I'm not sure that fulltime proofreaders even exist today. They certainly don't at smaller publications. Years ago a proofreader was a proofreader and nothing more. They didn't edit and they certainly didn't write.
The proofreader was eventually replaced by technology and editors.
But, in book publication, the editor position is now replaced by the writer's agent. This isn't true yet with all publishers, but basically speaking publishers now want the writer's agent to do the proofreading and editing. The in-house editors are now called "packagers."
(There is a dilemma here, of course, because you can hardly get an agent unless you've been published and you can hardly publish unless you have an agent.)
Electronic publishing changes everything again as "packaging" is not as difficult.
The blurring of roles hasn't helped writing standards in my opinion. True editors love to edit. They don't want to be packagers and the best ones don't want to be writers. Many young college English grads seek editing positions dreaming of working with good writers only to find themselves the slaves of packaging schedules.
True writers want to write. They can edit to some degree, but basically they want to write, they want to create.
In my experience in the book world, editors who want to be writers usually make for poor editors.
In the magazine world, where articles may run from only 500 to 3000 words, it is easier for a writer to be an editor or for an editor to also write.
Years ago the fulltime proofreader carried a lot of weight. He or she was a staunch perfectionist and writers and editors quaked when the proofreader left the back shop and entered the newsroom.
that is pretty well what i have seen in the newspaper world......you have editors, writers and proofreaders and being good at one doesnt make you good at another......we have tried to hire a dedicated proofreader that would do nothing else we even found one semi-locally that was computer literate enough we could have made it work with the internet.....however she wanted more money than i think even the Gazette could have paid.....she prolly would have been worth every penny but we couldnt have afforded it.....
my wife is a good enough editor that she picked up some attention from one of the big national dailies but we had zero interest in moving to the east coast.....while she is a real good editor she is only a decent writer and while better than most these days at proofreading she does not consider herself a proofreader cause she has seen real good proofreaders and she knows she doesnt come close to ranking in their group.....
