Before we go into the functioning of a newsroom in general or the role of a Chief Sub-editor in particular, let us see who are all involved in putting together the newspaper that you eagerly wait for every morning. The departments that are involved in the production of a newspaper are a) Editorial Department b) Advertisement Department c) Press and d) Circulation Department. Then of course, there are the HR Department, Accounts Department etc.

The Editorial Department is where all the news flows in. We shall go over this in greater detail later. The Advertisement Department gets revenue for the newspaper by selling newspaper space to advertisers. The economic viability of a news organisation (which is important in today’s competitive scene) is determined by the efficiency of this section. The Press is where all the mechanical aspects of production take place. And, lastly, the Circulation Department looks after the marketing of the printed product.

Everyday is a new day for us in a newspaper office where our work is limited by the deadline. All of us have a cut-off time, within which we have to complete our work. It is like a chain, when one delays her work, it cascades into the next link and the net result will be a delay in printing and consequent non-delivery of paper: effectively, a whole day’s work by hundreds of people goes waste.

Editorial department
Let us get into the typical editorial department of a newspaper office. You can visualise it as a big cauldron into which news flows in continuously from all across the world. In today’s paperless digital world, the cauldron into which the news flows in is the computer. The editorial team keeps a tab on this inflow, and selects and processes them for publication.

All though journalists have designations and prescribed areas of work, it is all teamwork. Seniors and juniors help each other. There is no place for egos and complexes, which can dent the quality of work. The senior-most in the team is Resident Editor; followed by News Editor, Chief Sub-editors and Sub-editors. There are also Assistant Editors, Deputy Resident Editor, Deputy News Editors and Senior Sub-editors. The Chief Reporter, who reports to the Editor or News Editor, heads the bureau. Then come Special Correspondents, Senior Reporters and Reporters.

Resident Editor is everyone’s boss and is responsible for all that appears in the paper. Her work includes interacting with other departments, a lot of administrative work, overseeing important editorial matters etc. Today, many newspapers have multiple editions, so Resident Editors of each edition coordinate with each other and keep in touch with their Chief Editor, who has a larger editorial responsibility of the newspaper group as a whole. The News Editor heads the editorial department. She assigns work to members of the desk, interacts with the advertisement section regarding space for news on each page and basically oversees the work of the editorial department.

Chief Sub-editor
The editorial department is made up of many sections. The first sorting of all the incoming news is done at the general desk, which concerns itself with the front page and the national pages. The foreign desk, regional desk, city desk, business desk and spots desk take care of their respective pages. A Chief Sub-editor heads each of these sections. A couple of Chief Sub-editors, who handle the front page, bear additional responsibility as edition-makers.

What is the role of a Chief Sub-editor? She is the fulcrum of the production operation. Into her basket land the copy, pictures and ideas, that have been ordered, discussed and provided, and out of it flows the finished material checked and edited … that will make up the next day’s edition. (1)

She is primarily answerable for what goes in her section of the paper. She selects news items (selection), decides on their importance (prioritising), edits or gets them edited (processing), decides on how the page should look (designing) and decides on the placement of news items on the page (packaging). She gets the bouquets and faces the brickbats (though often it is more of the latter).

The job of a Chief Sub-editor combines a piece-by-piece planning operation with quality control of the material that is being processed. It is an arduous and unrelenting task.(2)

The Deputy News Editor from above and Sub-editors from below assist her. Her role in the editorial production of a newspaper is influenced by a number of factors, some of which are: how newsy the day is, space available for news after what the advertisements have taken up, volume of information available at a point of time, how close it is to the deadline,etc.

Selection: In fact, it is all about rejection. Of all the news that a Chief Sub-editor pours though, a very small percentage finally makes to print. The real news hides among a huge pile of non-news. The news is not only that is new, but should also be relevant to the readers from the point of view of proximity, influence and interest. "Fifty people killed in a road accident in Uganda" is no news for a Bangalore reader compared to "Six injured in a road accident on M.G. Road in Bangalore".

Prioritising: After a Chief Sub-editor has identified a dozen or two items for the page, the next step is putting them in the order of importance. This is often a very subjective process. What looks important to me may not be for you. Newspapers themselves differ in the level of importance they attach to events, persons and places. What was unimportant at 6 pm may develop into a major story by 10 pm. Similarly, what looked important earlier in the day, may be overtaken and knocked off the front page later.

Processing: This is what we call editing, which is commonly mistaken by laypersons as censoring, which has a far negative connotation. After selecting and prioritising items, a Chief Sub-editor slots them on a page and gets them edited by Senior Sub-editors and Sub-editors. Editing involves ensuring accuracy of facts, correct language and lucid narrative. Items are trimmed to fit the space. Sub-editors seek clarifications from reporters in case of doubts. They also arrange photographs or graphics that can add value to the news item.

Designing: Once the Chief Sub-editor has a good idea of what she has to offer the reader, she gets down to designing the page. It is a rough outline of what items should go on which pages, depending on importance and reader-interest. It gives a general shape to the next day’s paper.

Packaging: Then comes the actual making of a page. Sometimes a Chief Sub-editor herself does it or gets juniors to do it. Here a number of visual and aesthetic elements are taken into account without compromising the intrinsic value of the news item. It is a tough balancing act. No one will have a second look at a badly made page even though the items on it are highly readable. Conversely, a neatly made page should not be just that, it should have matter to read. It is easier said than done. A lot of further editing and rearranging of items have to be done on the page to make it good, content and look-wise.

A typical day
In the morning a Chief Sub-editor goes through other newspapers besides her own, and compares and contrasts one another. She keeps track of current affairs through the day. She is in the office by evening. Different newspapers have their own shift timings. She goes through agency copies and reports of her own correspondents, and updates herself. Around 7 pm, there is an editorial meeting chaired by the editor and attended the News Editor, the Chief Sub-editor who is in charge of the edition, and heads of different departments like sports, business, city bureau etc. The meeting discusses the menu for the next day’s edition, subject to changes due to later developments.

The Chief Sub-editors then select news items, get them edited and supervise making of pages. The pages get over roughly between 10 pm and midnight, they are checked and sent to the press. The Chief Sub-editor has to be constantly on the lookout for unexpected developments in the night. In such a case, she incorporates and updates the breaking news and sends a revised front page that is taken by "stopping the press". Her day gets over by around 2 am.

News value
Journalism is much more than just talking to a few persons, writing a report and publishing it. Good journalism is not a mechanical process of filling up space on a newspaper. The fact that the press is seen as Fourth Estate, on a par with the other three, viz., Legislature, Executive and Judiciary, entails upon it a great amount social responsibility.

Gilbert Ryle, professor of metaphysical philosophy at Oxford University, who has written about interpretation of words, says there is an intellectual process of identifying news, gathering it and analysing it. He says, "The journalist has to filter the decisions through an individual understanding of the audience to whom the writing is addressed, the priorities of the publisher, and their own beliefs about the role of journalism in a society."(3)

A journalist not only disseminates news but also helps mould public opinion. In a democracy governments come and go based on the public opinion of politicians created by the mass media. Similarly, major policy decisions are taken, amended or even annulled. In the book, Press and Foreign Policy, scholar Barnard Cohen identifies three roles of the press: observer, participant and catalyst. He says the world looks different to different people depending upon the map that is drawn for them by writers, editors and publishers. It is in the daily drawing and redrawing of the map that the actions of journalism are revealed. (4)

A journalist should have the acumen to sense news. Anything that is new, interesting, exciting or out of ordinary may technically be news. But a Chief Sub-editor while selecting and prioritising news items, and packaging them on a page has to keep in mind the social context and relevance of the news. And, this responsibility is all the more great in a developing country like India. There has to be a sustained focus on development journalism, which should not be a casualty in today’s techno-driven craze for instant gratification.

Summary
A Chief Sub-editor plays a pivotal role in a newspaper. She has to be up-to-date with current affairs. She should have a good knowledge of the language. Her task involves identifying, selecting, prioritising and displaying news on her newspaper. Through her work, she not only communicates the day’s events to the people but also interprets them from a social, economic or political angle. She is responsible for the contents and look of her newspaper.

Bibliography

(1)   Hodgson, F.W., Sub editing, Focal Press, London, 1993, p 35.
(2)   Ibid., p 37.
(3)   Ryle, G., Dilemmas, Cambridge University Press, London, 1960.
(4)   Cohen, B.C. The Press and Foreign Policy, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1963.