Neither attitude reflects an awareness of the range and depth of a copy editor's responsibilities. American newspapers are largely written in a journalese that is increasingly removed from the way people speak and write, impenetrable bureaucratic jargon, relentless cliches, with structurally unsound development, and shocking lapses in English grammar and usage. These problems will not be addressed by failed reporters or Quark whizzes. They will be addressed when newspapers insist on employing copy editors who have news judgment, an eye for the structure of a story, an ear for the language, and the tact for getting cooperation from reporters and assigning editors. Newspapers are finding, to their astonishment, that qualified copy editors are scarce.
Major papers have multiple openings that are going unfilled for long periods.
A major influence in these staffing issues appears to be pagination. Despite the apprehension on many copy desks, pagination ought to be welcomed in newsrooms. It gives copy desks more control, more precision and more efficiency in producing newspapers. But it also typically brings with it a demand for an increase in copy desk and design desk staffing, and apprehensions have been amply justified at some papers that pagination would be attempted without a staff adequate to the task. This increase in demand may yet force newspapers to rethink the value they put on copy editors and to seek the means to find, train, and retain them.