Warning: Beware of the 'BusinessWeek' Copy Desk
Yesterday we brought you outraged memo from new BusinessWeek web honcho Charles DuBow, who is forced to suffer uppity copy editors who think they're entitled to rewrite his genius headlines. Today word arrives that perhaps DuBow ought to have a bit more respect for the copy desk, both because the editors there might help him and because otherwise they'll hurt him. How so?
First, the help:
BW really should check his facts. The last time he wrote a serious story for Forbes.com, he nearly burned the place down by badly bungling a story re Eisner and Disney. He was told to stick to lifestyle — wealth porn — after that.
The piece in question? Oh, only three different corrections on it.
And then also the hurt, in the form of a warning from a former BWer:
What Mr. DuBow probably doesn't realize is that BusinessWeek has the meanest copy desk in the news industry. They're probably peeing in his coffee cup right now. They consider themselves real writers, who are just shepherding business writer hack copy through they system while they work on their novels. They actually had a big board up in the copy desk area that would list the stupidest phrases and most obvious cliches said hacks employed in their trite news articles every week. Lowly reporters would approach the area with head bowed low, smiling nervously, checking out of the corner of their eye to see if they had abused the English language enough to win public recognition on the Mean Copy Desk abuse board. He's got no idea what he's in for.
Well, we know one thing he's in for: Untouched heds and deks. The rest, keep us posted.
Clarification: Eisner Discusses The ABC Brand And Other Disney Brands [Forbes.com]
Earlier: Please Do Not Annoy, Torment, Pester, Molest, Badger, Harass, Heckle, Tease, or Copyedit the Bigshot New Editor