LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: EDITORS ASSUME NEW RESPONSIBILITIES

After weeks of planning, organizing, interviewing and decision-making, the Southeast Missourian's news department is entering another phase of growth and professional development.

-- The long-awaited copy desk is a reality.

-- Editors have been given new responsibilities.

-- Reporters and photographers are being marshaled to provide more and better coverage of our community and the surrounding area.

The effort, which is a major undertaking and which has been made possible by a big commitment on the part of this newspaper, has a single purpose: to improve the news you read every day.

First, the copy desk. As I have discussed before, the copy desk is a return to a quality-control system that has been all but abandoned by some newspapers who have accepted total dependency on computers. The new copy desk still relies on computers, but more emphasis is placed on human beings to make responsible decisions and choices on behalf of readers.

Those human beings are editors. Joni Adams Bliss, who has been managing editor for some time, has been given additional responsibility and authority to run the day-to-day team effort it takes to produce a newspaper.

Jay Eastlick, who has been a reporter and night editor of the Southeast Missourian, has been promoted to news editor. He will be responsible for the final product you see each morning, and he will supervise the copy desk.

John Ramey, another Southeast Missourian veteran, will be the city editor. His vast experience and understanding of the community will be valuable assets as he oversees news coverage of Cape Girardeau -- both the city and the county.

Ralph Wanamaker, a new addition to the staff, will be the regional editor. He is a veteran of several newspapers around the country, including the Spokane (Wash.) Chronicle, where he was regional editor. He comes to us from Conway, Ark., where he was on the journalism faculty of Central Arkansas State University.

Sam Blackwell is rejoining the staff on a full-time basis this week after a year's leave. In addition to his weekly column, he will fill in for the city editor and regional editor as needed and will be responsible for the arts and entertainment coverage.

Eastlick, Ramey, Wanamaker and Blackwell will, in addition to the duties just described, be the newspaper's copy editors. The new copy desk is what is known as a universal copy desk, which means the copy editors are responsible for editing all the news, including sports, special sections and special publications.

This isn't a new wheel that has been invented. The attempt over the past few weeks has been to take advantage of the best systems that have withstood the test of real-life success. The varied experiences of everyone involved in the process have been invaluable.

As for reporters and photographers, they are getting new assignments and areas of responsibility. The staff is being split between city/county and regional coverage. But, as a team, there will be a lot of crossover as dictated by the news of the day.

Readers can be proud of the news staff here, as evidenced by the many awards bestowed in recent weeks. The future, too, is bright -- both for the staff and for you, the readers.

~R. Joe Sullivan is the editor of the Southeast Missourian.