
A Guardian report on the world of sub-editors has led to some raised eyebrows amongst our grey cardigan-wearing colleagues.
The piece, which is available online to registered Guardian members and appeared in print, includes a 64-word sentence defining the work of the sub:
On the news section of the newspaper, reporters write the articles, desk editors commission and finesse their copy, designers (or layout subeditors) liaise with picture editors and graphic designers to draw up pages, and, finally, subeditors check, correct, cut and coax the copy into the allocated space before getting to work on the all-important page “furniture”: headlines, subheadings, pullout quotations and picture captions.
As Chris Wheal suggested on the NUJ Facebook page. That sentence could have done with a good, ahem, sub.
Unfortunately your comments prove the need for some sub-editing.
As ever, ignores the fact most subs delve into both design and editing copy.