He must also be familiar with proper names that appear in the news, such as names of prominent persons and places the world over, the titles of well-known books, plays, pictures, and musical compositions, the names of railroads and important corporations, and special trade-mark names. To no one in the newspaper office and to few outside of it, can the words of Terence more truly be applied than to the copy-reader, humani nihil a me alienum puto, "I consider nothing human to be outside of my sphere."
Like the good reporter, the copy-reader must be an accurate judge of news values. He must be able to see the significance of the news in the story. He must be able to decide how much space it is worth. If the real point of the news has been buried by the writer, the copy-reader must get it out and give it the prominence that it deserves. The ineffective lead must be rewritten, the needless details cut out, and the parts of the story rearranged for the best effect.
To improve the style of the story, he must consider carefully the construction of paragraphs and sentences, the choice of words and figures. Each paragraph should be given an effective beginning that will catch the reader's eye in rapid reading. Close connection should be maintained between the sentences in the paragraph. The copy-reader must transform the weak, rambling sentence into a firm, coherent statement with an emphatic beginning. For the trite, colorless word or phrase, he must substitute the fresh, picturesque one. The too figurative flights of exuberant fancy in one young reporter's copy must be toned down, and the bald, prosaic narrative or description in another's given life and interest. In short, the copy-reader's work is constructive as well as critical; it is as important for him to rewrite and rearrange as to cut out and boil down.
