A number of assistant editors assist the editor in looking after editorial and feature pages.
The news content of the paper is looked after by the news editor under whose guidance a number of sub-editors, reporters and many other correspondents work. In India the entry into the profession of journalism is normally as a trainee journalist who is later absorbed as a reporter or a sub-editor. The job of a reporter is to gather news and write it for his organisation.
Sub-editors makes it fit to print. Reporters go out in the field while sub-editors work at the ‘ news desk’ where all the news that comes, is selected, edited, each news story is given a suitable headline and its place in the newspaper is decided. Reporters can become senior reporters, correspondents, senior correspondents, chief reporter, special correspondent and foreign correspondents. Sub-editors are promoted to the positions of senior sub-editor, chief sub-editor, deputy news editor and news editor. The basic job of a reporter remains news gathering and filing the report or ‘ copy’ to the news desk. Similarly, the basic job of the sub-editor also remains the same; to ‘ sub’ copy, to make it fit to print which includes collecting, selecting, arranging, reducing, framing, translating and adapting for publication according to the importance of the copy. Sub-editor is also called copy editor and what he edits is called copy. Whatever is filed by reporters, special correspondents, etc.
, is copy for him, whatever comes to the news desk from wire services (news agencies) is also copy. Reporting and editing sides are not water-tight compartments. Reporters can exchange places with sub-editors.
In many newspapers it is a routine. A sub-editor is sent on a reporting assignment many a time. He is also asked to write news items from the handouts that land up in the newspaper office when reporters are away.
To be a good reporter or a sub-editor common sense and command over language are needed. These two requirements summarise their qualities, newsmen should have as other qualities flow from these two and the basic human values.
