The University of Missouri School of Journalism is the recipient of the 2010 ACES Glamann Award for contributions to editing.
The third annual Glamann Award, which recognizes a person or group that has helped raise copy editing’s profile, was presented Friday night during the banquet at the 14th annual American Copy Editors Society conference in Philadelphia.
The first journalism school in the United States was founded at the University of Missouri on Sept. 14, 1908. Even 100 years ago, Missouri was dedicated to the craft of copy editing.
Its course book for 1908-1912 lists a course called “copy reading” taught by Charles G. Ross. (Ross taught at Mizzou and then went on to work at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch where he won a Pulitzer for newspaper correspondence in 1934. Ross later served as the press secretary to President Harry S. Truman before dying of a heart attack at his desk in the White House.)
That early course description in the academic catalogue said: “Copy-reading and correspondence: This is a study of special feature and special correspondence in newspaper work, the handling of the telegraph, copy-reading, and headlining. It includes laboratory practice in all these lines. Five times a week.”
Since then, Missouri has made the teaching of copy editing an essential part of its journalism curriculum. The University of Missouri’s Journalism School has taught several of our industry leaders with its famous hands-on Missouri method.
Mizzou also has supported copy editing by sending students and faculty members to ACES national and regional conferences, hosting an active student chapter and providing academic support for the ACES 2009 national survey of copy editors.
The University of Missouri, home of the Reynolds Journalism Institute, is constantly evolving along with our industry, yet still maintains high standards for excellence.
— Teresa Schmedding, ACES executive committee, BJ ‘89 MA ‘09
