PEG Background
Launched in
Johannesburg in 1993, PEG is a national body with two principal branches, Gauteng and Cape Town, each run by a committee of
volunteers. PEG represents
practitioners who operate in the South African publishing industry, corporate
communications and media. PEG is a founding
member of LAMP (an umbrella Alliance of Language and Media Professionals),
whose mission is to promote the interests of all those professionals who serve this
key sector of the South African economy. LAMP also represents our sector on
book- and reading-development bodies.
Members
PEG’s members include
both freelancers and full-timers who work professionally in any of South
Africa’s nine official languages, plus others: writers, copy-editors,
subeditors, overwriters, translators, proofreaders, indexers, book designers,
and book and magazine DTP specialists. We also welcome those
who are not yet practising but have an interest in the field or wish to make a
career in it.
We encourage our
members to contribute towards the achievement of PEG's objectives. By sharing
their professional experience and expertise with colleagues, our members
contribute to:
- elevating
and upholding standards of work in the profession
- improving
the public perception of copy-editing and proofreading as a craft
- raising
awareness of a much-needed service.
Objectives
PEG’s stated objectives
are:
- to promote
high standards of copy-editing and proofreading
- to uphold
the professional status of copy-editors and promote professional behaviour
among our members
- to promote
contact among members, the exchange of ideas and the dissemination of
information on matters of professional interest
- to promote
an understanding of the work of copy-editors among potential clients and the
general public
- to
establish and maintain liaison with other societies of copy-editors worldwide.
Member Code of Conduct
As
a member of the Professional
Editors’ Group,
I undertake to abide by the following:
-
I
shall strive to produce work of the highest possible standard, shall
accept full responsibility for my work and shall draw the attention
of my client/employer to any unresolved problems.
- I
shall refrain from accepting work that I do not have the capacity to
complete to the requisite standard and if I unwittingly accept such
work I shall inform my client/employer to this effect as soon as
possible and if necessary help him/her to find a replacement editor.
- I
shall be guided in negotiating remuneration by the principle of
equitability, and in particular I shall refrain from charging
excessively high or low rates. (This does not preclude pro
bono
or pro
amico
work.)
- I
shall strive to keep to agreed deadlines and conditions of delivery
and shall inform my client/employer in good time should any problems
arise with complying with the agreement.
- I
shall treat as confidential all personal and sensitive information
that comes to my attention in the course of my work, and shall
maintain professional detachment, impartiality and objectivity in my
work.
- I
shall respect all the rights of the authors of work and of my
clients/employers, and specifically copyright, and shall disclose
any conflicts of interest.
- I
shall refrain from encroaching on or recruiting the clients of
fellow professionals.
- I
shall not accept any work that I have reason to believe is intended
for unlawful or dishonest purposes or is contrary to the public
interest.
- I
shall constantly pursue self-improvement in order to improve the
quality of my work and I shall respect and support my fellow
professionals, sharing my professional knowledge for the good of the
profession.
- I
shall support and further the interests of the profession and my
fellow professionals and shall always conduct myself in such a way
as to be a credit to the Professional
Editors’ Group.