traditionally, the copy editor would read a printed or written manuscript, manually marking it with editor's "correction marks". at sizable newspapers, the main copy desk was often u-shaped; the copy desk chief sat in the "slot" (the center space of the u) and was known as the "slot man", while copy editors were arrayed around him or her on the outside of the u, known as the "rim". in the past, copy editors were sometimes known humorously as "rim rats". chief copy editors are still sometimes called "the slot". but nowadays, the manuscript is more often read on a computer display and text corrections are entered directly.