Sub EditingOrganizational Structure

Of a News Room

Newspapers are called the fourth estate. Newspapers are called mirrors of the society. Newspapers inform. Newspapers also educate. Most newspapers are dependent on credibility to

increase readership. Different newspapers have different but specific

styles. Editing helps in maintaining uniformity of style.

Newspapers

Newspapers have four major departments: Editorial Department, Advertising Department, Circulation Department, and Printing Press.

The additional departments are: Administrative Department, Accounting Department, Personnel Department, Legal Department, and Public Relations Department.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF NEWSPAPERS

News Section Chief Editor or Editor-in-Chief, Deputy News Editors, Chief Sub Editors, Senior Sub Editors and Sub Editors.

Reporter’s Room. Chief Reporter Senior Reporter, Sports Reporter, City Reporter, Principal Correspondent, Senior Correspondents and Correspondents.

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT

Views Section. The Editor, Resident Editor, Executive Editor, Associate Editors (or Deputy Editors) Assistant Editors

Editorial Wing, Article Wing, Feature Wing and Review Wing.

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT

Photo Section, Photo Editor or Chief Photographer

Computer Section. Computer In-charge computer operators

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT

Advertising Department Looks after collecting advertisements, so that the newspaper

gets good revenue. Circulation Department

Looks after circulation or distribution of the copies of the newspaper

Printing Department Takes care of the mechanical or the production aspects of

newspapers. These include printing plate preparation, printing, cutting, folding, etc.

Administrative Department Looks after the general administration.

Accounting Department Billing, financial collections, receipts and expenses are

taken care of here. Personnel Department

Recruitment, training, promotions, transfers, retirements, are taken care of here.

Legal Department Takes care of legal problems like defamation, libel, etc

Public Relations Department Tries to create and sustain a positive image for the

newspaper.

The newsroom is the nerve center of the entire activity in a newspaper.

The News Desk edits and composes the news stories in newspapers.

Editor or an Editor-in-Chief who plans and directs the day-to-day operations,

He is supported by a team of News Editors, Chief Sub editors (chief subs), Senior Sub editors and Sub editors (subs).

NEWS ROOM

The news section is divided in to two parts: the Reporters’ room and the Newsroom.

The reporters’ room or section is also called the Bureau. The Bureau Chief or a Chief Reporter heads it. The reporters are concerned with news writing. They go to the field to cover their beats They come back to the newspaper office to write their

stories. These stories are then handed over to the newsroom.

Reporters Room

The news editor heads the newsroom. He has a battery of editorial staff working under him. These include;

associate editors, deputy editors, assistant editors, chief sub editors, Senior sub editors, and sub editors.

In smaller and medium size newspapers, there are few such designations.

In most of the newspapers, the chief sub editors and sub editors are there to assist the news editor.

Reporters Room

In a news agency, News Editors and chief subs look after the smooth functioning of the News Desk.

They plan and write ‘leads’. They also write updated versions of developing stories. The News Desk usually operates in shifts. A chief sub editor heads each shift. The News Editor plans editing and directs page making.

But it is the chief sub helps implement his decisions. So while news editors head the newsrooms, chief sub

editors head the news desk.

NEWS DESK

Stories come to the news desk after an “assignment” editor or the news editor selects them.

The chief sub editor assigns these news stories to various sub editors on the basis of their expertise.

At the news desk the sub editor needs to learn; What size of headline the story will get Whether the story needs to be trimmed If there are photos to be inserted Any captions to be written. There might be some graphics to be created, Editing and proofreading done. And padding out a story which means pulling out a quote or an

interesting passage and setting it in larger, display" type.

HOW A NEWS DESK WORKS