Editing Copy editing (section)

== Changes in the field ==
Traditionally, the copy editor would read a [[printing|printed]] or written manuscript, manually marking it with editor's "[[List of proofreader's marks|correction marks]]". At sizable newspapers, the main copy desk was often U-shaped; the copy desk chief sat in the "slot" (the center space of the U) and was known as the "slot man", while copy editors were arrayed around him or her on the outside of the U, known as the "rim".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theslot.com/slotman.html |title=What's a slot man? |author=Bill Walsh |work=The Slot |access-date=July 28, 2014}}</ref> In the past, copy editors were sometimes known humorously as "rim rats". Chief copy editors are still sometimes called "the slot".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/26/AR2007102601865.html |title=The Power and Perils of Headlines |author=Deborah Howell |date=October 28, 2007 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=July 28, 2014}}</ref> But nowadays, the manuscript is more often read on a [[computer display]] and text corrections are entered directly.

The nearly universal adoption of computerized systems for editing and layout in newspapers and magazines has also led copy editors to become more involved in the design and the technicalities of production. Technical knowledge is therefore sometimes considered as important as writing ability, though this is truer in journalism than it is in [[book publishing]]. Hank Glamann, the co-founder of the [[American Copy Editors Society]], made the following observation about ads for copy editor positions at American newspapers:
<blockquote>We want them to be skilled grammarians and wordsmiths and write bright and engaging headlines and must know Quark. But, often, when push comes to shove, we will let every single one of those requirements slide except the last one because you have to know that in order to push the button at the appointed time.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?ID=3836 |title=Workshop: Keeping your copy editors happy |access-date=2 January 2009 |date=7 August 2002 |publisher=The American Society of Newspaper Editors |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060207193451/http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?ID=3836 |archive-date=7 February 2006}}</ref></blockquote>