Finding the right word or phrasing for a sentence is a daily task for most students struggling to put together papers. Megan Paolone ’12 has turned that task into a career.
Paolone is the copy chief for BuzzFeed News. In that position, Paolone coordinates the website’s different copy editors to conduct line-by-line editing of all of BuzzFeed News’s editorial content, from breakdowns of the newest social media phenomenon to deep dives into political or world events.
“I think one of the interesting things about being the copy editor at BuzzFeed is that BuzzFeed speaks the language of the internet and we’re not really beholden to all the traditional standards of print media … The New York Times might be a lot more reluctant to say ‘fuck’ in print … but that’s not really something that BF thinks twice about.” Paolone said in a phone interview. “We also just recently had a story that was about this guy who is a YouTube entertainer named Blippi … who had a video involving the Harlem Shake and pooping on his friend. So that’s a BuzzFeed story that you wouldn’t necessarily see at a place like The New York Times.”
Besides BuzzFeed’s bent toward digital popular culture, Paolone also appreciates the more prestigious side of the site’s reporting.
“I’ve worked on stories that have been nominated for Pulitzer Prizes and I’ve worked with editors who have been renowned in the journalism world and have worked at places like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal,” Paolone said. “It’s kind of nice to do Cardi B memes in the morning and a big investigation about President Trump in the afternoon.”
As part of her job as a copy editor, Paolone helps to codify the “language of the internet” through the BuzzFeed Style Guide, which sets BuzzFeed’s standards for everything from whether to use clapback—a noun—versus clap back—a verb—to how to format phrases from social media sites like Reddit or Twitter.
Paolone, who was a history and Spanish double major from Geneseo, still draws from her academic experience to conduct everyday activities.
“A lot of what I know and explain to people about English grammar … comes from learning the explanations for Spanish grammar. My history major also really furthered my love of reading and writing and research,” Paolone said. “The ability to think critically and form ideas about things is really just founded in the strong liberal arts tradition that Geneseo has. Like Geneseo just taught me how to think well.”
While at Geneseo, Paolone joined The Lamron, first as an assistant copy editor before rising to the positions of copy editor and managing editor. Paolone attended a year-long journalism program Newhouse School of Public Communication at Syracuse University after graduating from Geneseo.
Beyond her involvement with The Lamron and her graduate education, Paolone attributes her interest in journalism as a career path to the style of Geneseo’s education.
“I think I wanted to go into journalism because I was excited about the idea that I could keep learning all the time, whether I was a reporter and I was just moving from subject to subject and working on different stories… or as an editor, I just read articles all day… and that’s my main job,” Paolone said. “That’s what I get a paycheck for and I feel pretty lucky about it.”
Paolone urged current students to sample widely from different classes before they have to enter the workforce.
“If you’re still in school you should try to get as much exposure to everything as you can,” Paolone said. “Take as many different classes as you can and really try to ‘sus’ out your interests and the stuff that makes you kick. For me, that was The Lamron and journalism and writing and reporting and editing.”