Training Resources for Copy Editors

Training Sites

The Poynter Institute
News University, a project of The Poynter Institute funded by the Knight Foundation
American Copy Editors Society. Discussion forum, quizzes, articles and resources, including math and science editing, 2008 convention is April 10-12 in Denver. In 2009, April 30-May 2 in Minneapolis. ACES also has a page on Facebook. Or meet Chris Wienandt, president of ACES, through his Facebook page.
The Slot, by Bill Walsh, a copy editor for The Washington Post, with everything from career advice to editing tips.
Institute for Mid-Career Copy Editors, an annual workshop, directions to run your own grammar smackdown, training resources and a chance to play Wordista.
Testy Copy Editors, discussion forum moderated by Phil Blanchard. Check out the Nightmare Jobs of the Week.
Copyediting (cq) newsletter and some training resources.
Newsroom 101, lots of interactive quizzes about grammar, usage and Associated Press style, by Ron Hartung of the Tallahassee Democrat and Gerald Grow, professor of journalism at Florida A&M University.
EditTeach, resources for editing professors, students and working professionals.
No Train, No Gain, handouts and articles in all areas of journalism training.
Journalism Training.org, find other training near you.
American Press Institute, seminars and other featured training .
Media Bistro. News, job listings and training.
Project for Excellence in Journalism
Lynda.com, online tutorials for your multimedia and technical learning. Subscription/account required.
Knight Digital Media Center

Reference

AAJA resources (www.aaja.org) A downloadable stylebook on how to cover Asians and Asian Americans, plus links to a primer on Islam and Muslims, guides to post-Sept. 11 coverage and more. See also AAJA's Media Watch for advisories and reaction to questionable journalism.
Council of National Journalism Organizations (www.cnjo.org) Find links to dozens of groups, some of which you might not have thought about using as resources.
NABJ stylebook (www.nabj.org) A guide assembled by the National Association of Black Journalists.
Ask the Editor @ AP. AP editor David Minthorn can answer your pesky AP style questions. (And get your boss to spring for an online AP Stylebook account if you don’t already have one.)
Elements of Style, the book is online.
Power Reporting, The mother lode of links to references, government, search engines, etc.
Racial Slur Database (www.rsdb.org) A searchable database of more than 2,000 slurs with explanations detailing which group is being maligned.

Blogs: Editing, Language and Word Use

Wall Street Journal's Style & Substance monthly bulletin on style, grammar and word use.
You Don't Say, John McIntyre, The Sun's assistant managing editor for the copy desk.
Grammar Girl, an engaging look at the way grammar works.
Words at Work, Pam Robinson, news editor for the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post, co-founder and former president of ACES.
Words to the Wise, Kathy Schenk and The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel copy desk discuss grammar, style, usage, punctuation.
Triangle Grammar Guide, Raleigh News & Observer's Pam Nelson blogs about language use and misuse and answers questions about grammar and style.
The Cranky Copy Editor, by Lynn Klyde-Silverstein, journalism educator at the University of Northern Colorado.
Engine Room, Two copy editors from a U.K. magazine for some views on the mother tongue.

Blogs: A Little Multimedia

Teaching Online Journalism, by Mindy McAdams, a great overview of the latest in technology, training and how to use it to make your journalism better.

Blogs: Journalism, etc.

Common Sense Journalism, Doug Fisher of the University of South Carolina and a former AP news editor.
The Editor's Desk, Andy Bechtel, teaches editing and writing at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Reportr.net, Alfred Hermida, teaches multiplatform journalism at the School of Journalism at the University of British Columbia.
Visual Editors, Bills itself as the classroom for visual journalists, Critiques, discussion and some job postings. VizEd has a page on Facebook, too.

Accuracy

The Numbers Guy, Wall Street Journal's look at how numbers are used – or misused.
Regret the Error, Want to feel better when your paper makes a mistake?
Political Fact Check, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.
PolitiFact, political fact checking by the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly (part of the Poynter family)
Congress Votes Database (www.washingtonpost.com) See every congressional vote since 1991.
Check Your Facts and Stinky Journalism, part of Art Science Research Laboratory in New York founded by Stephen Jay Gould, and Rhonda Roland Shearer.
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, media watch group, works with activists as well as journalists.

Game Templates

Crossword Puzzle Games, a simple form for you to complete that generates a crossword puzzle.

These are PowerPoint templates you can use with your own content. When all else fails, just Google for game templates and see what's new out there.
PowerPoint Activities Jeopardy, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Hollywood Squares.
PowerPoint Games, includes Wheel of Fortune.

For Fun (and Learning)

Bugmenot.com  Avoid those pesky Web sites that make you register to access their content.
A visual thesaurus. Need another word for...
On This Day. The New York Times' feature that lists historic events for any date on the calendar. Find out with whom you share a birthday.
Word puzzles and games from the Oxford and Merriam-Webster dictionary folks.
Rhymezone.com. Find rhymes (and some other quizzes when your brain needs a break).
Banned for Life. Tom Mangan’s collection of clichés that should be put out to pasture.
Anagram finder. Vicki Krueger = Cure Give Kirk. Really.

Got a site to share? Contact Vicki Krueger at vkrueger@poynter.org.