We have a universal desk that edits copy and designs pages for every section of the paper. The copy desk IS the news desk. Everything else is pretty bad. Tonight was light. I had thirteen stories plus obits, and laid out four pages.
Some people do significantly more.
We have seven people on an average night. The news editor or assistant news editor proofs the pages. We have at least four people a night. There is no true overall slot. Usually there is one person each for local and state, sports, opinions, front plus nation and world, and features and business combined.