Copy editing the political stories

headsup: the blog is about copyediting. That doesn't mean they don't occasionally tackle copyediting decisions that affect politics. Here's an example:

One of the joys of copydesk life is the occasional need to shift from the little picture to the Great Big Picture and back again on short (to zero) notice. Here's a nice example from The State (which insists on capitalizing The Definite Article even though it looks like The Pits):

Television and radio talk show host Sean Hannity told state Republicans they will play a central role in choosing the next president and revitalizing the party to regain control of Congress in the next election.

Big picture: What's a story about Sean Hannity doing on the front page of a grownup newspaper?

Speaking to hundreds in Columbia at the state GOP’s annual Silver Elephant Dinner, Hannity said the country faces a crucial choice about its future, especially regarding how the United States deals with international terrorism.

Small picture: "The country faces a crucial choice regarding how the United States deals with international terrorism"? Big picture: I don't care if he's the keynote whateveritis. He's a mediocre TV personality with no independent thoughts worth wasting on a news page.

Look. If it was Voldemort or the Lord of the Nazgûl or the Prince of Darkness himself addressing the Republicans, that'd be one thing. But Hannity doesn't count. He's like the equipment manager for the satanic junior varsity. He's the pledge representative to the Delta Phi Nazgûl social committee (which means he gets to drive to the Food King!). Go ahead and front the dinner; just see if you can lede with somebody who doesn't actively subtract from the sum of human knowledge just by being in the room.

There's more, including this note about... ummm... "noting":

Hannity focused on the war in Iraq, noting it was a critical first battle in a global war on terror. ...

Two points about this noble burst of objectivity. One, we generally restrict "note" as a verb of attribution to stuff that's verifiably true. That's because ... well, because that's what it means. To note is to take note of or draw attention to something. You can "say" a thousand angels are dancing on the head of a pin if you want, but if you're going to "note" it, you need to whip out the magnifying glass. The desk's job here is to stop the writer from buying into the source's opinions.

I love it. And even if you don't care a whit about copyediting (which you probably should, though), you will too.