Dozens of Journalists, reporters and editors at the New York Times briefly protested outside their office on Thursday over planned cuts to the newspaper’s copy editing staff. The copy editing staff, which is usually responsible for covering all the grammatical mistakes, factual errors and various other oversights ensure that the paper remains error free, was not taken into account when the decision was implemented.
To ensure that their point of view was heard and taken into account, at 3 p.m. Eastern Time, dozens of reporters and editors gathered outside holding placards that read: “We kneed are editors! They make us look smart!” and “Copy editors save our butts,” and “This sign wsa not edited.”
The members of staff were enraged over the decision with many labelling the decision as “unfair” and “uncalled for”.
“There s a right way to do this and a wrong way,” said Christoph Fuhrmans, a senior staff editor in the sports department. “It was done very quickly. This was done in a vacuum.”
“The Times goes through such a thorough check of facts and editing that is done to each story,” said Grant Glickson, president of the New York Newspaper Guild. “Copy editors have ensured that would happen for more than 100 years.”
Before staging the brief protest, the copy editors sent an open letter on Wednesday, to Dean Baquet, The Times’s executive editor, and Joe Kahn, the managing editor, challenging the decision to cut staff and eradicate the copy desk.
“We have begun the humiliating process of justifying our continued presence at The New York Times,” the letter from the copy desk began.
The reporters of the newspaper soon followed the editors’ footsteps as they, too, sent an open letter stating their concerns regarding the decision, on Thursday. “Editors — and yes, that especially means copy editors — save reporters and The Times every day from countless errors, large and small,” the reporters wrote.
“We believe that the plan to eliminate dozens of editing jobs and do away with the copy desks is ill-conceived and unwise, and will damage the quality of our product,” they added.
The directors ensured certain compensations stating that they ‘will look into the matter with great concern’, however, the staff members seem fairly unhappy to say the least.
The move taken by the directors to cut the all-important members of staff will be highlighted both in mainstream and social media and is likely to create a great deal of uncertainty for the company in the days to come.