So much to pick on, so little time

Guest · **Posted:** Tue Dec 10, 2002 3:36 pm

From journalismjobs.com:Feeling cold? Itâ€™s 86 degrees here in sunny Arizona! The East Valley Tribune, in the warm climes of the Valley of the Sun, seeks a talented news copy editor for our Copy Desk. The successful candidate must have a minimum of three years of experience on a daily newspaper and the ability to write headlines that sparkle. Must also be slot capable. Design experience a plus. If you have a passion for serving readers and the skills and experience to make a good newspaper better, this is the place for you. Must submit headline and/or design clips with resume. Come join the award-winning journalism team at the East Valley Tribune â€” the fastest-growing, most dynamic newspaper in the Valley of the Sun! To apply, submit resume and work samples to News Editor Rebecca Dyer, The Tribune, 120 W. First Ave., Mesa, AZ 85210, or fax to (480) 898-6362. E-mail address: rdyer@aztrib.com (send your materials directly in the e-mail; no attachments please). *** 1. Travelogue first, job second. That's a priority order you'd like to establish for your employees?*** 2. What the hell is a copy editor who ISN'T "slot capable"?*** 3. Fastest-growing, most dynamic .. could I see your Audit Bureau of Circulation figures on that, please?*** 4. "Send your materials directly in the e-mail; no attachments please" ... In other words, our technology is still 1973.

Finn DeSiecle · **Posted:** Tue Dec 10, 2002 6:06 pm

5. "If you have a passion for serving readers and the skills and experience to make a good newspaper better..." Anytime I see papers looking for "passion" and "enthusiasm" these days, I wonder if it's a euphemism for "Only your own idealism will enable you to care about this job; we don't offer good pay, decent working conditions, professional recognition or any other reasons why you should." (Somebody said this better a few months ago on a Yahoo board.)But re the no-attachments e-mail, it may simply be that the paper's computer services dept. is paranoid about viruses. And as far as "slot capable," I've worked with plenty of people who have talent but not necessarily the experience or judgment to make the tougher calls in the slot. They're still valuable, but they're better off being supervised than supervising.

tim · **Posted:** Tue Dec 10, 2002 6:36 pm

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jim Thomsen:
[QB]From journalismjobs.com:Come join the award-winning journalism team at the East Valley Tribune â€” the fastest-growing, most dynamic newspaper in the Valley of the Sun! *** 3. Fastest-growing, most dynamic .. could I see your Audit Bureau of Circulation figures on that, please?The East Valley Tribune has indeed been a fast-growing newspaper, but that says nothing about the quality of the paper and plenty about the population growth of the area.

Bumfketeer · **Posted:** Wed Dec 11, 2002 11:09 am

Copy editors who are not "slot capable?"Well, how about a copy editor right out of school with no experience? Or an "experienced" copy editor who is just plain no good? Or, as we currently have on my desk, a copy editor who can't see? Or, as we used to have on my desk, a copy editor who was so bound up in his own emotional pain over his 30-year downward career trajectory that he was incapable of making a decision on even the simplest matter within, say, half an hour?The list goes on, Jim. I respectfully disagree. Just because you are a copy editor doesn't mean you are capable of working in the slot. And just because you can't do it doesn't necessarily make you a bad copy editor. I have known good copy editors who just don't have the stomach for the pressure of slotting.

Guest · **Posted:** Wed Dec 11, 2002 2:53 pm

Interesting perspective. I guess mine is a bit more ironic, since I've worked most of my career at daily newspapers in the 20K to 50K circulation range, and they never hire anybody they don't feel can do it all -- slot, work on the rim, paginate, pinch-hit as a city editor once in a while. And, of course, as the ads say, "reporting experience preferred." I know I wouldn't have been hired at my current bad paper of 32K if I hadn't demonstrated during my three-day tryout that I was capable of ass-kicking from the slot. I can't imagine any paper, however large or small, would really have much use for a copy editor who can do just one thing and be stuck in a corner and not asked to have cross-trained capabilities.So there really are copy eidtors at larger papers all over who have one narrow function, and do that and nothing else ... and have employers who can live with that? I didn't realize that newspaper staffing levels -- especially in our current bad economy -- are such that such people are a luxury any newsroom can afford. That really surprises me.

Wayne Countryman · **Posted:** Wed Dec 11, 2002 11:48 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Jim Thomsen:

So there really are copy eidtors at larger papers all over who have one narrow function, and do that and nothing else ... and have employers who can live with that? I didn't realize that newspaper staffing levels -- especially in our current bad economy -- are such that such people are a luxury any newsroom can afford. That really surprises me.<hr></blockquote>There's a shortage in general of copy editors.It's not necessary for every copy editor to be a slot editor at larger papers because there are only so many slot positions, and not enough rim editors on a regular basis for what's expected of them. Which is another way of saying most papers have too few copy editors.

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