Press sub-editor: Job description

Press sub-editors are journalists working either as employees of national or local newspapers, magazines or online publications, or as freelancers.

They are responsible for ensuring that the tone, style and layout of final copy matches the publication's house style and suits the target market. The work involves processing all the copy before it is published to ensure that it is grammatically and factually correct and reads well. Sub-editors also lay out the story on the page, write headings and may be involved with overall page design.

Like other journalism roles, sub-editing is demanding and requires constant attention to detail within a fast-paced working environment.

Typical work activities

To be a good sub, you must be an all-rounder: you need to know the law and be able to put a story together with speed and style. Depending on the nature of employment and the extent to which production and layout work falls within the sub-editor's remit, tasks typically involve the following:

• editing copy, written by reporters or features writers, to remove spelling mistakes and grammatical errors;
• rewriting material so that it flows or reads better and adheres to the house style of a particular publication;
• ensuring that a story fits a particular word count by cutting or expanding material as necessary;
• writing headlines that capture the essence of the story or are clever or amusing;
• writing standfirsts or 'sells' (brief introductions which sum up the story, underneath the headline);
• liaising with reporters or journalists to clarify facts and details about a story;
• checking facts and stories to ensure they are accurate, adhere to copyright laws, are not libellous or go against the publication's policy;
• cropping photos and deciding where to use them for best effect;
• writing picture captions;
• discussing concerns with editors;
• proofreading complete pages produced by other sub-editors using the main basic proofing symbols;
• working to a page plan to ensure that the right stories appear in the correct place on each page;
• laying out pages and, depending on the nature of the role, playing a part in page design;
• manipulating on-screen copy using appropriate desktop publishing software, such as Quark Express, InDesign and Photoshop;
• adding last minute news stories;
• keeping up to date with sector issues, e.g. by reading related publications;
• adapting all these skills for a publication's website;
• editing press releases or reports;
• compiling routine information, such as tables of sports results or financial data.