I made this edit one night last week:

The company adopted new accounting standards after the acquisition that significantly impacted affected its results, so comparisons with year-ago results are skewed.

I admit that it was an almost automatic action on my part.

I am a copy editor, and as part of that job, I write headlines. Last week, I wrote this headline, using a word that we rarely see except in headlines

A lead on a story from a few days ago with the construction "stamped to death" made me stop. I thought other readers might trip over "stamped" in a construction where we usually see "stomped."

I ordered the new version of the Associated Press Stylebook for my home use (we expect to get them in office soon). The book has a summary of the changes right after the foreword on a page titled "What's New." One of the most interesting changes for grammar geeks is the "collective nouns" entry. Here is a part of the entry:

Collective nouns: Nouns that denote a unit take singular verbs and pronouns: class, committee, crowd, family, group, herd, jury, orchestra, team. ...

Team names and band names, however, take plural verbs. The Miami Heat are battling for the league's worst record.

That team and band names are to be treated as plural is a change. I am glad that the stylebook finally spells this out. Although we had been treating singular-sounding names as singular (The Who comes to mind), I agree with this rule. It's easier to apply it consistently.

P.S. I guess that should be "The Who come to mind." 

The New York Times' Editorial Observer by Lawrence Downes has an eloquent Elegy for Copy Editors. The piece begins with a lament that the Newseum in Washington has no exhibits about copy editors. In the changing word of online journalism, Downes worries, the time for thoughtful copy editing is vanishing. He lays out succinctly what copy editors do. Here is a quote:

The copy editor's job, to the extent possible under deadline, is to slow down, think things through, do the math and ask the irritating question.

 
A colleague at The N&O once said, "Copy editors are roadkill on the information superhighway." That was a funny line, and sometimes we feel that way. But the truth is that every piece of copy ever published in any form could benefit from a copy editor's eye. Even if the copy editor comes to the piece after it is published for the first time, he or she can still improve the next version.