The Roles and duties of a Sub
Editor: discuss
My essay
will be a comprehensive analysis of the tasks a Sub Editor faces and what
issues they encounter every day in their work, and why they are so important to
the industry. Finally, I will also look at my favourite national newspaper, and
my least favourite newspaper, and provide detailed justification for my
choices.
Many
qualities are required of a Sub Editor; they must for example have a thorough
understanding of media law. Hodgson (1998) explains that: “A newspaper is
guilty of Libel, when it can be proved that a person’s character or livelihood
has been damaged as a result of statements made in the
paper.”(Hodgson,1998,p.161) If a Sub Editor fails to spot a potential legal
trap within a story, it can lead to a dangerous outcome for the newspaper.
In 2009, The
Daily Express published a two page feature story with the headline ‘Can Dec
anally match Ant,’ the story was originally headlined ‘Can Dec finally match Ant,’
but it was decided there had been too many headlines with the word finally in,
so it was decided to cut out the word finally. Sadly, someone forgot to change
both sides of the spread. The a of at was left on one page, and the nally of
finally on another. Which meant the incriminating headline was published. (The
Guardian. 2009)
If Dec had
felt his reputation had been damaged, he could sue the Express for Libel. Libel
cases are very expensive, and if Dec won the newspaper would face a crippling
fine. This is why a Sub Editor is important, because if they can spot these
mistakes before publication, they save the newspaper a lot of time and money.
Another
important requirement of a Sub Editor, is they must be able to ensure that a
news story is accurate. Quinn (2011) points out that the PCC code of conduct
states: “The press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or
distorted information.” (Quinn,2011,p.455) In 1986 The Sun published a story
headlined ‘Freddie Star ate my hamster.’
Max Clifford
whilst speaking at the Leveson Inquiry (The Telegraph.2012) said that the Sun
published the story with his permission despite it being untrue. Sub Editors
must ensure that copy is accurate, without accuracy the newspaper loses the
trust of its reader. Without a readership the newspaper will become defunct.
The Sub Editor is important because, they can argue with the Editor not to run
the story on the reasoning, that it breaks the main principle of Journalism,
which is accuracy.
Sub Editors
must be able to use human emotion to anticipate how stories of a sensitive
nature should be handled. Quinn (2011) explains that the PCC code of conduct
clause five states: “In cases involving personal grief or shock, enquiries and
approaches must be made with sympathy, and discretion and publication handled
sensitively.” (Quinn,2011p.456) in 2010 The Sunday Times was found to be in
breach of The PCC code of conduct clause five.
Mrs Deborah
Rundle, had complained to the PCC that the Sunday Times coverage of her son’s
death had been inaccurate and insensitive. But while the investigation was
being conducted, a freelance reporter contacted the family through Facebook.
They were informed the family did not want to speak in light of the compliant,
the reporter then asked for details about the case, and sent a news article to
Mrs Rundle’s daughter asking her to highlight what was wrong with the piece.
(Journalism.2010)
This lead to
a second compliant to be made to the PCC that the reporter had intruded into
grief and shock. The Sub Editor’s role here is crucial, as they should be able
to look at any news piece through the eyes of a reader. They then should be
able to use human emotion to anticipate whether the coverage of Mrs Rundle’s
son death was insensitive, if they felt it was then the story should have not
been published.
Equally,
Evans (2000) argues that a Sub Editor must be able to use the most important
skill within their arsenal: common sense. In 2010 The New York Post published a
story claiming the USA football team, had won their opening match of the World
Cup against England, despite the result actually being a draw. (The Sun.2010)
The story
received wide spread criticism from all of national media, and made the USA,
where football is not a highly regarded sport look ill informed. The Los
Angeles Times ran the story with the headline ‘US recovers on England’s fumble.
This is a further damaging inaccuracy, as fumble is a term associated with
American Football, and is not used in the British game, the sports Sub Editor
should have been able to use his or her common sense to understand that in most
sports, if the score is tied it does not indicate a victor.
The Sentinel
newspaper is a regional paper that covers the whole of Stoke on Trent, it has
reported on local issues since 1854. The newspaper uses a variety of different
pictures, which is appealing and should catch the reader’s eye, and the amount
of news The Sentinel provides on local life on Stoke is important, as its
circulation is for the Stoke on Trent area so it needs to supply local stories
to attract the general of public of Stoke to buy the newspaper. But, The
Sentinel is not very colourful its pages are white and perhaps using a red
colour, which is symbolic to the city’s football club Stoke City FC, could
attract a wider readership by using the city’s history to increase sales.
If the news
pages of the Sentinel were to be improved, as previously mentioned more colour
should be used above and below to catch the readers. The use of the colour red
could do this, as it is symbolic to the city’s football club Stoke City FC.
Furthermore, more should be done to break up the text heavy pages of the
newspaper. This could be achieved by using cut out pictures, and changing their
shape to resemble a circle just like the I newspaper does, and the paper could
look at cutting out quotes and adding them into the main body of the text. This
would then emphasise the point The Sentinel is trying to make to the readers,
and would be more appealing visually. This paper has been mentioned, because it
is a good newspaper that provides detailed content to the people of Stoke on
Trent, and it serves its purpose of informing their readership about local life
in their area.
Finally, The
Times newspaper is a national newspaper that has been established in Great
Britain since 1848 and it is known for its in depth and serious analysis of
life in the UK. The newspaper detailed coverage is brilliant, as it provides
the reader with detailed information about decisions that are being made for
example by the government. Its tone is serious unlike many of the Tabloid
newspapers, and this means their readership is likely to be able to make an
informed decision about key events that are happening during their lifetime.
The paper also provides plenty of breakers for its detailed news coverage,
which means the reader is not overwhelmed by text, and visual elements are more
likely to catch a person’s eye than a page completely covered in text. This
could mean the difference between the paper being picked up and paid for or
being left on the news stand.
In
conclusion my essay, provides a detailed forensic analysis that highlights the
duties and responsibilities of a Sub Editor, it also outlines the important
skills that are required that ensures that a Sub Editor can complete their job
effectively ,and that they can spot and prevent difficult situations from
arising that could damage the newspaper’s viability in the long term. Also my
essay highlights that a visual element is essential in attracting a readership,
as visual elements are more likely to mean that the paper is bought, and in the
tough economic climate and challenges the newspaper industry faces it is
crucial that they maintain a strong readership. Of equal importance it is
crucial that newspapers include plenty of breakers on their news page to
maintain a reader’s interest, also pictures can tell a thousand words, so if an
image can convey better than the text can a Sub Editor must ensure that the
picture is included within the story. Finally, the role of the Sub Editor is
crucial in a newspaper organisation, as in an age where more and more reporters
are forced to sub their own news page this creates bad practice, as without a
Sub Editor the production and values of Journalism will fail, it can also be
dangerous as newspapers could become extinct without a skilled pair of hands
being there to spot the dangers, and rectify them. Every person within a news
organisation from The Times to The Sentinel benefits from having a fresh
critical mind reading their copy.
Ends
Word Count:
1,500
Bibliography
Books
Evans,H.
(2000).Essential English for Journalists
Editors and Writers.London: Pimlico
Hodgson,FW.(1998).New Subediting Apple Mac, Quark Express and
after.Oxford: Focal Press
Quinn,F.(2011).
Law For Journalists.Harlow: Pearson
Websites
The Guardian
(2009) Accidental Headline of the year [Online]. Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/mediamonkeyblog/2009/sep/01/express-ant-dec-headline-error [Accessed: 5th December
2012]
Journalism
(2010) PCC upholds intrusion into grief or shock compliant against Sunday Times
[Online]. Available from: http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/pcc-upholds-intrusion-into-grief-or-shock-complaint-against-sunday-times/s2/a537188/ [Accessed: 5th December
2012]
The Sun
(2010) USA Beats England 1-1 [Online].
Available from: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3013091/.html [Accessed: 5th December
2012]
The
Telegraph (2012) Leveson Inquiry: The
truth behind Freddie Starr ate my hamster [Online]. Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/leveson-inquiry/9072308/Leveson-Inquiry-the-truth-behind-Freddie-Starr-ate-my-hamster.html [Accessed: 5th December
2012]
