COPY FLOW

ABSTRACT

This research study is an agglomeration of intellectual ideas garnered from written and oral resources.

Having its case study as National Mirror (a 21st century newspaper organisation), we were able to explore the needed areas pertinent to the topic- COPY FLOW in the present technological age.

However, this study is only constricted to explaining the operations of Copy Flow as obtained in the extant era in this work in a bid to avert superfluity by describing the primitive modes of operations and activities involved in a copy flow.  

 

INTRODUCTION.

 

The whole process of putting a newspaper or magazine to bed has myriads of activities embellished in it. Thus, it is not a product of combinations of shoddy works that lack finesse. It is therefore the responsibilities of certain appointed officers or personnel in a media organization to ensure that all contents of the paper go through a thorough fine-tuning process of ‘editorial surgery’ and treatments before they are eventually slammed on the pages of the publication. This whole process of exhibiting meticulousness is called Copy Flow.

A Copy can be said to be any material that goes through the editorial processes of a print medium (newspaper or magazine) for the sake of production. In other words, a Copy refers to all the intellectual, artistic and creative works that goes through editorial processes of scrutiny in a print medium before final production or publishing is made.

The concept of Copy Flow determines the whole sequence of events from the initial conceptualization of ideas for a story, to the final departure of whatever the editorial team releases and then to the finished process of its typing and printing on plates.

However, as simple as the whole process of Copy Flow may appear to be, it is the most tasking activity embarked upon in a print medium owing to the intricacies involved in its execution.

In addition, Copy Flow can also be referred to as the editorial processes of a news story due to the fact that the whole stages involved in the process is hinged on editing the story and thus giving birth to a clean copy or an error free work.

 

THE CONCEPT OF COPY EDITING.

Ndidi (2005) defined copy editing as the process of “…correcting, improving and marking of a copy to be printed. Known also as copy reading.”

According to Godwin (2011:74) copy editing also known as “copy-editing” or “copyediting” is the process of examining a written work to ensure that it is free from errors. It is a work that an editor does to improve the quality of written materials. Godwin went ahead to say that it is germane for the copy editor to ensure that the copy stands by the ACCCCCC’s principle of being Accurate, Clear, Concise, Correct, Clean, Complete and Consistent. Also, in doing this, editors should make the copy say what it means and mean what it says.

It would be unprofessional and totally subjective for a writer to personally edit his/her own stories. There are no other two reasons for this injunction than the fact that a reporter/writer who single-handedly edits his work would not easily take cognizance of his flaws.

Typically, copy editing processes involves correcting spellings, punctuations, grammar syntax, orthography, semantics, erroneous details, etc. to enhance a flow in readability and understandability but unlike general editing; copy editing does not involve changing the substance of the copy. Basically, the bulk of the responsibility of copy editing rests on the shoulders of the Chief Copy Editor who happens to be the head of a group of copy editors. The duty of doing a thorough reading on copies to be submitted for publication lies on the chief copy editor. This is where copy flow process is at its peak because the termination or usage of the write-ups is also determined here by the chief copy editor. 

In other words, editing involves not only paying a great attention to detail for issues of punctuation, grammar, style and spelling but also the ability to transform writer-based contents into reader-based documents that resonate with the audience.

CLASSIFICATIONS OF COPIES.

There are traditionally two main types of classifications of a copy. These are;

i.        CLEAN COPY- This is a news story or article or any write-up containing relatively a few errors awaiting publication and thus requires a little or no editing.

No editor enjoys going through the rigor of having to make several corrections on a copy. Hence, copy editors agitate that reporters should personally read and re-read their write-ups and news stories before forwarding it to them. A clean copy therefore would ease the copy editor the stress of having to emend the copies.

 

ii.      DIRTY COPY-    This is the direct opposite of a clean copy. It is a story that has been engulfed with errors and blunders.

At most times, stories that fall under this category get to be spiked or killed due to the tedium it creates for the editor in editing it.

             TYPES OF COPIES ACCORDING TO NEWSPAPER CONTENTS.

Within the pages of Newspapers and Magazines are several kinds of information, opinions, new and non-news items and advertisements. Although, news stories constitute the prominent item in the publication, other stories aim at complimenting or augmenting the contents of the news stories while just a few might serve as fillers or commercial based items. According to Uyo (1987) cited in Godwin (2011), newspaper and magazine messages were identified to include;

 

1.     News Stories:      These can also be called the straight or hard news reports which are timely accounts of events. In reporting news stories, it is imperative that the journalist adheres strictly to the rules of writing news stories of which the principles and elements of news such as; Timeliness, accuracy, proximity, etc. are inherent.

 

2.     In-Depth Reports:         Unlike the straight news reporting, this form of news reportage is a step ahead with not only the provision of facts but also the exploration of the provided facts. Due to its nature of elucidation on earlier reported straight news stories, a more detailed research study is pertinent to its execution.

 

3.     News Analysis:    The driving force behind this type of reporting is the reversed cliché that “it is better to know a lot about a little than to know a little about a lot”. Although, most people shun the adoption of this phrase but it is indeed the breast plate of news analysis as only specialized reporters who are very conversant with their areas of specialization can do this form of reporting.

 

4.     Feature Stories:   These are extended news stories which aim at throwing more light on previously reported news stories. They may be used to expand in a brief and enlivening manner on an item of basic news, to provide information of general value or interest, to focus on some human interest item, or to describe a personality as the case may be.

 

5.     Editorials:  An editorial is the view or standpoint of the newspaper management on an issue of public importance. It is the voice of the newspaper organization usually arrived at by the top management personnel that constitute the editorial board.

 

6.     Columns:    These are opinionated write-ups done by either specialists in a field or highly experienced reporters on certain current issues or events in the society. Columns are very informative as well as entertaining and they may also take the form of commentaries on those current events.

 

7.     Advertisements:   These are basically sales enhancement messages usually paid for by sponsors who have certain products or services to promote. Advertisements may come in several forms nonetheless, whichever form is adopted, its major aim is either to persuade or inform or even go further to perform a function of both.

 

8.     Photorama:          This simply refers to a story told primarily through a series of photographs with apt captions related to current events or issues of public interest. It is a combination of two words; ‘Photographs’ (images captured with the aid of a light sensitive equipment-a camera) and ‘Panorama’ (a view or description of events or activities).

 

9.     Cartoons and Comics:  These are humorous satirical drawings or strips of illustrations in a newspaper or magazine about, current event or situation. These drawings are accompanied by humorous or sarcastic captions that induce laughter.

 

10. Vox pop/Strip poll/Public Opinion polls: These are short interviews conducted with members of the public in order to get their opinions on certain topical issues. While a vox pop is conducted with some members of the general public on a current issue of public interest, a strip poll is conducted with a selected set of people who have a certain level of expertise on the topic of contention/discussion and the public opinion poll is a random sampling method of conducting a vox pop in order to cut across different classes of people. In the words of Uyo; these are all products of interviews that scan or measure the opinions of several people. 

 

Others include; Reviews, Interpretative Reports, Investigative Reports, Letters to the Editor, Advertorials, Verbatim Interviews, Special news Reports, etc.

All these and a host of others are referred to as copies from the moment they are being worked upon in the four-walls of a news room and its affiliated units.

           

STAGES IN COPY FLOW

 

As discussed earlier, the essence of copy flow in any newspaper or magazine organization cannot be under-estimated, which without the “gate-keeping function of the media will not be achieved, hence, an omission of this will be detrimental to the image of such newspaper or magazine house. Be that as it may there are certain stages involved in copy flow before the final output is achieved.

These stages are:

Ø    Planning stage

Ø    Commissioning and Briefing stage

Ø    Copy editing

Ø    Design stage

Ø    Art proof stage

Ø    Copy-fitting stage

Ø    Dispatch stage

 

1.      PLANNING STAGE: This is the first stage of the copy flow process. At this stage there is need for an organized meeting involving different desk editors who are expected to bring/provide ideas that will help your newspaper or magazine achieve its aim; which is publishing a new issue of magazine or newspaper for the reading pleasure of your audience. Publishing information will be made available at this stage. These rituals include; pagination, the likely advertising volume and editorial allocation, offer pages and competitions. The meeting will generate thoughts on how the proposed issue is to be planned and structured. It is also expected that at end of this meeting there will be an approximate running order for pages which are not fixed as regulars.

 

2.      COMMISIONING AND BRIEFING STAGE: In this stage some personnel are commissioned to work. Their primary assignment is to find suitable writers, photographers, illustrators and picture libraries. Precise instructions are also given out at this stage to act as guidelines in the discharge of their duties. It is better to let commissioned staff operate on their initiative by having set down rules and regulations guiding the discharge of duties. More importantly all parties must be well aware of “copy in” dates which will have been set by the chief sub-editor or production editor as the case may be.

 

3.      COPY EDITING STAGE: The copy editing stage sets in motion as soon as commissioned materials begin to arrive. At this stage, good housekeeping becomes essential. It is a good idea to photocopy all original type scripts and safely put them away for future purposes but unfortunately, typescripts are fast becoming a dying phenomenon. The first copy editing stage in which sub-editors check for facts, sentence constructions, illegalities, grammar and spelling errors, etc. in conformation with the publication’s house style.

Traditionally, sub-editors have had some involvement in more rewarding tasks such as rewriting and the writing of headlines and captions. Increasingly these tasks have moved up in hierarchy, leaving sub-editors to become more involved in copy fitting. It is imperative to state that two essential stages are subsumed under this stage.

These stages are; the Design stage & make-up stage.

 

4.      ART PROOF STAGE: The scripts or copies generated by artwork are sent from one editor to the next. The proof will then be returned to the artwork for corrections where necessary.

5.      COPY-FITTING STAGE: The chief-sub editor will examine the first proof design generated by the art department. If there are corrections it is sent back to the sub-editor to rewrite where necessary and add finishing touches such as captions, stand firsts, pull-out quotes and credits where necessary. Once the changes are effected the page is signed off by the chief sub-editor and the art director before it is sent to the “repro house” or “colour house”.

 

6.      DISPATCH STAGE: This stage involves the dissemination of the finished product i.e. newspaper or magazine to its final consumers (reading audience).

A SUMMARIZED ANALYSIS OF THE COPY FLOW PROCESS IN A NEWSPAPER ORGANISATION.

-         A CASE STUDY OF NATIONAL MIRROR NEWSPAPER.

To effectively explain the concept of copy flow, the in house principles of the National Mirror will be used as an illustration.

The copy flow process begins with a reporter writing a story having been assigned to it by a beat, line or desk editor.

Thus, the desk editor assigns a reporter to a particular assignment. The reporter in turn is expected to gather information and subsequently write a story which is typed and sent in a soft copy to the desk editor. He does the first duty of personally editing his work by making it devoid of blunders or redundancies and the likes before further sending it to his Desk/Line Editor through the organization’s inter-networking general server or via e-mail. The desk editor on receiving the story does the work of the copy editor by reading through to make possible corrections on the submitted work. When he is satisfied with the first amendment procedure, he sends it to the Graphics Artiste or Page Planner in the production/graphics room who synchronizes the texts with the provided pictures, graphics or images that have been selected to accompany the texts.

 

The graphics artiste plans the pages, inserts the appropriate texts and images he has been supplied with and then prints out the first dummy page on an A4 paper. Thereafter, the copy editor receives the dummy, re-reads it thoroughly again taking cognizance of every detail in it including the pictures and captions, makes corrections if need be and then sends it back to the graphics artiste to make rectifications on the corrections made. But if otherwise, the dummy is sent straight to the Production Editor who also does a proper scrutiny of the work and make sure proper finesse is put to the copy. When satisfied, he endorses it and then sends it to the News Editor. Advertisements, Cartoons, Advertorials and other types of copies also go through the fine-tuning/ proof reading desk of the production editor.

On receiving the copy, the news editor goes through the entire copy in order to make sure that the contents have been accurately arranged and that the copies have not abridged the professional, ethical and legal conducts guiding the organization. It is also the duty of the news editor to select stories for the cover page of the publication based on his personal discretion of story judgments and the magnitude of the stories. If all the terms were duly abided by, the news editor approves of the copies and gives an order for the final commencement of production.

 

The Editor and the Deputy Editor only assist in doing a final perusal and appraisal of the copies before production but they are seldom saddled with much responsibilities of having to proof-read for pin-point blunders as the Copy, Production and News Editor’s do.

 

THE PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT.

This department is saddled with the production process i.e. taking the edited materials (text, photographs, cartoons, pictures etc.) from the artwork (designing/graphics) stage to the printing and finishing of a newspaper or magazine as the case may. The production department works jointly with the editorial department by ensuring that corrected materials are taken to the next stage of production which is page planning.

The production department is responsible for producing the final copies of the Newspaper it takes care of the page planning by first, making a dummy which is a prototype of how the pages of the proposed publication would look like. Pagination is also achieved at the dummy stage. The department is headed by the production editor and it handles the following functions. 
I.            Typesetting of all materials for the newspaper. 
II.           Responsible for the artistic finishing of the newspaper layout. 
III.           Ensuring the production of the newspaper before deadline.

 

In Addition, This department is made up of the following personnel.

Ø    Graphic Artists, Typists

Ø    Page Planners

Ø    Colour Separators, etc.

 

In conclusion, it will not be incorrect to state that the copy flow are series of activities starting from when the reporter writes the story till when the newspaper or magazine is finished.

 

Thus, the copy flow process in a synergy of pre-press & press activities. The pre-press stage involves the writing, editing, proof reading & revising stage, up till the Computer to Plate (CTP) stage. While the press stage involves the bringing to life the imprints already made on plates.

 

 

REFERENCES;

- An Interview with the Production Editor, National Mirror Newspaper, Mr. Olapade Olapoju.

- Esimokha, Godwin (2011). Newspaper & Magazine Editing, Production and Marketing. Ile-Ife, Osun State; Waltodany visual concepts.

-Hodgson, F.W (1998). New Sub-Editing-Apple Mac, Quark Express and After (Third Edition). Oxford; Focal Press.

-Morrish, John (2001). Magazine Editing. London and New York; Routledge.

-  Ndidi, Ike (2005). Dictionary of Mass Communication. Owerri, Nigeria; El ’Demak Ltd.

-The Missouri Group-Brian S. Brooks et al (1992). News Reporting and Writing (Fourth Edition). New York; St. Martins Press.

- Ufuophu-Biri, Emmanuel (2006). The Art of News Reporting. Ibadan; Ibadan University press.