Gatekeepers and news gatherers at a major newspaper

  • 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 her/his 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.