John E. McIntyre is an American

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

copy editor Copy editing (also known as copyediting and manuscript editing) is the process of revising written material (" copy") to improve quality and readability, as well as ensuring that a text is free of errors in grammar, style, and accuracy. ''The Ch ...

. McIntyre is a cofounder and two-term president of the American Copy Editors Society.

Life and career

McIntyre was born in Kentucky and grew up in Elizaville, in

Fleming County, Kentucky Fleming County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 15,082. Its county seat is Flemingsburg. The county was formed in 1798 and named for Colonel John Fleming, an Indian fighter and earl ...

.John McIntyre: Night Content Production Manager.
''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...

'' He graduated from Fleming County High School in

Flemingsburg, Kentucky Flemingsburg is a home rule-class city in Fleming County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 2,953 at the 2020 census, up from 2,658 at the 2010 census. It is the seat of Fleming County. Geography Flemingsburg is located nort ...

in 1969. He then earned a bachelor's degree in English from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

in 1973. From 1973 to 1979 he attended

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

, earning a master's degree in English but leaving without completing his doctorate. From 1980 to 1986 McIntyre worked as a copy editor at ''

The Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, altho ...

''. He became a copy editor at ''

'' in 1986. On April 29, 2009, McIntyre was laid off by ''The Sun''. He was rehired in 2010 to serve as the newspaper's Night Content Production Manager. He retired from ''The Sun'' in 2021, after accepting a buyout from the newspaper's new owner

Alden Global Capital Alden Global Capital is a hedge fund based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 2007 by Randall D. Smith, and is a division of Smith Management LLC. Its managing director is Heath Freeman. By mid-2020, Alden had stakes in roughly two ...

. In 1997, McIntyre helped to found the American Copy Editors Society, and subsequently served as its president for two terms. McIntyre is also an affiliate adjunct instructor at

Loyola College in Maryland Loyola University Maryland is a private Jesuit university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established as Loyola College in Maryland by John Early and eight other members of the Society of Jesus in 1852, it is the ninth-oldest Jesuit college in the Un ...

. He published a parody video titled "Trigger Warning" for his students on Facebook in 2016, which warned them about the tedium and difficulty of the material. It was criticized by some students who felt that it trivialized

trigger warnings A trauma trigger is a Stimulus (psychology), psychological stimulus that prompts involuntary recall of a previous psychological trauma, traumatic experience. The stimulus itself need not be frightening or traumatic and may be only indirectly or su ...

. McIntyre maintains a

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

called "You Don't Say" on the ''Sun'' website, discussing a variety of topics including

grammar In linguistics, grammar is the set of rules for how a natural language is structured, as demonstrated by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rul ...

usage, journalism, and copy editing. The blog received an average of 20,000 to 30,000 monthly pageviews in 2017. His online following grew after posting a video on the grammatical use of the

singular they Singular ''they'', along with its inflected or derivative forms, ''them'', ''their'', ''theirs'', and ''themselves'' (also ''themself'' and ''theirself''), is a gender-neutral third-person pronoun derived from plural they. It typically oc ...

which received over 1 million views. His blog has weighed in on various topics related to grammar, such as the controversy over the trademarking of

Cafe Hon Cafe Hon was a restaurant in the Hampden area of Baltimore, Maryland. History Opened by Denise Whiting in 1992, Cafe Hon takes its name from a common term of endearment ( "hon" is an abbreviated version of the word "honey") used by Baltimore ...

and

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing Comedy music, comedy songs that often Parody music, parody specific songs by contempo ...

's "

Word Crimes "Word Crimes" is a song by American musician "Weird Al" Yankovic from his fourteenth studio album, ''Mandatory Fun'' (2014). The song is a parody of the 2013 single "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke, featuring Pharrell Williams and T.I. The song par ...

". He is the author of two books published by Apprentice House Press at Loyola University Maryland, ''The Old Editor Says: Maxims for Writing and Editing'' (2013) and ''Bad Advice: The Most Unreliable Counsel Available on grammar, Usage, and Writing'' (2020).

References

External links

''You Don't Say on Blogspot.com''
previous blog
You Don't Say column
via ''The Baltimore Sun,'' archive through January 2012
You Don't Say column
via ''The Baltimore Sun,'' archive February 2012 to present {{DEFAULTSORT:McIntyre, John American copy editors American bloggers The Baltimore Sun people People from Kentucky Michigan State University alumni Syracuse University alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) The Cincinnati Enquirer people 21st-century American non-fiction writers