Copy desk to NYT: ugh you started wearing less & going out more
This Vanity Fair piece on the downer vibes happening at the NYT in lieu of buyouts, restructuring and a general pissing off of the entire copy editing department is a crazy read — it’s like watching the final spasms of digital transformation shake out in real time at the most storied of journalistic institutions.
With the whole “digital-first” thing being practically old news in these nutso 2017 times, the sense of betrayal felt by those who identify as the “old guard” is still real. Case in point: the quote at the end, from one departing copy editor’s email re: the Gray Lady's latest changes:
“[S]he’s trying out a new lipstick each week. . . . Today she’s doing a Facebook Live from the Fidget Spinners Convention. Yesterday it was a 360-degree video of a Pokémon Go hunt (sponsored by Samsung). She’s even been seen on Snapchat. And the latest desperate move to run with a younger crowd: She’s having a few layers removed. . . . [A] word to the wise: Watch your back—she’s not as loyal as she used to be. Now excuse me while I go cease to exist.”
With respect to the definitely underrated role of copy editing, we’ll momentarily choose to overlook how ~sad Drake song~ this all sounds for semi-uncomfortably painting The Times as some sort of cheating harlot — so I also recommend this Digiday Confessions piece for an extra, more personal dimension to being an NYT copy editor, minus the faintest whiff of misogyny. LMK what you think!
Like Deez Links? Forward to your journalistic heartbreaker.