Post admits: Fewer editors, more mistakes

While it's discouraging to read that The Washington Post has more mistakes in it these days, it's somewhat heartening that at least they admit why this is happening: The paper has cut the number of copy editors it employs.

It would be nice to think that will lead the paper to see the worth of having more sets of eyes on stories as they head into publication and that the paper would hire more editors. But that would be naive.

I read Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli's statement that a new universal desk will be "more effective" in serving print, online and mobile audiences as an edict to Post staff to "do more with less," a rationale trotted out and debunked so often of late in the newspaper industry that I would have thought it had been put out to pasture.

Guess not.

I'm not encouraged by the hope of Andrew Alexander, the article's author, that readers show "some patience and understanding."

You might not want to watch this

Several of you suggested links on the gator story to other sites having to do with hunting alligators in Alabama. Here's one I found that might interest you. It might also upset you. Let's just say that after watching it, I felt sorry for the gators.

The extra credit store is now closed

Congratulations to the four students (2 in each section) who correctly answered that the error in the cutline in the DAR picture was that Thomas Jefferson's home was not at Mount Vernon. That was the home of George Washington.

Take a look at the older posts to find the picture and extra-credit offer.

Redeye uses illustration effectively today

Many scenarios seen for journalism's future

Jeff Jarvis rolls out some possible scenarios for the future of journalism in his Buzz Machine blog. Be sure to read the comments as well.

Wonder what's in the picture at the top of his blog? That's a printing press.

From the former "sun never sets" empire

The headline that caught my eye today was this one from The Guardian in the former empire where they used to say the sun would never set on it. Here's its prediction that the sun is now setting on our very own American empire, striking fear in my hegemonic heart.

College papers increasingly going online

Here's an article on what college newspapers are doing online. At first I figured that the neglect of the Kaimin was the usual East Coast bias ("Everything west of the Hudson is camping out"). But there is mention of several papers not only west of the Hudson, but west of the Mississippi.

Despite overlooking the Kaimin, the article is a good starting place for seeing what other university papers are doing online.