We have some of all of the above, in that one or two of our new hires first interviewed for reporting slots but didn't quite make it, so they are waiting to apply for other reporting jobs within the paper. Most of the time. The news editor and assistant new editors are treated as professionals. Excellent communication with the City and Business desks. Reporters tend to go through their specific editors, but some discussions with the news desk take place.
Relations are great between desks, and much effort is put into making sure relations say that way.
Often, the slot editor is also designing pages. Many times, copy editors are designing pages. Often in any given night, each employee will do many different jobs. The reward is making deadline. Lots of pats on the back.