Quality of copy varies greatly depending upon the reporter and intake editor. The features desk usually has six or seven rimmers, two slots and three layout people. Intake editing is a separate function. Layout there is done by the presentation team. Features, two slots and several rims.
Designers are separate.
Many of the folks on both news and features copy desks appear to be career copy editors. Few people have been hired for the desks during the last three years, but about a quarter to a third of those hired have moved on to reporting, designing or other editing posts. Until the past three to five years, almost no one on the desks were trained copy editors. The news copy desk has been the traditional dumping ground. In sports, it was almost all former reporters.