Beyond "Trimming the Fat": The Sub-Editing Stage of Newswriting

Autor/inn/en	Vandendaele, Astrid; De Cuypere, Ludovic; Van Praet, Ellen
Titel	Beyond "Trimming the Fat": The Sub-Editing Stage of Newswriting
Quelle	In: Written Communication, 32 (2015) 4, S.368-395 (28 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0741-0883
DOI	10.1177/0741088315599391
Schlagwörter	Editing; News Writing; Revision (Written Composition); Discourse Analysis; Intervention; Eye Movements; Reading Processes; Writing Processes; Ethnography; Coding; Observation; Semi Structured Interviews; Newspapers; Foreign Countries; Belgium + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Redaktion; Textbearbeitung; Korrektur; Diskursanalyse; Augenbewegung; Leseprozess; Ethnografie; Codierung; Programmierung; Beobachtung; Newspaper; Zeitung; Ausland; Belgien
Abstract	Thus far, professional editing has not been researched extensively in writing research. This article zooms in on sub-editing in newswriting as a form of professional editing, addressing three research questions: (a) What are the ways in which a news article's text is altered?, (b) Are some types of news article altered more significantly than others?, and (c) Are certain news article sections more prone to alterations? Merging the contextualized insights of fieldwork with a corpus-based discourse analytic research perspective, we trace the differences (viz. additions, deletions, translocations, replacements) between the "initial" (right before sub-editing) and "final" (published) version of six different types of news article, (frontpage, headline, long, medium, short, and news wire article) in a corpus sample of 30 broadsheet articles. Our findings are first that--contrary to popular belief that sub-editors mainly "hack away" at news stories, or merely "trim the fat"--additions prevail. Second, we found that most interventions occur in high-stakes articles. Third, we discovered the largest number of interventions in the "entry points" of an article, that is, where--according to eye-tracking research--readers stop scanning and start reading. We discuss our findings in the light of training for professional newswriters. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01