The copy editor’s layoff: music video

The concept is cute. The song is by a guy named Christopher Ave who runs a business called MusicforMedia. He writes,

I’ve never been a copy editor. But I’ve worked with many over the years in my newspaper career, and they strike me as having the most under-appreciated job in the newsroom. And sometimes, with the emphasis in gotta-post-right-now online journalism, I think we’re all forgetting how important their jobs really are.

With all the layoffs, buyouts, furloughs and other horrible things going on in the industry, I decided to write a song from the viewpoint of a copy editor losing his job. The lyrics are fictional, but the sentiments, I’m afraid, are all too common these days.

Since he brought it up, though, I think the song and the vid coulda used some editing itself. I mean, the dance sequence at the end? Seriously? Why would anyone want to watch journalists pull unironic MTV dance moves from the ’80s? Wouldn’t it have been funnier to project the lyrics on the screen — then, as they’re sung, scribble over them in red pencil? (For a truly funny take on journalism’s unsexiest job, read the blog CopyEditingCorner.)