O que faz um "copy desk"?

Um curiosidade para jornalistas e estudantes de jornalismo: a chefe dos copy desks do New York Times, Merrill Perlman, está respondendo perguntas enviadas por leitores. Que eu saiba, o cargo de copy desk nem existe mais nas redações dos jornais brasileiros, então vale a pena saber o que eles fazem por lá e faziam por aqui. Um leitor pergunta: "(...) What is the copy desk? What, briefly, is its history? Was the copy desk the place from which young copy boys [never girls] would run with paper to “stop the presses”? Is it really a “desk”? What do you do to manage them?". Um trecho da reposta dela: "In journalism history, the copy desk has always acted as the last line of defense, the final gatekeeper before the news reaches you, the reader. It consists, in the case of The Times, of more than 150 people who get an article after it has been written by the reporter and has been gone over by a “big picture” or assignment editor, called a backfielder. (...) Copy editors have multiple roles. First and foremost, they act as reader surrogates, asking questions of the article, or copy, so you don’t have to. Is the language unclear? The copy editor’s job is to make it clear". Leia a entrevista aqui.