What happened to the Copy Editors?

They climbed aboard their starship, and headed for the sky, saying....

 

... she-bop?

 

We've got a few really talented desk guys and a few slackers. The good guys are invaluable, but like a lot of you have said, they're pretty versatile. Some are more designers/copy editors. Some are more copy editors/designers. The slackers kill me sometimes though. I'll call in a fix on a story and get something like, ``OK, thanks.'' and wake up in the morning and the error is still there. And there's always the fantastically obvious typos or missing words that get past the automatic spell check but my 7 year old cousin would notice is wrong.

That said, I always try and compliment the guys who go above and beyond in making my centerpiece look really good on the page or in checking facts in the copy. I'll send them an e-mail and cc their boss on it. Sorry to say, I think I'm one of the only writers at our shop who does that.

Point is, straight copy editing is a dying art 1. Because it costs a lot and the higher ups who think it's OK to move deadlines up from 10:30 to 10 pm obviously don't care that much about quality and 2. Because when you are trying to slam through 20 something stories a night and lay them all on the page without much of a pat on the back, it can get a little demoralizing after a while.

I still think there's room for it, but feel bad for you guys because it's so hard to find a place without the sweatshop mentality on the desk anymore