Copy editor Glenn Ericksen, a P-I staffer for nearly 25 years, said he had mixed feelings about the closure. Most recently working as a copy editor, he said, "I'm sad the print product will go away. It's the end of an era, and I'm not sure it's a good thing."
He said the Web "lowers the standard of literacy all around. Who needs copy editors on the Web?"
I need copy editors on the web. I'm a poor speller, and as much as I love the English language and tweaking it with the rule set it inherits, I like the ability to quickly comprehend what I'm reading under that same set of (nonsensical/ridiculous/convoluted) rules.
I'm not sure how to feel about the evolution of written communication for the web. Stuff will change no matter what language preservationists may say -- and those who lament the loss of Shakespeare's language probably know that when he got stuck with that iambic pentameter stuff and needed a word he made shit up.
Ryan North actually touched on the standardization of English(sort of) in today's edition of Dinosaur Comics. Language is a weird thing. It's a beautiful thing.
Sensational spelling and lolspeak are still hideous to me, but maybe in this new dawning of media they'll make much more sense.
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