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Journalism & Media vocabulary · Editing and the Newsroom

Copy editor

Meaning in journalism & media, with examples

nounCommon term

In journalism & media, copy editor means: An editor who checks and corrects reporters' text for accuracy, grammar, style and length, and often writes headlines and captions.

In Turkish: redaktör, düzeltmen, son okuma editörü

How it is used

American English uses copy editor; British newspapers say sub-editor or sub, and the team is the subs desk. Copy editors follow the house style guide and catch errors before publication.

Example sentences

  1. The copy editor noticed that the mayor's age was wrong in two places.

  2. Our copy editors cut every story to fit the page and check the style.

Common collocations

  • senior copy editor
  • copy editing
  • subs desk
  • house style
  • copyThe text of a news story or article that a journalist writes and sends to be edited and published.
  • editorA journalist who decides what is published or broadcast and checks, corrects and improves other people's work; also the person in charge of a whole publication or section.
  • headlineThe title printed above a news story in large letters, or written at the top of an online article, that tells readers quickly what the story is about.
  • captionA short piece of text under or next to a photo, chart or video that explains what it shows, who is in it and sometimes who took it.

More terms: Editing and the Newsroom

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