Gatekeepers and News Gatherers at a Major Newspaper
At a major newspaper, a range of professionals shape how news is gathered, edited, and presented. Leadership roles such as the publisher, editor, and managing editor oversee overall direction and daily operations, while specialized editors manage sections like national news, business, or local coverage. Supporting them are staff writers, copy editors, columnists, correspondents, and stringers, who provide reporting, analysis, and editing to deliver a complete and credible news product.
Publisher
The owner or ownership’s representative.
Editor
The person who sets the tone for the news content of the newspaper, from editorials to columns to news stories.
Managing Editor
The manager of news operations, second in command to the editor. The managing editor and his/her assistants are in charge of day-to-day operations and it is his/her job to make sure that the newspaper presents a fair and complete picture of the news of importance or interest to readers. The details are delegated to sub-editors and staff.
Editorial Page Editor
The person in charge of the editorial page.
Chief News Editor
This editor is responsible for national and world news stories. There often also is a news editor, a national editor and a world editor.
Department Editors
These people are in charge of specific subjects and/or sections such as business, sports, lifestyles, entertainment, etc. Each department has writers/reporters who work on that specific beat.
City Editor
The director of the newspaper’s local news operation. He/she may assign reporters to cover stories. Some newspapers have an assignment editor to do that.
Staff Writers
These writers/reporters may be assigned to stories on various beats.
Copy Editor
A worker on a copy desk who edits and sometimes re-writes stories. Copy editors work around a desk called a rim and edit stories for all the news pages.
Columnists
Writers of signed stories of opinion or analysis. They are sometimes printed with a photograph of the columnist. Columnists can be on staff at the newspaper and/or they can syndicate their columns to a number of newspapers.
Correspondents
Non-staff reporters who send in news from outside.
Stringers
Part-time correspondents, usually paid by the number or length of stories published.