It’s the headline that’s important not who writes it.

It’s a “dangerous question” because reporters writing their own headlines would mean fewer subs being employed, but as Paul Groves says, that doesn’t mean it won’t get asked and, one day, answered!

One of the delights of the social media age is seeing the dark secret of our trade dragged out of the newsroom and into the unblinking gaze of the blogging world. Take, for example, the relationship between reporters and sub-editors…….

though you did reply to it at the time.

From experience, I’d say the client sites I’ve worked on are less subbed because time has not been booked into the production process to allow for even a basic check. Result: unclean copy, dulls lead-ins, unchecked facts, potential legal issues, etc etc… Why is subbing suddenly seeming unimportant when the need for it still exists – esp with recent online libel wins? Plus, outside publishing, people are usually unaware of subs and sub-editing. One comms office I now sent their mag home with a receptionist to proofread on the bus. Sigh.

Re headlines, it’s not just down to page layout, getting a balance of headlines, or fitting the house style or SEO needs, etc. Sometimes subs find the point buried half way down a story, a slight rewrite ensues and where the body goes then so must the head follow.

I also agree (having done both) that writing and subbing are totally different skill and mindsets. No reason why a reporter, or a sub, can’t be flexible and do both – but the fact is some writers don’t want to know the ins and outs of semi-colon usage while some subs would freak at the thought of interviewing a Burger Boy.

Now how do I get onto your tweet radar, lady!

Subs pride themselves on headlines that will inform the reader to the extent they might not need to read the story itself. (Reporters find this rather frustrating. They like their story to be necessary reading, even if you have to read the story to understand the headline.)

I say this btw as someone who’s never really been a sub – always a reporter/writer and now editor. Sure, I write my own “headlines” for blog posts. (And sometimes it’s really successful, or at least I’m proud of it: “O2 opens brewery, forgets bottles” for the iPhone debacle.)

Could subs report? Backbenches do all the time, pulling together wire stuff on breaking news. Though these days they’d do well to use Twitter etc too. The scope of subbing is changing, just as that of reporting is. But headlines? It’s a war zone.