How the copy desk at the NYT works

What do copy editors do? And how do they do it at The New York Times? NYT director of copy desks Merrill Perlman gives a snapshot and some clear explanations in this installment of "Talk to the Newsroom" (a column that recently featured editors and reporters responding to reader outcry over the paper's John McCain/Vicki Iseman story).

In journalism history, the copy desk has always acted as the last line of defense, the final gatekeeper before the news reaches you, the reader. It consists, in the case of The Times, of more than 150 people who get an article after it has been written by the reporter and has been gone over by a “big picture” or assignment editor, called a backfielder. Of course, not all 150 are here at once. The earliest copy editor arrives around 9 a.m., and the last one leaves around 2 a.m., seven days a week.

Perlman talks at length about exactly what their copy editors do, touching on issues such as editing blogs, and fields other questions about apostrophes, acronyms vs. initialisms amd more.

She also says, in an independent clause to gladden the hearts of both prospective and currently employed copy editors, that these days, "it’s harder to find people who know what good copy editors need to know."