If readers feel like online publications (or the online counterparts to print publications) are often poorly edited or have an unusually large number of typos, they aren’t imagining things. In entering the digital age, copy-editing standards seem to have become more lenient. The Atlantic‘s Alexis Madrigal makes the case for why copy-editing might make a comeback. For journalism’s sake, let’s hope he’s right.

In Sunday’s column by Washington Post ombudsman Andrew Alexander, the increase in typos and other copy editing errors stood trial. Angry letters have started coming more frequently, wondering, “If they don’t care about basics… how much do they care about factual accuracy?” Alexander served up the standard answer: our staffs have shrunk! But he also had a bizarre new scapegoat; namely, search engine optimization. Huh?