Newspaper copy editors' perceptions of their ideal and real ethics roles

Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly

Volumn 82, Issue 4, 2005, Pages 930-951

  Keith, Susan ^a  

^a RUTGERS UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ETHICS; PERCEPTION;

EID: 33645826927     PISSN: 10776990     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/107769900508200411     Document Type: Review

References (244)

1. See, for example, Dorothy A. Bowles and Diane L. Borden, Creative Editing, 4th ed. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth-Thomson Learning, 2004), 205-240;
2. Brian S. Brooks and Jack Z. Sissors, The Art of Editing, 7th ed. (Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 2001), 153-54;
3. Daryl L. Frazell and George Tuck, Principles of Editing (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996), 139-41
4. Jane T. Harrigan and Karen Brown Dunlap, The Editorial Eye, 2d ed. (Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2004), 94-131
5. Thom Lieb, Editing for Clear Communication (Madison: Brown & Benchmark, 1996), 170-79.
6. Howard Kurtz, "USA Today Reporter Resigns; Tom Squitieri Used Other Papers' Quotes," The Washington Post, 6 May 2005, sec. C, p. 1.
7. Jill Rosen, "We Mean Business," American Journalism Review, June/July 2004, available at (26 November 2005);
8. Associated Press, "Montana Sportswriter Suspended for Lifting Column," 24 October 2003.
9. Fern Christenson, "Plagiarists Lose by Their Takings," Spokesman-Review, 26 December 2000, sec. B, p. 6.
10. Keith Russell, "Questioners Misidentified in Ramsey Columns," The Tennessean, 24 June 2004, 2d ed., sec. E, p. 1;
11. Michael Hirsley, Ed Sherman, and Mike Downey, "No One's Defending Renowned Journalist," The Chicago Tribune, 10 April 2005, Sports section, 3.
12. Sinead O'Brien, "Secrets and Lies," American Journalism Review, September 1998, 41.
13. Nancy M. Davis, "Honor Thy Copy Editors ... and They'll Help You Regain the Faith of Readers," Presstime, November 1997, available at (21 June 2005).
14. Felicity Barringer, "Once Accused, Now the Accuser: Ex-bomb Suspect's Suit Challenges an Atlanta Newsroom," New York Times, 6 February 1999, national edition, sec. C, pp. 1 and 10;
15. Ann Woolner, "Just Doing Our Job," Brill's Content, April 2000, 86-124.
16. Dave Kindred, "Park Bombing: The Scene on the Buford Highway; A Long Wait in the Shadows After His Moment in the Sun," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1 August 1996, Constitution edition, sec. A, p. 14.
17. Eric Harrison, "Security Guard Cleared in Olympic Bomb Case," Los Angeles Times, 27 October 1996, sec. A, p. 1.
18. See also U.S. Attorney Kent Alexander, "Statement Regarding Richard Jewell," 25 October 1996, available at (26 November 2005).
19. Gary Pomerantz, "10 Years After Atlanta's Child Murders," Atlanta Constitution, 16 June 1991, sec. A, p. 1. Kindred later maintained that he was comparing the investigations, not the men.
20. Woolner, "Just Doing Our Job," 123.
21. "Jewell Sues Atlanta Newspapers," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 29 January 1997, sec. A, p. 1.
22. See Richard Jewell v. Cox Enterprises et al., available at (26 November 2005).
23. In October 1999, Fulton County State Court Judge John R. Mather ruled that because Jewell had given interviews when he was initially hailed as a hero for locating the unattended package that exploded, he was a limited-purpose public figure who would have to prove the newspaper acted with actual malice, the heightened level of fault outlined in New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 US 254 (1964), and its progeny.
24. See Jonathan Ringel, "U.S. Justices Refuse Jewell Appeal," Fulton County Daily Report, 8 October 1999. Mather's ruling was upheld by the Georgia Court of Appeals.
25. See Atlanta Journal-Constitution v. Jewell, 555 S.E.2d 175, (2001). Jewell appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court, which refused to grant certiorari, as did the U.S. Supreme Court.
26. See Jewell v. Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2002 Ga. Lexis 104 (2002)
27. and Jewell v. Cox Enterprises, 123 S. Ct. 75 (2002).
28. The case was returned to Mather, who was ordered by the Georgia appeals court (Atlanta Journal-Constitution v. Jewell, 555 S.E.2d at 181) to use a balancing test to review his 1999 decision to hold reporters Kathy Scruggs, who died in 2001, and Ron Martz in contempt for refusing to reveal the confidential sources that said Jewell was the focus of an investigation into the bombing. (The contempt order had been stayed in 1999 pending appeal.) In June 2004, Mathers ruled that the newspaper did not have to reveal its confidential sources and that some of the statements Jewell called libelous were not legally actionable.
29. See R. Robin McDonald, "Jewell Ruling More Than an AJC Victory," Fulton County Daily Report, 15 June 2004;
30. Doug Payne, "Kathy Scruggs, 41, Veteran AJC Police Reporter," The Atlanta Constitution, 4 September 2001, home edition, sec. B, p. 6;
31. Trisha Renaud, "Reporter Death Complicates Case," Fulton County Daily Report, 12 October 2001.
32. John Early McIntyre, "Upholding Editing: ACES is Working to Improve the Relationship Between Editors and Copy Editors," Poynter.org, 4 February 2005, (9 June 2005).
33. Pamela Shoemaker and Stephen Reese, Mediating the Message: Theories of Influences on Mass Media Content, 2d ed. (New York: Longman, 1996), 139-73.
34. Hank Glamann, "Doing More With Less: Maximize the Potential of All Employees; Give Them a Voice and Don't Forget to Train Them," The American Editor, July 1999, 29.
35. American Society of Newspaper Editors, "Numbers and Percentages of Whites and Minorities by Job Category, 2005, Table C," asne.org 6 April 2005, (26 November 2005).
36. Ann Auman, "Who Would Want to be a Copy Editor?" The American Editor, January-February 2000, 26;
37. Travis Loop, "Building Bench Strength," Presstime (December 2001), 48;
38. Amy Moulden, "Newspaper Copy Desks in 2000: The Impact of Pagination, Design, and Journalism Education" (master's thesis, University of Florida, 2001);
39. David Noack, "Wanted: Coppy Editers Who No They're Stuff, Good (Hurry!)" [sic] Editor & Publisher, 17 April 1999, 46;
40. William S. Solomon, "From Craftspeople to Production Workers: Video Display Terminals and the Devaluation of Newspaper Copy Editing Work," Communication 8 (2, 1985): 207-224;
41. Joe Strupp, "Putting a Price on Their Eds," Editor & Publisher, 25 September 2000, 44;
42. Carolyn Terry, "Search for Copy Editors Taps New Sources," Presstime, December 1998, 55.
43. Shoemaker and Reese, Mediating the Message, 189.
44. See Elmer Emig, "The Connotation of Newspaper Headlines," Journalism Quarterly 4 (January 1928): 53-59;
45. Keith R. Stamm and M. Daniel Jacoubovitch, "How Much Do They Read in the Daily Newspaper: A Measurement Study," Journalism Quarterly 57 (summer 1980): 234-42;
46. Percy H. Tannenbaum, "The Effect of Headlines on the Interpretation of News Stories," Journalism Quarterly 30 (spring 1953): 189-97;
47. John G. Geer and Kim Fridkin Kahn, "Grabbing Attention: An Experimental Investigation of Headlines During Campaigns," Political Communication 10 (April-June 1993): 175-91.
48. In 1995, Clifford G. Christians noted that thirty-four books or monographs on media ethics were published from 1990 to 1995, more than were published during all of the 1980s. He found the number of shorter works so great as to defy space limitations of a bibliographic essay. Clifford G. Christians, "Review Essay: Current Trends in Media Ethics," European Journal of Communication 10 (December 1995): 545-58.
49. E.g., S. Elizabeth Bird, "Newspaper Editors' Attitudes Reflect Ethical Doubt on Surreptitious Reporting," Journalism Quarterly 62 (summer 1985): 284-88;
50. Douglas A. Anderson and Frederic A. Leigh, "How Newspaper Editors and Broadcast New Directors View Media Ethics," Newspaper Research Journal 13 (winter-spring 1992): 112-22;
51. Douglas A. Anderson, "How Managing Editors View and Deal with Ethical Issues," Journalism Quarterly 64 (summer-autumn 1987): 341-45;
52. Craig H. Hartley, "Ethical Newsgathering Values of the Public and Press Photographers," Journalism Quarterly 60 (summer 1983): 301-304;
53. Shiela Reaves, "What's Wrong With This Picture? Daily Newspaper Photo Editors' Attitudes and Their Tolerance Toward Digital Manipulation," Newspaper Research Journal 13-14 (fall 1992/winter 1993): 131-53;
54. Herman J. Obermayer, "Eastern European Publishers Face Ethical Dilemmas," Journal of Mass Media Ethics 9 (2, 1994): 94-99;
55. Roger Hadley, "Television News Ethics: A Survey of Television News Directors," Journal of Mass Media Ethics 4 (2, 1989): 249-64;
56. K. Tim Wulfemeyer, "Freebies and Moonlighting in Local TV News: Perceptions of News Directors," Journal of Mass Media Ethics 4 (2, 1989): 232-48;
57. K. Tim Wulfemeyer, "Ethics in All-News Radio: Perceptions of News Directors," Journal of Mass Media Ethics 5 (3, 1990): 178-90;
58. K. Tim Wulfemeyer, "Ethics in Sports Journalism: Tightening Up the Code," Journal of Mass Media Ethics 1 (fall-winter 1985-86): 57-67;
59. Marie Hardin, "Survey Finds Boosterism, Freebies Remain Problems for Newspaper Sports Departments," Newspaper Research Journal 26 (winter 2005): 66-72
60. M. David Arant and Janna Quitney Anderson, "Newspaper Online Editors Support Traditional Standards," Newspaper Research Journal 22 (fall 2001): 57-69
61. Don Fry, "What Do Our Interns Know About Journalism Ethics?" Journal of Mass Media Ethics 4 (2, 1989): 186-92.
62. For one exception, see Susan Keith, "Ethical Decision-making on the Copy Desk: A Case Study" (master's thesis, University of South Florida, 1999).
63. Ernest C. Hynds, American Newspapers in the 1980s (New York: Hastings House, 1980), 264.
64. Clifton E. Wilson, "Impact of Teletypesetter on Publishing Media," Journalism Quarterly 30 (summer 1953): 372-73.
65. Starr D. Randall, "Effect of Electronic Editing on Error Rate of Newspaper," Journalism Quarterly 56 (spring 1979): 161-65;
66. Starr D. Randall, "How Editing and Typesetting Technology Affects Typographical Error Rate," Journalism Quarterly 63 (winter 1986): 763-70.
67. Benjamin M. Compaine, The Newspaper Industry in the 1980s: An Assessment of Economics and Technology (White Plains, NY: Knowledge Industry Publications, 1980), 168-69;
68. Randall, "How Editing and Typesetting Technology Affects Typographical Error Rate," 764.
69. Randall, "How Editing and Typesetting Technology Affects Typographical Error Rate," 764.
70. Bruce Garrison, "Electronic Editing Systems and Their Impact on News Decision Makin," Newspaper Research Journal 3 (January 1982): 43-52.
71. Judee K. Burgoon, Michael Burgoon, and Charles K. Atkin, The World of the Working Journalist (Lansing, MI: Michigan State University, 1982), 102-103.
72. Solomon, "From Craftspeople to Production Workers," 212.
73. George Sylvie and Patricia D. Witherspoon, Time, Change, and the American Newspaper (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002), 139.
74. John T. Russial, "Pagination and the Newsroom: A Question of Time," Newspaper Research Journal 15 (winter 1994): 91-101.
75. David Craig, "Influences on Editing Quality at the Daily Oklahoman," Newspaper Research Journal 20 (summer 1999): 58-71.
76. John T. Russial, "Pagination and the Copyeditor: Have Things Changed?" (paper presented at the annual meeting of AEJMC, Phoenix, AZ, 2000).
77. Sylvie and Witherspoon, Time, Change, and the American Newspaper, 138.
78. See also Keith R. Stamm, Doug Underwood, and Anthony Giffard, "How Pagination Affects Job Satisfaction of Editors," Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 72 (winter 1995): 851-62;
79. Keith R. Stamm, Doug Underwood, and Anthony Giffard, "Computers and Editing: Pagination's Impact on the Newsroom," Newspaper Research Journal 15 (spring 1994): 116-25.
80. Gwenda Iyechad, "Copy Editors Talk Back With Likes, Dislikes, "Associated Press Managing Editors Writing and Editing Report (Associated Press Managing Editors, 1984), 20.
81. Iyechad, "Copy Editors Talk Back With Likes, Dislikes," 19-21.
82. Linda Grist Cunningham and Barbara A. Henry, The Changing Face of the Newsroom: American Society of Newspaper Editors Human Resources Committee Report (Washington, DC: American Society of Newspaper Editors, 1989).
83. Phil Meyer, The Vanishing Newspaper: Saving Journalism in the Information Age (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2004), 157.
84. Cunningham and Henry, The Changing Face of the Newsroom.
85. Cunningham and Henry, The Changing Face of the Newsroom.
86. Betsy B. Cook, Steven R. Banks, and Brad Thompson, "Copy Desk Leader Behaviors/Copy Editor Job Stress: The Relationship of Copy Desk Leader Behaviors to Job Stress, Hardiness and Health Factors in Copy Editors" (paper presented at the annual meeting of AEJMC, Washington, DC, 1995).
87. Betsy B. Cook and Steven R. Banks, "Predictors of Job Burnout in Reporters and Copy Editors," Journalism Quarterly 70 (spring 1993): 108-117.
88. Paul S. Voakes, The Newspaper Journalists of the '90s (Reston, VA: American Society of Newspaper Editors, 1997), 30-31.
89. Susan Keith, "Copy Editor Job Satisfaction Lowest at Small Newspapers," Newspaper Research Journal 26 (spring/summer 2005): 6-26.
90. David Weaver, Randal Beam, Bonnie Brownlee, Paul S. Voakes, and G. Cleveland Wilhoit, The Face and Mind of the American Journalist, Poynter.org, 10 April 2003, (17 June 2005).
91. Keith, "Copy Editor Job Satisfaction Lowest at Small Newspapers," 16.
92. John Russial, "Pagination and the Newsroom: Great Expectations" (Ph.D. diss., Temple University, 1989), 56-59.
93. Ann Brill, "Pagination and the Newsroom: A Study of the Implementation of New Technology" (Ph.D. diss., University of Minnesota, 1994), 13, 17-18.
94. Harry Braverman, Labor and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1974).
95. Russial, "Pagination and the Copyeditor: Have Things Changed?"
96. Linda Grist Cunningham, "It Is Time to Bring the Newsroom's 'Stepchildren' into the Family Circle," ASNE Bulletin, May-June 1987, 4.
97. Glen L. Bleske, "The Romance and Reality of Copy Editing: A Newsroom Case Study" (paper presented to the annual meeting of AEJMC, Miami Beach, FL, 2002).
98. Shoemaker and Reese, Mediating the Message, 64.
99. Shoemaker and Reese, Mediating the Message, 151.
100. Ernest Greenwood, "Attributes of a Profession," Social Work 2 (3, 1957): 44-55.
101. Shoemaker and Reese, Mediating the Message, 93.
102. Andrew Abbott, The System of Professions: An Essay on the Division of Expert Labor (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988), 225-26;
103. Morris Janowitz, "Professional Models in Journalism: the Gatekeeper and the Advocate," Journalism Quarterly 52 (winter 1975): 618-26, 662;
104. Mike W. Martin, "Journalistic Ethics and Ordinary Morality," in Journalism Ethics: A Reference Handbook, ed. Elliot D. Cohen and Deni Elliott (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1997), 86-91;
105. Jack McLeod and Searle E. Hawley Jr., "Professionalization Among Newsmen," Journalism Quarterly 41 (autumn 1964): 529-38, 577;
106. Allan Nevins, "Journalism," Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences 7 (1932, reprinted 1959), 420-24;
107. James R. Rest and Darcia Narváez, Moral Development in the Professions (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1994), xi.
108. A.M. Carr-Saunders and P.A. Wilson, The Professions (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1933), 265-66;
109. Barrie MacDonald and Michel Petheram, Keyguide to Information Sources in Media Ethics (London: Mansell Publishing Ltd., 1998), 78;
110. William E. Porter, "Journalism," International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, vol. 8 (The Macmillan Co. & The Free Press, 1968), 265-72.
111. Shoemaker and Reese, Mediating the Message, 93.
112. Karen Dunlap, "Why Copy Editing Matters: Mind if We Watch?" Poynter.org, 9 November 2002, (21 June 2005).
113. The survey contained seventy-nine questions, two of which were open-ended, and many of which investigated issues beyond the scope of this study. Because there has been almost no research on the specific, job-related ethics roles of newspaper copy editors, most of the questions were original.
114. 2000 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook, Part I, 80th ed. (New York: Editor & Publisher, 2000).
115. Newspapers with smaller circulations were not used because ASNE figures indicated that, on average, they employed only two copy/layout editors each and so were unlikely to have the traditional copy desk with which this study was concerned.
116. The sample of newspapers was stratified to take into account a reality of U.S. journalism: Although only about 16% of newspapers circulate more than 50,000 copies daily, ASNE estimated in 2001 that 66.8% of copy/ layout editors worked for newspapers with daily circulations greater than 50,000. As a result, a sample of copy editors from a simple random sample of U.S. newspapers would have been likely to over-represent those who worked at smaller newspapers, where conditions would not be representative of those of most copy editors.
117. 25,001-50,000; 50,001-100,000; 100,001-250,000; 250,001-500,000; and over 500,000.
118. Twenty newspapers were eliminated from the sample and replaced, where possible, because editors never responded to requests for copy editors' names or never provided names they said they would. Four newspapers were eliminated because their editors refused to release copy editors' names, three because they had closed or merged, two because they had no copy editors, three because they had no copy editors who were not shared with other newspapers, and two because at the last minute it appeared the list of copy editors obtained was incomplete.
119. About 9% of the 8,794 copy/layout editors estimated in 2002 by ASNE to be working at U.S. daily newspapers with average weekday circulations above 25,000.
120. Don A. Dillman, Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1999).
121. Anderson (SC) Independent-Mail;
122. The Beacon News, Aurora, IL;
123. Billings (MT) Gazette;
124. Bismarck (ND) Tribune;
125. Bristol (VA) Herald Courier;
126. Butler (PA) Eagle;
127. Charleston (WV) Daily Mail;
128. The Daily Camera, Boulder, CO;
129. The Daily Sentinel, Grand Junction, CO;
130. The Decatur (AL) Daily;
131. Eastside Journal, Bellevue, WA;
132. The Enterprise, Brockton, MA;
133. The Express-Times, Easton, PA;
134. The Gadsden (AL) Times;
135. The Herald News, Fall River, MA;
136. Johnson City (TN) Press;
137. Kenosha (WI) News;
138. The Mercury, Pottstown, PA;
139. The Muskegon (MI) Chronicle, Muskegon, MI;
140. The News-Times, Danbury, CT;
141. Odessa (TX) American;
142. The Paducah (KY) Sun;
143. Reading (PA) Eagle;
144. Record-Journal, Meriden, CT;
145. St. Joseph (MO) News-Press;
146. Sioux City (IA) Journal;
147. Southern Illinoisian, Carbondale;
148. Springfield (OH) News Sun;
149. The Star Press, Muncie, IN;
150. The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, IN;
151. Telegraph Herald, Dubuque, IA;
152. Texarkana (TX) Gazette;
153. Times Daily, Florence, AL;
154. Tuscaloosa (AL) News;
155. Victoria (TX) Advocate;
156. Waco (TX) Herald-Tribune;
157. Waterloo (IA) Courier;
158. Bangor (ME) Daily News;
159. Beaumont (TX) Enterprise;
160. Bucks County Courier Times, Levittown, PA;
161. The Columbian, Vancouver, WA;
162. Connecticut Post, Bridgeport;
163. East Valley Tribune, Mesa, AZ;
164. Evansville (IN) Courier & Press;
165. The Greenville (SC) News;
166. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Ontario, CA;
167. The Journal-Gazette, Fort Wayne, IN;
168. The Ledger, Lakeland, FL;
169. Lubbock (TX) Avalanche Journal;
170. Naples (FL) Daily News;
171. Ocala (FL) Star-Banner;
172. Peoria (IL) Journal Star;
173. The Post-Crescent, Appleton, WI;
174. The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, CA;
175. Reno (NV) Gazette-Journal;
176. San Bernardino (CA) Sun;
177. Springfield (MO) News-Leader;
178. Star-News, Wilmington, NC;
179. The State Journal-Register, Springfield, IL;
180. Staten Island (NY) Advance;
181. Tallahassee (FL) Democrat;
182. Times Herald-Record, Middletown, NY;
183. Times Union, Albany, NY;
184. The Vindicator, Youngstown, OH;
185. Winston-Salem (NC) Journal;
186. Wisconsin State Journal, Madison;
187. Austin (TX) American-Statesman;
188. Cincinnati Enquirer;
189. Daily Herald, Arlington Heights, IL;
190. The Daily Oklahoman, Oklahoma City;
191. The Fresno (CA) Bee;
192. Honolulu Advertiser;
193. Las Vegas Review-Journal;
194. Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader;
195. The News Tribune, Tacoma, WA;
196. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette;
197. The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, CA;
198. The Record, Hackensack, NJ;
199. San Francisco Examiner;
200. Seattle Post-Intelligencer;
201. The Tampa Tribune;
202. Telegram & Gazette, Worcester, MA;
203. The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, VA;
204. The Orange County Register, Santa Ana, CA;
205. The Oregonian, Portland;
206. Orlando (FL) Sentinel;
207. The Sacramento Bee;
208. St. Louis Post-Dispatch;
209. San Francisco Chronicle;
210. Star Tribune, Minneapolis;
211. The Sun, Baltimore;
212. South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale;
213. Chicago Tribune;
214. Houston Chronicle;
215. Los Angeles Times;
216. New York Daily News;
217. The New York Times;
218. USA Today;
219. The Wall Street Journal;
220. The Washington Post.
221. Most respondents (53.6%) reported that they worked in news departments. The rest worked in sports (16.6%), lifestyle (14%), multiple departments (10.2%), business (2.3%), other departments (2.3%), and opinion/ editorial (0.6%). (Because of rounding, percentages add up to slightly less than 100.) Respondents were divided among women (41.6%) and men (58.4%) almost exactly as ASNE reports the population of copy/layout editors was divided (41% /59%). See "Table M: Numbers and Percentages of Women and Men by Job Category," www.asne.org, 8 April 2002, available at (21 June 2005). Of the 467 respondents who answered a question about race or ethnicity, 8.4% chose a response other than "White," compared with 11% of copy/layout editors whom ASNE estimated were minorities.
222. See "Table C: Numbers and Percentages of Whites and Minorities by Job Category," www.asne.org, 8 April 2002, available at (21 June 2005). Respondents reported a mean of 11.9 years of copy desk experience. However, as the standard deviation of 8.9 years shows, there was a great degree of variance in reported experience. The mode was two years. Most respondents (73.3%) had earned college degrees; nearly 18% had more than sixteen years of formal education.
223. For a provocative look at the foundation of this debate, see Paul F. Velleman and Leland Wilkinson, "Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, and Ratio Typologies Are Misleading," The American Statistician 47 (February 1993): 65-72.
224. Strongly agree = 2, somewhat agree = 1, undecided = 0, somewhat disagree = -1, and strongly disagree = - 2.
225. E.g., Sanford Labovitz, "The Assignment of Numbers to Rank Order Categories," American Sociological Review 35 (June 1970): 515-24;
226. Sanford Labovitz, "In Defense of Assigning Numbers to Ranks," American Sociological Review 36 (June 1971): 521-22;
227. and Sanford Labovitz, "Some Observations on Measurements and Statistics," Social Forces 46 (December 1967): 151-60.
228. See, for example, Lawrence S. Mayer, "A Note on Treating Ordinal Data as Interval Data," American Sociological Review 36 (June 1971): 519-20.
229. Marija J. Norusis, SPSS 9.0 Guide to Data Analysis (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999), 326.
230. Sign test results: z = -10.07, p < .001.
231. Sign test results: z = -1.29, p = .198.
232. Sign test results: z = -15.14, p < .001.
233. Sign test results: z = -5.80, p < .001.
234. Sign test results: z = -4.86, p < .001. Though percentages who agreed with the statements were similar (98.7% for should be and 99% for are), the differences among the "strongly agree" responses (96.4% vs. 87.7%) accounted for the statistical significance.
235. Sign test results: z = -9.24, p < .001.
236. Sign test results: z = -12.91, p < .001.
237. Sign test results: z = -13.33, p < .001.
238. Sign test results: z = -16.34, p < .001.
239. Sign test results: z = -10.99, p < .001.
240. Sign test results: z = -14.90, p < .001.
241. This disconnect was most often manifest in respondents agreeing with the statement "Identifying and seeking to eliminate potential ethics-related problems in stories should be an integral part of a copy editor's job" but responding "rarely" or "never" to the statement" At my newspaper, identifying and seeking to eliminate potential ethics-related problems is an integral part of a copy editor's job." Five respondents, however, checked "somewhat disagree" on the "should be" statement and "sometimes" on the "is" statement. Those respondents apparently think that they should not have to attend to questions of journalistic ethics but, for some reason, must.
242. "What is the biggest challenge you face on the job?" and "What was the last ethics-related concern you faced at work?"
243. "Danish Developers in Tune with the Times," Editor & Publisher, 15 April 2000, 23.
244. Dunlap, "Why Copy Editing Matters: Mind if We Watch?"