Common Sense Journalism

About those job ads

By Doug Fisher

Rule No. 1 when advertising for journalists, especially copy editors: Get the grammar, spelling and style right.

Rule No. 2: If in doubt, see rule No. 1.

So why do so many ads from "professional" news organizations virtually shout "amateur" for their mistakes?

Here was one recently from a well-respected Virginia paper, a flagship of its chain: "The (paper), a 80,000 plus circulation daily in southeastern Virginia wants a first-class copy editor to join our news desk team." The paper probably needs one to proof its ads:

• It's "an 80,000-plus."

• Stick a comma after "Virginia" to complete setting off the descriptive but nonessential phrase.

From a large Midwestern paper: "This person will check graphics and page proofs for accuracy, and suggest story ideas." Presumably, the copy editor will also delete the comma.

Among the qualifications for a copy editor at a Colorado paper was "extensive knowledge of Associated Press style." Later: "The (paper) has a circulation of 15,000 and covers greater Eagle County, Colorado, a growing community," etc. Once it gets that person, it will presumably use "Colo.," not "Colorado," after a place name.

Or this one: "A growing 7-day morning paper in southern Idaho" should be "seven-day."

This isn't just fussing over minor and sometimes mildly amusing errors. Imagine advertising for an accountant to do "obits" instead of "audits " or for a plumber to install "fawcetts" (Farrah, we presume?). Those are more obvious spelling errors, but if you want a copy editor, getting the basic style and grammar wrong speaks just as much to your professionalism.

Here are a few others:

• A Washington state paper advertised for someone with "two years copy editing experience." Make that "two years' copy-editing experience" or "two years of."

• Later in that ad: "We offer a competitive salary and benefits package, and are an equal opportunity employer and welcome a diversity of candidates." Back to parallel construction 101. The easy solution is to delete the "and" after "package" to produce a simple three-item series, each starting with a verb.

• However, you can also argue that the last two parts work together. If so, try this: "We offer a competitive salary and benefits package, and we are an equal opportunity employer and welcome a diversity of candidates." (Even smoother: "an equal opportunity employer that welcomes a diversity of candidates.")

• A daily in a major East Coast city says it is "seeking a full-time Copy Editor for its copy desk in its ... headquarters." Among the duties is "working the rim and/or slot positions on the Copy Desk." Ignore the awful "and/or" previously dissected in this column. This newspaper gets demerits for simple inconsistency. Is it "Copy Desk" or "copy desk"? While it's nice to be respected, let's keep both terms – copy editor and copy desk – lower case. And "rim" and "slot" are "positions" on a copy desk well known (or they should be) to those you want to hire. Delete the last part of the sentence after those terms.

Improper capitalization, poor style, misspellings and poor grammar infect too many job ads.

Even worse are those with a long list of qualifications and duties – and sentence after gushing sentence extolling the location – but that don't tell you the publication's or Web site's name. I see these on the American Copy Editors Society jobs board, for instance. Too often they provide only an arcane e-mail (and not all of these are fly-by-night publications).

A good ad doesn't need a gushy description of the job or your location (most journalists, and especially good copy editors, can use a map). A good ad:

• Succinctly describes the job and its requirements.

• Quickly makes clear any special qualifications and keeps them reasonable (unlike those that list knowing a dozen or more software packages or programming skills as "useful").

• Lists the pay range and benefits. The satisfied hire is more likely to be the one who knows the reality, rather than the one who thinks you've effectively lied (by omission) that he or she might get a living wage. Do you really think your pay ranges are secret around a bunch of journalists?

• Makes clear the name and location, contact names and numbers, and exactly how to submit an application, resume and work examples, with bonus points for specifying size or format.

OK, you also get a one-sentence pitch for how great you are. That's it.

If you want the best and brightest, show some respect for their professionalism in your ads. You're no longer the only game in town.

And even if human resources or legal is in charge, please insist that you edit. You are the pro at that, right?

Doug Fisher, a former AP news editor, teaches journalism at the University of South Carolina and can be reached at dfisher@sc.edu or 803-777-3315.