The vanishing sub-editor

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on November 5, 2007 at 12:11 PM

Last week, David Montgomery, chief executive of newspaper giant Mecom, spoke about journalists’ increasing autonomy and lesser need for sub-editors.

“Reporters out in the field can call up a page on their laptop and put copy straight onto the page without intervention,” said Montgomery.

“It means journalists can be freed from humdrum roles and the sub-editing culture can break down.”

“Sub-editing is a twilight world, checking things you don’t really need to check…Senior people will always monitor the content, a core group will create the product.”

But Montgomery also added that “I come from a world where editor-in-chiefs are control freaks who want to control every word. We’ve got to let that go.”

According to the Press Gazette, these words were met with a “skeptical response” from journalists in the audience.

Although Montgomery’s assessment about the evolution of journalists’ and sub-editors’ roles may be accurate, newspapers will need to establish new forms of oversight to ensure continued editorial quality.

Mecom runs 200 papers across five countries in Europe.

Source: Press Gazette