Here, our definition of news desk is not the same as at other papers. The copy desks are considered part of the department in which they work. Two to four. The copy editor applies all coding and must write all skels, such as captions and liftouts. But reclamation projects are sometimes necessary.
Workloads vary by department.
The quality of the copy depends on who edited it on the assignment desk. We have anywhere from six to 12 rim editors a night, in addition to a slot and a deputy slot. By reputation, Sports has a much smaller desk that is well known for being overworked. There's no career path per se. There are lifers who aspire to nothing else and there are others who aspire and are stuck.