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"Writers' bedtimes vary, but few have been spared the shock of a copy editor's early wake-up call."
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"Publishers are notoriously slothful about numbers, unless they're attached to dollar signs - unlike journalists, quarterbacks, and felony criminal defendants who tend to be keenly aware of numbers at all times."

"The first issue of The Register was printed in London, and gave a glowing account of the province that was to be - its climate, its resources, the sound principles on which it was founded."

"When reading a book, you are sold what some writer thought. When reading a newspaper, you are sold what someone did, and, what some advertiser made."

"In journalism just one fact that is false prejudices the entire work. In contrast, in fiction one single fact that is true gives legitimacy to the entire work. That's the only difference, and it lies in the commitment of the writer. A novelist can do anything he wants so long as he makes people believe in it."

"In Iraq, embedding allows us to put reporters in situations that would otherwise be too dangerous for them."

"Burke said there were three Estates in Parliament but in the reporters' gallery yonder there sat a fourth Estate more important than them all."

"Through TV people turn their family living rooms into meditative dens of death and violence worship."
Explore more quotes by Bill Walsh


"Machines aren't replacing proofreaders at all. Copy editors, who proofread and much, much more, use spellcheck as a tool but read every word that appears in the paper."


"If any sort of error is inexcusable, it's an incorrect phone number. One of the cardinal rules of copy editing is that every phone number published must be checked."


"A harsh reality of newspaper editing is that the deadlines don't allow for the polish that you expect in books or even magazines."


"Writing headlines is a specialty - there are outstanding writers who will tell you they couldn't write a headline to save their lives."


"Nothing is more effective than sincere, accurate praise, and nothing is more lame than a cookie-cutter compliment."


"Writers' bedtimes vary, but few have been spared the shock of a copy editor's early wake-up call."
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