Alter
It is the copy editor's third operation that is really interesting to the linguist.
Selection leaves the form of accepted stories untouched. Cutting deletes
matter, but does not otherwise change what remains. But alteration changes
the actual language form of news accepted for broadcast. So while the object
of much content analysis of news is what gets left out (e.g. Cutlip, 1954), the
focus of this study is the fate of what is left in. Editing alterations serve two
purposes. They reduce the amount of news copy even further, because
editors delete individual words and phrases as well as the complete sentences
rejected in cutting a story. The second purpose is stylistic. The linguistic form
of copy originating both outside and inside the news organization must be
made to conform to "house style". Most obviously, house style is codified in
the "style book" which newspapers and broadcast stations issue to newsworkers.
However, such manuals tend to deal with only the most obvious
points of style, and copy editors in any case rarely consult them. For broadcast
news, editing is also intended to restyle written language to a form more
suitable to be read aloud. Both radio newsworkers and the official style books
lay great stress on the differences between "writing for the eye" and "writing
for the ear".