I'm a reporter for a newspaper ... and treated fairly well in terms of overtime, vacation days and workload. But I can't say the same for the copy desk.
We've had major turnover on the copy desk this year, and the positions don't seem to get filled. The editors say there's not enough copy editing talent out there, but they don't seem to post the jobs. They've also been turned down by a few applicants for low salary offers.
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The copy editors have little choice but to work overtime, which they are paid for, but 50-plus-hour and six-day work weeks have pushed our few remaining copy editors to their breaking point. More are close to quitting without any notice.
While I'm treated well, it disappoints and worries me to see the copy editors treated this way. And when they're overloaded with work, they're more likely to make errors or write poor headlines for my stories.
This could just be an example of poor recruitment. But is there a bigger theme of squeezing as much as possible from as few staff members as possible?
Sincerely,
In the Copy Editors' Corner
As a recovering copy editor, I appreciate your interest in their plight.
You've touched on a lot of things here, and I think the answer lies in one of them: There is a chronic shortage of copy editors. This was the case 30 years ago when I used the shortage to break into newspapers, and it exists today when I have frequent conversations with our copy chief about talent. I keep a list of copy editing talent with me and I work on it. That is because good candidates are hard to find.
Ask yourself how many editing courses your university taught and contrast that with the number of reporting and writing classes. Think about the higher visibility of reporters and photographers in terms of credit lines or pop culture. There just aren't enough copy editors to go around.
Sometimes, newspapers have short-term hiring freezes to save themselves payroll costs and help themselves over the humps. Right now, there are a lot of humps in the finances of mainstream media. But all bosses also know that the cost to replace employees is high, that overtime is expensive and that it is dangerous to run for very long with shortages in critical positions. In many newsrooms, the copy desk is seen as mission critical, so they sometimes are the places to get relief from hiring freezes.
The best sources of copy editors are the
Dow Jones Newspaper Fund internship program and the
American Copy Editors Society with its free
job board.
I appreciate your concern, but think you can take a step past pointing out the problem, which is probably clear to the editors, by using your own network to bring them some candidates.
Coming Monday: This editor is concerned about an offer from people who plan to start a new magazine aimed at executives with most of its copy written by volunteers or to feature advertisers.
