In praise of The Grauniad
As a one-time Production Editor in the olde worlde of print, I was pleased to see Kim Fletcher's article in today's Media Guardian, entitled 'In praise of the subeditor'. He deftly explains the ancient rivalry between free-ranging journalists and office-bound production staff (including the 'subs') who turn the former's often semi-literate and error-strewn efforts into polished, reader-friendly product.
Fletcher goes on to predict that, far from being an endangered species, the subeditor will evolve into a multi-tasking beast, capable of reworking content for the many platforms in today's digital media landscape -- desktop and handheld web browsing, podcast, video clip and so on.
The article is illustrated by a picture of one of the Guardian's subs editing the very piece in question. And being 'The Grauniad', the story just has to have its very own typo, in the final paragraph: 'Newspapers have found it difficulty to recruit subeditors over the last few years'.
Doncha just love 'em?