that's not in the job description

carola · **Posted:** Sun Jun 08, 2003 3:39 pm

Does anyone else have to do other non-copy-editing duties? At my Florida paper we have to post all the stories on the Internet before we go home. Next I suppose they'll be asking us to clean the toilets and keep the editor's coffee mug filled at all times.

Bakelite · **Posted:** Sun Jun 08, 2003 6:19 pm

There's no good reason that posting to a newspaper's Web site should involve any manual intervention by copy editors, other that perhaps some coding that may need to be done early in the night to route a story to the correct section on the site.But if your system works that way, it still isn't quite the same thing as scrubbing out the johns or fetching more coffee for the boss.[ June 08, 2003: Message edited by: Dean Betz ]

Phillip Blanchard · **Posted:** Sun Jun 08, 2003 7:08 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Dean Betz:
It still isn't quite the same thing as scrubbing out the johns or fetching more coffee for the boss.[ June 08, 2003: Message edited by: Dean Betz ]<hr></blockquote>It is, however, clerical work.
My understanding of such things is limited, but a copy editor having to post stories to a Web site sounds pretty 1995 to me.

SusanV · **Posted:** Sun Jun 08, 2003 7:15 pm

We have to proofread one another's page proofs now, because our proofreaders were all axed during the last round of staff cuts. But I suppose that's basically within the same scope as copy editing. There were some rumblings at one point that we were going to have to take on all the functions of the Ops Desk (simplified, putting in all the style coding and "assigning" the Word file to the Quark document. I'm guessing that's something like pagination), but luckily, cooler heads prevailed. That would have been an unmitigated disaster!

Jackie · **Posted:** Sun Jun 08, 2003 10:38 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by blanp:
... A copy editor having to post stories to a Web site sounds pretty 1995 to me.<hr></blockquote>It just sounds very cheap, and thereby very 2003, to me. Of course, I was pissed when copy editors had to start start electronically pasting up pages while not getting a penny more in pay for taking on what used to be backshop's job....

RedEagle97 · **Posted:** Sun Jun 08, 2003 11:43 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by blanp:
My understanding of such things is limited, but a copy editor having to post stories to a Web site sounds pretty 1995 to me.<hr></blockquote>Agreed. For now, we *just* have to post all our stories on the Web, a process that takes about 30 seconds or so and isn't that much trouble. We'll soon have to log into the Web-publishing system itself before we leave each night and check to make sure everything was posted properly and fix any bugs on the pages -- THAT sounds like it'll be more of a pain.Small peanuts, though, all in all, considering that my colleagues and I also serve as city editor and receptionist after 6 p.m. and copy desk chief after 10 p.m.

Bakelite · **Posted:** Mon Jun 09, 2003 1:11 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by blanp:
It is, however, clerical work.<hr></blockquote>I just got done dragging four Webcasting servers up two flights of stairs. Complain to someone else about "out-of-title" work.

Hawkeye · **Posted:** Mon Jun 09, 2003 3:18 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by RedEagle97:
Small peanuts, though, all in all, considering that my colleagues and I also serve as city editor and receptionist after 6 p.m. and copy desk chief after 10 p.m.<hr></blockquote>
Don't forget proofreader, too.

Karenna Awtry · **Posted:** Mon Jun 09, 2003 8:16 pm

We have a big marketing tool on the front yard known as "The Sign." When the marketing "sign bimbo" failed to impress our editor with her flashy features promotions alongside Iraq war updates, The Sign was given to the copy desk. Responsibility bounces between the dayside features editor and a night slot. The slot also has to export pages to the Web (generally three keystrokes, but occasionally an IT person has to be awakened at 1 a.m. for special instructions). We also do an inordinate amount of research to cover the butts of our letter writers and editorial editor, who would rather give letter writers the benefit of the doubt when they spout off.
Oh, and we double and triple check the comics and puzzle pages to be sure the right items appear in the right place at the right time. I tell you what, nothing does a paper in faster than the wrong damn crossword a day or two in a row.

vsafuto · **Posted:** Wed Jun 11, 2003 10:17 am

Same here regarding Web posting. My paper's system is actually fairly easy to use, and the tech people wrote some codes that cut down the amount of time needed considerably. I learned it in about a day.

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