New York Times Copyeditors Protest Impending Layoffs in Their Own Brilliant, Inimitable Fashion
Photo Credit: Erika Cross / Shutterstock.com
If the New York Times aims to hold the Trump administration to account, it will be doing so with approximately half the number of copyeditors, as executive editor Dean Baquet has announced plans to lay off as many as 50 staffers.
On Thursday, employees staged a 20-minute walkout to protest the impending cuts.
Hundreds of @nytimes journalists walkout today to protest copy desk buyouts. pic.twitter.com/y8A3cjYbHJ
— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) June 29, 2017
The New York Times walkout for copy editors. pic.twitter.com/XGipjKyD7F
— Monica Castillo (@mcastimovies) June 29, 2017
The slowdown occurred following two letters sent to management by New York Times employees via the News Guild of New York, one from the copyeditors Wednesday and the other from reporters Thursday—or, as the latter prefer to be known, "those whose copy, facts and sometimes the intelligibility of a sentence or two have been hammered into shape by our friends and colleagues on the editing desks."
The copyeditors' protest signs were as witty as they were cutting, incorporating intentional typos to demonstrate their value in protecting the New York Times reporters and brand from embarrassing errors. Signs included "This sign wsa not edited," "Copy editors save our buts" and "Who do you think makes sure it's fit to print?"
NYT guild walkout today pic.twitter.com/Kk7XkRcTaU
— Sapna Maheshwari (@sapna) June 29, 2017
Best sign from today's protest by @NYT staffers against management's plans to slash the number of copy editors. https://t.co/UiX3RbNPde pic.twitter.com/lAtaZYTK61
— Steven Greenhouse (@greenhousenyt) June 30, 2017
nyt guild walkout today and one sign said it best: copy editors save our buts pic.twitter.com/f2bcLS5why
— Tejal Rao (@tejalrao) June 29, 2017
In the copyeditors' letters to top management, they describe how they are, "as one senior reporter put it, the immune system of this newspaper, the group that protects the institution from profoundly embarrassing errors, not to mention potentially actionable ones."
.@nytimes reporters chanting "no editors, no peace" during walkout protest over cuts. pic.twitter.com/2xaNTbbeJ3
— Adam Shaw (@AdamShawNY) June 29, 2017
The layoffs are said to be planned in the interest of "eliminating what the editorial management of the paper has called redundant, unnecessary layers of editing, in order to speed up the process between story conception and publication," Deadline reports.
The New York Times also recently eliminated the public editor position "in the latest buyout plan to reduce staff."
Expecting reporters to be accountable for their own copy is asking a lot, especially in a fast-paced news environment in which clarity and accuracy are desperately needed to combat the perception of "fake" and biased news.
As one senior Times staffer told Deadline, "I've never seen morale so low at the Times. ... And there's a lot of chaos in the newsroom."
