Thursday, January 7, 2010

What happens after copyeditors get laid off?

The Minneapolis Star Tribune isn't a News Corp. newspaper, but its just-announced decision to eliminate the jobs of 18 copyeditors and one copy desk chief offers clues about how newspapers are shifting work around.

More of these jobs across NWS could be lost -- especially at the company's more than dozen U.S. newspapers in the Local Media Group -- as the company consolidates more work to reduce overhead.

In Minneapolis, here's what will happen after the 19 jobs get cut, according to a memo obtained by MinnPost:
  • Some reporters might serve a shift as a copy editor or line editor in any given week.
  • More pages will be templates and easier to produce.
  • Most stories will now flow from team leader to designer to slot.
  • Reporters and team leaders will be required to write initial headlines for their stories.
How have copyediting duties changed at your paper? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

[Image: today's Star Tribune front page, Newseum]

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