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Q. I recently started my first permanent journalism job after college, reporting for a corporate-owned chain of weekly suburban newspapers in a major metropolitan area. I have adjusted well, and I enjoy the work. My question is about a reporter's relationship with copy editors and how to handle grammatical mistakes and minor factual errors (for example, photographers' cutline information not matching facts in the articles).

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The mistakes are not commonplace, but they happen much more often than I care to see, in my stories as well as others'. I realize that the mistakes in my articles are no one's fault but my own, and when I see them I commit myself to edit my work more thoroughly. But there is a limit to how much I can catch, especially when facing deadline. I don't want to rely on copy editors to polish my articles, but it's alarming to think that I can't count on them to back me up.

I want to combat the errors, both for the reputation of the publication and to ensure I have a wide range of clips I can choose from when I apply for my next job. Is this something I need to work on personally, or should I breach the subject with my editor or a copy editor? I'm worried that if I do so, it will seem like I am accusing them of doing their jobs poorly. Is there a tactful way to bring up these grammatical errors?

Thanks again,

Brian

A. Thanks for giving me an opportunity to thank my editor, Mallary Tenore, for making me look better than I really am.

That's what good editors do.

Joe Grimm

But I would never go to the editors and suggest that they are not making me look good enough. They have a lot to deal with -- and not just from me. Each mistake in your copy must feel like a knife in the ribs. However, as tempting as it is to ask editors to save us from ourselves, we shouldn't. We have to edit ourselves better.

Keep looking for errors in your work, determine how you made them and develop work habits that will prevent them. I am guessing you are simply moving too quickly, trying to cover too much ground in not enough time. As you are new, you're in a good position to develop some work habits that will be with you forever.

So, keep taking responsibility for making your own work clean, thank the editors warmly when they make you look better and save conversations for those occasions when they introduce errors into your copy -- not for when they simply miss them.

That word, by the way, is broach, not breach.

Copy editors, what do you say? Join the discussion by clicking on Add Your Comments.

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Coming Wednesday: This second-year copy editor faces a likely layoff and wonders if she should take a long trip she's wanted to go on or get busy preventing a gap in her resume.

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