The computer has taken over as the dominant method for just about every task in today's world. Writing and editing are no different and this paper looks at how the latter has evolved since the beginning of the digital era. Through the compilation of multiple sources, as well as personal interviews with individuals who have worked in the field since before the shift, I have explored how editing is best accomplished in today's technology-savvy world, how the position of editor is viewed after the advent of the computer and the Internet, and where those passionate about the profession should be focusing their efforts to shape the future of editing. This was the presentation of my undergraduate thesis project combining my Journalism and Creative Writing majors at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon on Wednesday, April 25, 2012 at 1 p.m. in Marsh Hall.

1. DIGITIZATION:
RETHINKING THE EDITOR
Katie Sipos, Journalism + Creative Writing

2. Introduction
“Roughly a hundred years ago the modern era of
communication begins. A precise date is
unnecessary but the decade of the 1890s can
serve as the approximate moment when, in the
United States, space and time were
enclosed, when it became possible to think of
the nation as everywhere running on the same
clock of awareness and existing within a
homogeneous national space.”
-James Carey

3. Introduction
“The knowledge of language sets us apart from all
other species that we know of so far…It allows us
to gain and express real knowledge, to learn of
our respective environments and ourselves, and
ultimately to reach many things and ideas that are
beyond our individual capabilities.” -Fred Field

4. Introduction
 An editor is a person who prepares written
matter for publication.
 Often seen in a negative light:
 Grumpy newspaper mogul
 Stalker-like manuscript hound
 Obsessive, self-titled grammar Nazi
 Tearful agent blubbering about deadlines
 Want to help others perfect their words

5. Introduction
Through exploration of the past century, I will
illustrate how the role of editor has become one
of ridicule and how those in the field can strive
to alter the traditional author-publisher-editor
dynamic in order to escape extinction.

6. Philosophers
 Walter Benjamin
 Reproduction displaces art
from its culture
 Art becomes a commodity
 The editor becomes the art
critic insisting a work fails to
meet standards

7. Philosophers
 Marshall McLuhan
 Print changed the oral
culture that came before
 Man looks down on others
who cannot conform
 Technological media are
like natural resources

8. Philosophers
 Katherine Hayles
 “Books aren’t going the way of
the dinosaur but of the human –
evolving.”
 Erik Qualman
 “While the transition from [physical] to
electronic versions will occur, …we are
at the beginning of that trail. It will not
be as rapid or absolute a succession
as other industries.”

9. Newspapers
 Began circulating in the 1400s
 Lacked regulation until 1950s
 Associated Press Styleguide
 “Presentation
of the printed word should be
accurate, consistent, pleasing to the eye and
should conform to grammatical standards.”

10. Newspapers
“The copyreader is the newspaper’s principal
safeguard. He is the constructive critic, the
policeman of the news... To the experienced
reporter he is a prop, a backstop, a friend in
need, and a partner; to the several editors he is
the guardian of the language and of accuracy…”
-George Bastian

11. Newspapers
 English is a constantly evolving language
 2011 Merriam-Webster added “bromance”
 2011 Oxford English Dictionary added “<3”
 Editors in place to aid in translation
 While young people may understand these new
terms, older individuals might need explanation

12. Books
 Editors in this field not valued as highly
 Relentless,obsessive-compulsive perfectionists
 Came about with 1700s commoditization of novel
 More perfect = better-received

13. Books
 Digital methods changed
entire process
 Mark Twain Project
 40 years of archived work,
from novels to notes,
available to the public free of
charge
 Project’s goal is to produce
an annotated critical digital
edition of the entirety of
Twain’s works

14. Best Method
 Two main methods
 Traditional(physical, pen+paper) lends itself to
“global” changes, overarching connections,
content and organization
 Digital(electronic, computer) lends itself to
“surface” changes, smaller corrections of spelling,
grammar and sentence structure
 Each has pros and cons

15. Best Method
 Organization
 Physical copies allow multiple pages to be viewed
 Gives better understanding of concepts
 More difficult to locate specific passages
 Electronic copies allow quick searches
 Findwhat you’re looking for immediately
 Screen can only display so much at one time

16. Best Method
 A combination of these methods will yield the
best results for a work
 Articles for The Pacific Index are stored
digitally, viewed physically and corrected digitally
I prefer to look at a physical copy when I go over
someone else’s work, but often receive just digital
 Should also incorporate community contribution
 Follow models scholarly publishing develops

17. Digital Archives
 The William Blake Archive, The Walt Whitman
Archive, even the Mark Twain Project
 Collect works in multiple digital formats
 HTML/XML text
 High-quality scans of notes or other writing
 Allows all stages of editing to be viewed

18. Digital Archives
“I Hear America Singing”
1860 version with Whitman’s notes (left)
1891 version (below)

19. Digital Archives
 Utilizes many people working together
 Encourages multiple eyes going over a work
 Blurs lines between editor, editions and reader
 Shows current shift in creative and editing
processes toward community

20. Conclusion
 Editors underappreciated, ridiculed
 2010 undergrads disinclined toward courses
with “heavy” literary requirements
 Online reinforcement of negative outlook
 Finnish Pilkunnussija = “comma fucker”

21. Conclusion
 Not out of the running yet
 Associated Press Managing Editors News ran a
study that had readers rate articles
 Edited articles rated higher
 “Editing really matters, [not just] to grumpy old
white guys who still teach editing classes. It
matters to younger people who might go a
month without seeing a newspaper. Real
people can tell the difference.” -Fred Vultee

22. Conclusion
“The reason a lot of people are stuck is because
they confuse the old ways, the best ways of
doing something once, with the best way of
doing something forever.”
-Mark Prensky
 It’s time to stop waiting for the evolution of
editing and start leading it

23. Images Used
Plato: http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/1200/1247/Plato_1_lg.gif
Plato’s Cave: http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/PlatosCave.gif
Benjamin: http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/assets/img/data/3706/bild.jpg
McLuhan: http://juliekinnear.com/imagesall/2011/10/Marshall-McLuhan.jpg
Hayles: http://www.dukemagazine.duke.edu/dukemag/issues/030409/images/030409-lg-
017909hayles001.jpg
Qualman: http://www.gotham-artists.com/img/files/users/213/profile/qualmanspeakerpage.jpg
Stylebooks: http://jvanwyke.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/allfour_72dpi.jpg
Typo: http://static-imgs-acf.hereisthecity.com/20110721/60/typo10_9907.jpg
MTPLogo: http://www.marktwainproject.org/xtf/icons/mtp/header_narrow.jpg
Fischer: http://www.marktwainfestival.org/_images/_userfiles/Image/Vic%20Photo.JPG
America1860-1: http://whitmanarchive.org/published/1860-Blue_book/images/leaf106r.html
America1860-2: http://whitmanarchive.org/published/1860-Blue_book/images/leaf106v.html
America1891: http://whitmanarchive.org/published/LG/1891/images/leaf14r.html
Finnish: http://i.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/article/9/0/1/117901_v1.jpg