I haven't form my opinion on the gatekeeping nature of the academic journals, so I won't comment on that. But editors surely are needed for purposes like, well

I haven't form my opinion on the gatekeeping nature of the academic journals, so I won't comment on that. But editors surely are needed for purposes like, well, editing, and all the administrative tasks? They are at least as useful as the secretaries at your companies (i.e. very).