In the Chicago Trib sports section, there is frequently a column, reprinted from one of the other cities, dealing with some relatively pertinent issue. Yesterday, someone’s article dealt with the appropriateness of Don Nelson’s investiture into the Basketball Hall of Fame, for example and I think the article was picked up from a Detroit paper. Point is, in that article, the writer had used the phrase “Hall of Fames” when referring to several of them. Had I been the editor, I would certainly have preferred “Halls of Fame,” but my question is, does the Tribune editor have the right to edit that column? It was written for a different paper and picked up for use in the Trib. I’m guessing the agreement is to let it run the way it was orignially written, but what if it violates the Tribs publishing standards? What is the usual standard in a case like that?
The paper running the column is pretty free to edit it to its liking.
Just to forestall the inevitable nitpick, let me agree with Snooooopy but point out that “edit” in this case means change to conform with the local paper’s style sheet. Editors can also add local material or cut an article for length or other reasons. They can also change or delete words that are acceptable in one place but not another. They can’t change the body of the original to make it more to their liking, however.
Whether editors do this kind of copyediting on wire service articles obviously will vary greatly with the paper, with the editor, and with how busy they are on any particular day.
Without knowing what the current AP style sheet, the usual one that newspapers recognize (some use the New York Times style sheet instead), says, I don’t know whether changing Hall of Fames to Halls of Fame is proper usage.