Those are important questions that every editor has to ask, writes John McIntyre, The Baltimore Sun's assistant managing editor for the copy desk, at http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/mcintyre/blog/2008/04/so_you_want_to_be_an_editor.html. Publications must be sure that what's about to go into print won't get them [and their bosses] into legal hot water. "Ignore them at your own peril," counsels McIntyre.

Every time an editor works on a story, there are plenty other questions that have to be asked. Is the article accurate? What's the focus? What kind of article is it? Who's the audience? And that's in addition to checking for grammar, spelling, punctuation and other mechanical mishaps that creep into a write-up.

The stakes are high and editors must meet the challenge. That's part of the job. Both the writer and the audience expect no less.

These questions and others are explored in McIntyre's Web log at the URL above. Whether you've been editing for 5 years or writing for 10, it's a good list to review and maybe even jot down next to your computer's keyboard. I did.