COMM 207: Extra credit question(s)

I promised you I would post my next extra-credit question in a more obvious place than the last one, which was hidden in plain view -- in my response to your comments on the reading we did in class Tuesday.

My questions were: (1) Now that you've read Chapter 3 in our textbook, how much editing do editors do? (2) Were you surprised to learn that? And (3) Do you consider this a trick question?

Congratulations to Jill, who not only found and answered the question, but found something in the chapter I hadn't noticed. She emailed me:

After looking up a few definitions of editor, "How much editing do editors do?" tends to be a trick question. Before taking any journalism classes, I always thought of editors as someone who gramatically corrects articles before they appear in the newspaper. In Chapter 3, I learned there are many different types of editors. The copy editor seems to be the one who looks over the grammar and corrects typos. The other editors are in charge of making sure everything happens exaclty the way it should in the newsroom. One definition of editor I found stated, "ed·it - To prepare (written material) for publication or presentation, as by correcting, revising, or adapting." This is what I had in mind before taking this class. Another definition said, "ed·it - To supervise the publication of (a newspaper or magazine, for example)." After researching this, I found that your question could be considered a trick question depending on which definition you go by. If you are a copy editor, you do a lot of correcting and revising. If you are an editor-in-chief, your duties would include more supervision of the publication.

In COMM 207, we will be dealing mostly with that first sense of the word.

But, now, I promised you an extra credit question. And I promised not to hide it like I did the last time ...

... so here's your extra-credit question for Tuesday:

Katie Couric can wear a blouse of what color in order to silence her critics?

Did everybody see that? The extra credit question is in the paragraph above. If you've read this far without noticing it, you've gone too far. Turn around and check the 'graf above. This time, you can post your answers below as comments to this blog post.

For extra, extra credit, tell me the name of the media critic for The Washington Post who quoted Couric about blouses and the blog about newspapering that linked to his story. You should know this guy's name. Hint: It starts with the same letter as Katie Couric's first name and rhymes with "shirts" (but not "blouses"). He's one of the best in the business.

If you read "Heart of Darkness" in high school, here's another hint. This Mistah _____, he not dead. He's very much alive.

If you're wondering if there's any point to any of this, stop wondering. There is. You should get in the habit of reading media criticism, and you should know the name of the media critic for The Washington Post at a minimum. I just think you're more likely to remember it if you go through dumb little exercises like this to learn it.