digitization: rethinking the editor
DESCRIPTION
The computer has taken over as the dominant method for just about every task in today's world. Writing and editing are no different and this paper looks at how the latter has evolved since the beginning of the digital era. Through the compilation of multiple sources, as well as personal interviews with individuals who have worked in the field since before the shift, I have explored how editing is best accomplished in today's technology-savvy world, how the position of editor is viewed after the advent of the computer and the Internet, and where those passionate about the profession should be focusing their efforts to shape the future of editing. This was the presentation of my undergraduate thesis project combining my Journalism and Creative Writing majors at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon on Wednesday, April 25, 2012 at 1 p.m. in Marsh Hall.TRANSCRIPT
DIGITIZATION: RETHINKING THE EDITOR
Katie Sipos, Journalism + Creative Writing
Introduction
“Roughly a hundred years ago the modern era of communication begins. A precise date is unnecessary but the decade of the 1890s can serve as the approximate moment when, in the United States, space and time were enclosed, when it became possible to think of the nation as everywhere running on the same clock of awareness and existing within a homogeneous national space.”
-James Carey
Introduction
“The knowledge of language sets us apart from all other species that we know of so far…It allows us to gain and express real knowledge, to learn of our respective environments and ourselves, and ultimately to reach many things and ideas that are beyond our individual capabilities.” -Fred Field
Introduction
An editor is a person who prepares written matter for publication.
Often seen in a negative light:
Grumpy newspaper mogul Stalker-like manuscript hound Obsessive, self-titled grammar Nazi Tearful agent blubbering about deadlines
Want to help others perfect their words
Introduction
Through exploration of the past century, I will illustrate how the role of editor has become one of ridicule and how those in the field can strive to alter the traditional author-publisher-editor dynamic in order to escape extinction.
Philosophers
Walter Benjamin
Reproduction displaces art from its culture
Art becomes a commodity
The editor becomes the art critic insisting a work fails to meet standards
Philosophers
Marshall McLuhan
Print changed the oral culture that came before
Man looks down on others who cannot conform
Technological media are like natural resources
Philosophers
Katherine Hayles
“Books aren’t going the way of the dinosaur but of the human – evolving.”
Erik Qualman “While the transition from [physical] to
electronic versions will occur, …we are at the beginning of that trail. It will not be as rapid or absolute a succession as other industries.”
Newspapers
Began circulating in the 1400s Lacked regulation until 1950s
Associated Press Styleguide “Presentation of the printed word should be
accurate, consistent, pleasing to the eye and should conform to grammatical standards.”
Newspapers
“The copyreader is the newspaper’s principal safeguard. He is the constructive critic, the policeman of the news... To the experienced reporter he is a prop, a backstop, a friend in need, and a partner; to the several editors he is the guardian of the language and of accuracy…”
-George Bastian
Newspapers
English is a constantly evolving language
2011 Merriam-Webster added “bromance”
2011 Oxford English Dictionary added “<3”
Editors in place to aid in translation
While young people may understand these new terms, older individuals might need explanation
Books
Editors in this field not valued as highly
Relentless, obsessive-compulsive perfectionists
Came about with 1700s commoditization of novel
More perfect = better-received
Books
Digital methods changed entire process
Mark Twain Project
40 years of archived work, from novels to notes, available to the public free of charge
Project’s goal is to produce an annotated critical digital edition of the entirety of Twain’s works
Best Method
Two main methods
Traditional (physical, pen+paper) lends itself to “global” changes, overarching connections, content and organization
Digital (electronic, computer) lends itself to “surface” changes, smaller corrections of spelling, grammar and sentence structure
Each has pros and cons
Best Method
Organization
Physical copies allow multiple pages to be viewed
Gives better understanding of concepts More difficult to locate specific passages
Electronic copies allow quick searches
Find what you’re looking for immediately Screen can only display so much at one time
Best Method
A combination of these methods will yield the best results for a work
Articles for The Pacific Index are stored digitally, viewed physically and corrected digitally
I prefer to look at a physical copy when I go over someone else’s work, but often receive just digital
Should also incorporate community contribution
Follow models scholarly publishing develops
Digital Archives
The William Blake Archive, The Walt Whitman Archive, even the Mark Twain Project
Collect works in multiple digital formats
HTML/XML text High-quality scans of notes or other writing
Allows all stages of editing to be viewed
Digital Archives
“I Hear America Singing”
1860 version with Whitman’s notes (left)
1891 version (below)
Digital Archives
Utilizes many people working together
Encourages multiple eyes going over a work
Blurs lines between editor, editions and reader
Shows current shift in creative and editing processes toward community
Conclusion
Editors underappreciated, ridiculed
2010 undergrads disinclined toward courses with “heavy” literary requirements
Online reinforcement of negative outlook Finnish Pilkunnussija = “comma fucker”
Conclusion
Not out of the running yet
Associated Press Managing Editors News ran a study that had readers rate articles
Edited articles rated higher
“Editing really matters, [not just] to grumpy old white guys who still teach editing classes. It matters to younger people who might go a month without seeing a newspaper. Real people can tell the difference.” -Fred Vultee
Conclusion
“The reason a lot of people are stuck is because they confuse the old ways, the best ways of doing something once, with the best way of doing something forever.”
-Mark Prensky
It’s time to stop waiting for the evolution of editing and start leading it
Images Used
Plato: http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/1200/1247/Plato_1_lg.gifPlato’s Cave: http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/PlatosCave.gifBenjamin: http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/assets/img/data/3706/bild.jpgMcLuhan: http://juliekinnear.com/imagesall/2011/10/Marshall-McLuhan.jpgHayles: http://www.dukemagazine.duke.edu/dukemag/issues/030409/images/030409-lg-017909hayles001.jpgQualman: http://www.gotham-artists.com/img/files/users/213/profile/qualmanspeakerpage.jpgStylebooks: http://jvanwyke.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/allfour_72dpi.jpgTypo: http://static-imgs-acf.hereisthecity.com/20110721/60/typo10_9907.jpgMTPLogo: http://www.marktwainproject.org/xtf/icons/mtp/header_narrow.jpgFischer: http://www.marktwainfestival.org/_images/_userfiles/Image/Vic%20Photo.JPGAmerica1860-1: http://whitmanarchive.org/published/1860-Blue_book/images/leaf106r.htmlAmerica1860-2: http://whitmanarchive.org/published/1860-Blue_book/images/leaf106v.htmlAmerica1891: http://whitmanarchive.org/published/LG/1891/images/leaf14r.htmlFinnish: http://i.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/article/9/0/1/117901_v1.jpg