He or she makes final decisions as to what appears on the front page. Metro editors are the assigning editors who work with reporters covering Roanoke-region government, schools, politics, neighborhoods, crime and courts. Our three metro editors take the place of what is called the city editor at other newspapers. Collectively, and including the business and night metro editors, they are known as the metro desk. The night metro editor works with reporters on late-breaking stories and acts as the liaison between the reporting staff and the copy desk.
Copy editors read and edit stories by staff reporters and from the wire services.
They also write all headlines and photo captions in the paper. Some copy editors are responsible for designing pages and have other production responsibilities. Copy editors are referred to, collectively, as the copy desk. Reporters gather information and write stories. Some reporters are responsible for covering specific areas or topics.