Two of our favorite subjects--rewards and recognition of copy editors' skills--were covered by reports presented at the ACES conference. The first sums ups how some newspapers honor good work done by their desk people. The other cites the rather large number of newspaper executives who once worked as copy editors.

ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL: We do a six-month excellence contest that includes categories for headlines and page design. Winners either get a dinner certificate -- or, if their names gets draw out of the hat, a weekend trip on the publisher's jet. Every six months, three people from the newsroom get to go. He's flown people to San Francisco, Key West, etc. Also, we get pizza on tough nights.
--Carolyn Flynn

DANBURY NEWS-TIMES The News-Times (relatively) often buys dinner for people in the newsroom: copy editors, assignment editors, reporters, clerks. It's sometimes to reward good efforts (a tough night of computer problems or a big story) and sometimes to sort of apologize for various debacles. Now, for example, we're going through training in advance of switching to a new computer system. The training is on top of most of our days, meaning we work like dogs for 10, 12 hours a day. We just had dinner on the paper to mark the halfway point of that training. Election night, we get pizza. Now and then the editor will just buy dinner for everyone working that night. Copy editors specifically: No system in place for reward, beyond those dinners and overtime for special efforts/sections.
--John Ward

GAINESVILLE TIMES: The Georgia paper publicizes Well Done winners in the newsroom and throughout the building. Each month, the newspaper names a newsroom employee of the month. One recent month the winner was a copy editor. The Times also includes copy editors on newsroom committees, including the diversity committee, a new systems committee and a committee working on readership goals.

GANNETT SUBURBAN NEWSPAPERS AT WESTCHESTER: Copy editors are cited in the paper’s in-house awards program called "Mighty Pens." These monthly awards carry a $100 first prize. Annual winners of Mighty Pens receive $1,000 for first place, $500 for second place and a plaque. The Mighty Pen awards are divided into 12 categories, including best headlines. That's where copy editors are guaranteed of winning an award each month and each year. But they also can win awards for other efforts, such as "good catches." For example, one copy editor, won a monthly award a few years ago when the list of Nobel prize winners was announced. The copy editor, a longtime staffer, remembered one winner had lived locally in Yonkers about 20 years ago.The copy editor's diligence enabled the newspaper to produce a local sidebar that made the news report for that day much stronger.

GREENVILLE (S.C.) NEWS: The paper selects best headline and best page design winners in a monthly contest that also recognizes awards for suburban coverage and top four graphs. Each winner receives $50. The judging is done by the staff’s senior editors.

LOS ANGELES TIMES: Substantial headline prizes monthly to the person with the best portfolio for that month. We recognize consistently outstanding editing in our annual Editorial Awards (also includes pretty big money). We send promising editors to seminars and workshops like API and Poynter (and, this year, the ACES convention.)
--Jim White

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER The paper gives out bonuses for good work, with letters going out to the paper’s senior editors, citing the good work and reason for the bonus. Copy editors participate in the same training opportunities as others in the newsroom, including seminars offered through CASE, Poynter, API, etc.
--Marietta Dunn

OTHER IDEAS: The John Murphy Award for Excellence in Copy Editing is awarded annually by the Texas Daily Newspaper Association. Copy editors at newspapers with circulations above and below 100,000 are eligible in alternating years. Editors may submit as many as 20 samples of their work -- headlines, layouts, before-and-after versions of stories, or anything else they deem relevant. The award consists of an engraved plaque and $1,000. TDNA is a statewide trade association for daily newspapers in Texas. John Murphy, a TDNA executive for more than 30 years, was a copy editor early in his long newspaper career. When TDNA decided to establish an award in his honor, he asked that it recognize copy editors, the newsroom's unsung heroes.

Gannett recognizes the best work of its newspapers, including outstanding headline writing, in quarterly Well Done contests and the annual Best of Gannett contest. The Well Done contest is judged by Gannett editors; the Best of Gannett contest is judged by outside editors, educators and readers. Cash prizes are awarded to the top three winners in three divisions. Prizes may go to an individual or to the newspaper staff.Many efforts focus on providing training and development opportunities to copy editors, involving them in staffwide projects and empowering copy editors to have strong roles in a newsroom.
--Ann Clark

I was the news editor at the Iowa City Press-Citizen, and we had several ways to reward copy editors.We had a few contests where we would take a day's headlines and pick the best one. We would then award the headline writer with $5. This would go for every day (Monday-Friday) and then $10 for the Saturday paper (our biggest paper of the week). Once the editor said if the desk made deadline for four weeks running every day, he would make us breakfast. Unfortunately, we blew it with about two days to go. So instead, he took us out to breakfast at Perkins!
Also, I had an in-computer "newsletter" - mostly for the copy desk's eyes-called "afterwords." If I thought a particular headline or layout was especially good, I would mention it in there. That took no extra cash, but it let them know that someone was paying attention to their work and appreciated extra effort. In Rockford (Ill.), copy editors worked nights and were paid a night differential of $3 per night.
--Jennifer Kauss, page designer, Chicago Tribune

Some people think the copy desk is a dead end. But here are some former copy editors calling the shots.