associate with editors.
3. Disagreement about Training
As professors, we of course had to ask about training, and we received some fascinating responses. The survey participants recommended that new hires be skilled in grammar, sentence structure, working on deadline, time management, accuracy, fact-checking, and critical thinking; they disagreed, however, about whether certain skills are innate or whether they can be taught. They also disagreed about whether such training should occur in universities or through on-the-job mentoring.
Our editor training manuscript reports these findings and provides advice for faculty who teach related classes. In particular, it suggests reframing editing classes to show students the breadth of the field and the variety of media industries in which they could do this work—particularly for students who have innate qualities that make them suited for and passionate for a career in editing.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate in this project!
—-
Alyssa Appelman, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas. She has been an ACES member since 2009.
