No one in the chain can say, Because I don t have time, I ll just send this, and let the people downstream catch stuff. Unless you look at raw copy daily, you have no idea how raw that copy gets. Invest a little time sitting with your desk and copy editors to find out. Bettering the good To improve the paper, you inventory what you already do competently, and improve those areas. If you report local news to bedrock, you improve by explaining it better.
Editors assume competence in their staff, except for a few bad people.
But all staffers, including you, have holes in their skills and knowledge, which coaching can uncover, and training can repair. Critiques don t work because they traditionally turn into bloodbaths, which frighten the staff into avoiding risk. Reporters might cut down the number of sources in their stories to reduce their risk of misspelling names. Someone in your newsroom knows how, and they can train others. Sometimes fine work in one department can undermine other departments.