This is where copy editors stand apart from their newsroom colleagues. They are more pessimistic about their careers and more critical of their papers and supervisors than others in the newsroom. The most satisfying aspect of their work is the daily challenge, a feeling shared by the newsroom majority. Their biggest complaint, like that of their colleagues, is having little impact. Yet copy editors are more ambitious.
Copy editors seem more cynical about how people advance at their papers.
The top pick of non-copy editors is ''merit,'' but copy editors choose ''politics'' more often than any of the given choices. Nearly 44 percent of copy editors say politics is the key to getting ahead. If they left newspapers, copy editors would go into public relations more than into any other field. And yet most copy editors would choose newspapers if they had it all to do again. Consistent with the pattern, they are less enthusiastic than their colleagues, who say ''yes'' with 81 percent frequency.