Nightside does most live news pages, business, sports, very little advance. There is no separate news desk per se. In a word, no. I've encountered in my career.
Management is totally unreceptive to input and ideas for improvement.
On days, assignments are made by various management-level editors. Slot job is a very new institution here, within last six months, and is frequently dropped when assistant city editor is needed for other duties. However, about half the editors on the desk fill in at wire and assistant night editor slots, and get layout in that fashion. Weaknesses are headline writing, photo usage and general presentation. ME and AME both did relatively recent stints on the desk.