Copy Desk Supervisors Want to Know More About Managing People

Despite training provided by their publications, most copy desk supervisors in a survey said they need to know more about managing people, particularly how to determine why some copy editors don't perform well and how to change that.
And though they said they want more knowledge on how to be a better supervisor, the respondents said they spend less than 10 percent of their work time managing their copy editors and about 70 percent working on the desk.
The copy chiefs and news editors also cited problems they encounter on the job. The most common comes as no surprise: missed deadlines.

In the informal survey, I sent questionnaires by postal mail and e-mail in March 1998 to 72 current and former copy desk supervisors, all of them members of the American Copy Editors Society. The 32 respondents represent publications with circulation ranging from 14,500 to more than 1 million, including two newsmagazines and a media chain's news service.
The survey was part of a study sponsored by the National Copy Editing Fellowship program of the Knight Foundation and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The study is not statistically valid. Nonetheless, it provides a snapshot of what managing a copy desk is like. "It's probably more fun than being french-fried," one chief said.

The supervisors were nearly unanimous in citing six management skills as crucial for their jobs, five of which relate directly to human resources: planning and goal setting, hiring, training and development, motivating, diagnosing and resolving performance problems, and giving feedback. Most view delegating, conflict management, time management and stress management as less important in their jobs.

Asked what kind of training would be useful to them, a majority said they need to know more about managing people. Almost half - 44 percent - said they had no management experience when they began supervising copy editors.
"Unfortunately, many folks are promoted to management positions due to skills or strengths other than management skills," a supervisor said.

 Nearly three-quarters of the survey respondents said they need more training in how to diagnose and resolve the performance problems of their copy editors. Two-thirds wanted to know more about how to train them, and two-thirds wanted to know more about how to motivate them. About half wanted better skills in hiring and in giving feedback. And about half wanted leadership training.

Fewer of the respondents expressed a need for training in more traditional management tasks: delegation, decision-making, planning, conflict management, stress management and time management. Only 20 percent saw a need for more knowledge about labor law.

These supervisors' publications are making some efforts to train them. Nearly three-quarters of the respondents said their publications had paid for formal training.

But considering the demand for more, the supervisors received training that apparently was mismatched with their needs or was insufficient.

Managing copy editors: the challenges

The respondents were asked about problems from elsewhere in the newsroom that affect how they manage their desks. The top three are missed deadlines; poor communication, both from the top down and from their midmanagement peers; and badly written and edited stories that the copy editors must fix.

Other prominent problems are copy desk understaffing, poor coordination in the newsroom, and lack of time for supervision.

For many copy chiefs, the first priority every day is to get the paper out. Other considerations, including managing people, take second or third or even last place. That's one reason for the disproportionate time that supervisors devote to working on the desk, editing copy and writing or rewriting headlines. One respondent said that copy desk management is "almost an oxymoron, since so much of the time must go to managing copy, not people."

Another concern is the difficulty finding and keeping qualified editors. Supervisors cited a variety of contributing factors, including pay, bad hours and other working conditions. But they recognized the importance of the task. "Hiring is an important first step in preventing internal problems," one said.

"Upper management" received significant criticism. Asked what top managers could do to improve the copy desk's performance, one respondent said, "Learn just what it is we do." Another characterized senior editors as "indifferent," and another criticized a "bottom-line-only" management style that "wears pretty thin, pretty fast."

Yet another said: "It would be nice to get a little credit from upper management for our work. I ask. It doesn't happen."
The respondents suggested solutions that seem so simple: Enforce deadlines throughout the newsroom; "talk to us"; hire a writing coach or city editors who can edit and who can teach reporters how to write. Also, hire enough copy editors to do the job and make sure everybody in the newsroom knows what everyone else is doing.

Responses to questions about internal copy desk problems were more varied. They included tired and unhappy copy editors, cynicism toward upper management, "a few lazy apples," lack of motivation, and poor editing and headline skills.

How the supervisors view their jobs

The respondents feel responsible for the quality of their publication. Most measure their desk's effectiveness by the number of published mistakes and corrections, how the publication reads and looks, how many memos they get from upper managers, and the like. "The proof is in the product," one said.

Another strong theme in the responses is a sense of obligation to stand up for the copy desk.

 "Because copy editors and their work are usually undervalued by other editorial staff, a copy desk manager must be willing to be a fierce advocate for them - for better pay, better tools,"more respect," a copy chief said.

Indeed, many of the supervisors cited the value of respecting copy editors. One said: "Your position gives you more power than the people you supervise. It does not make you smarter, wiser, more innovative or more competent. Keep that in mind every minute."

About half the respondents said they feel a great degree of empowerment: the authority, opportunity and motivation to take initiative and solve organizational problems. About 20 percent said they felt somewhat empowered, and the rest said they felt very little empowerment.

Overwhelmingly, they said a work ethic and devotion to journalism motivate them to work at their greatest potential. "Because it's the right thing to do," one said.

The supervisors had no illusions about the difficulty of managing a copy desk. "In the past year, three copy chiefs have returned to the rim, one has quit, and another moved on after just a few months," a respondent said. "Coincidence? I think not."

Yet the job also has some rewards. "I get to work with some remarkable people," a respondent said.
 Another said, "Hard work and doing a good job do, slowly, eventually, painfully, pay off."

What they do

On average, each copy chief or news editor supervises about 14 copy editors in a newsroom where copy editors make up about 14 percent of the staff. A little fewer than half the supervisors have deputies. Predictably, only 25 percent of the supervisors at papers with 100,000 circulation or less have deputies, compared with two-thirds at papers in the 100,000-500,000 circulation range and 100 percent at the largest papers, those with more than 500,000 circulation.
About 55 percent of the supervisors report to a senior editor (managing editor or higher). The rest report to a news editor or to an assistant or deputy managing editor.

 The majority spend most of their time - 69 percent on average - working on the desk.

They devote an average of about 10 percent of their time to exchanging information and handling paperwork, and about 9 percent to traditional management tasks, including planning, decision-making and controlling. An average 3 percent of work time is spent in networking, defined as interacting with outsiders and socializing or politicking.

Only about 9 percent of their time on average is devoted to managing people.

Where they've been

Most of the respondents have extensive experience in journalism: Three-quarters have 10 years or more, and 41 percent have 20 or more. About half have been in their current jobs five years or less; 35 percent have been there between five and 10 years.

Two-thirds of the respondents have undergraduate degrees, and a quarter have earned graduate degrees.  Nine percent are not college graduates.
 
The people they supervise

The survey also provides a glimpse of the copy editors backgrounds and personalities through their supervisors' eyes.
Among the least experienced copy editors, 31 percent have not completed college and none have completed a graduate degree. Their journalism experience ranges from less than one year to between five and 10 years; half of them have less than five years' experience.

Among the most experienced, 72 percent have graduate degrees, 25 percent have undergraduate degrees and 3 percent have high school diplomas. Three-quarters have more than 20 years' experience; 7 percent have between 10 and 20 years, 14 percent have between five and 10 years, and 4 percent have less than five years.

Their supervisors believe that their least competent copy editors are motivated by money and job security primarily, by affiliation (belongingness) and achievement to a lesser degree, and least by power. Their most competent copy editors are motivated by, in order: achievement, recognition, money, job security, affiliation and power.

The supervisors most often described their copy editors as intelligent, hard-working and meticulous, detail-oriented and fastidious or perfectionist. Most said the personality traits of their copy editors do not differ significantly from those of other journalists in their newsroom.

The next step: recommendations

Publications should provide management training to their copy desk supervisors but should also tailor the training to specific stated needs, primarily human resource management.

Publications should try to determine if their copy desk supervisors spend too little time managing and too much "in the trenches." And if so, why. Understaffing? Personal responsibility for quality control? Avoidance of unpleasant or unfamiliar tasks? And then the publications should decide whether the allocation of time and effort is appropriate and benefits the organization.

Enforcing deadlines throughout the newsroom would not only help the copy desk perform its primary function, quality control, but would also improve morale on the desk.

There's a lot of room for improving communication between copy desk chiefs and the rest of the newsroom.
This study only scratches the surface of copy desk management issues. Other surveys, specifically, one of the copy editors themselves and one of the people who supervise the copy chiefs and news editors, would give a more complete view of  how desks are managed and how we can do it better.

Gene Zipperlen is senior copy chief at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Texas. A charter member of the American Copy Editors Society, he is on the organizationís board of directors and edits its newsletter.

Appendices:

Methodology with questionnaire:

Management tips:  How to interview, how to diagnose performance problems, how to fire someone: