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Dyson at Large: Why Newsquest hubs must continue writing headlines

Yes, you’ve read that correctly: this blog is arguing that Newsquest would have been wrong to take headline-writing away from its subbing hubs.

And yes, that’s a thesis I never thought I’d be backing.

Surely – and this is me questioning myself – after various occasions when I’ve decried the quality of Newsquest titles subjected to factory-style subbing, I should have been encouraging what first appeared to be a plan to return more creative ownership to local editorial teams.

But the more I’ve thought about it – and the more I’ve listened to staff who’ve contacted me from the subbing hub in Newport, South Wales and from various Newsquest titles – the more I’m convinced that such a headline-writing reversal would have been bad news.

Why? Well firstly, now that newspaper production has been shipped out to subbing hubs, there are precious few staff left at any title who are great headline writers – because they were either relocated to the hubs or, in most cases, sacked.

sub-editors

Most editors still in the group are now responsible for multiple titles, whose remaining journalists have been hit by constant cost-saving programmes.

If individual titles had been made responsible for writing all headlines, subheads and straplines again, Newsquest would have been overstretching these local resources, which would have decreased not increased or even maintained quality.

Secondly, if Newsquest had stripped creative responsibility from what are developing journalists with improving skills at the hubs, it would have reduced them to mundane, production line jobs.

Many of the hubs’ new staff are graduates with NCTJ qualifications, and they joined the hubs as a career move aspiring to become talented subs, not to end up as demotivated copy-monkeys.

Newsquest – if the proposed changes had gone ahead – would effectively have been telling them and their managers: “Sorry, your work isn’t good enough, and so rather than training you to improve we’re just going to take away the best part of your jobs.”

Finally, this suggested plan has only resulted in many staff – at hubs and local titles – feeling angry and back-biting at each other (just read the comments on this story), which is a situation that no-one in any workplace needs.

Fortunately, from what HoldtheFrontPage has now discovered, the proposal appears to have been ‘indefinitely postponed’ and, if that’s the case, that’s the way it should stay.

Otherwise cynics might suspect Newsquest of encouraging a divide-and-rule culture, challenging local centres to resume headline-writing with an eventual plan to cut even more resource by closing hubs and returning the entire production process to individual titles.

But no-one really believes in conspiracy theories, do they?

That aside, what else should Newsquest be doing as well as cancelling this half-baked plan?

Well, there’s nothing wrong with editors and their local teams having the final say on all headlines – effectively giving the pages a ‘revise’ status and providing time for any howlers to be removed and for any brilliant ideas to be inserted.

That would be a good principle to embed in the production process, while at the same time continuing to train hub staff and perhaps even taking them on site visits to local titles to help improve teamwork.

Newsquest must deal with the reality it’s created: subbing hubs exist, the resource has been shifted (or saved), and it now needs to make this system work.

12 comments

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  • January 13, 2016 at 10:03 am
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    All a bit embarrassing really innit. Quickest reverse ferret in recent years…

    Also… ‘they joined the hubs as a career move aspiring to become talented subs’

    I wonder if there is much of a career down that track any more.

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  • January 13, 2016 at 10:21 am
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    You say writing headlines would have overstretched staff at regional offices, but who do you think rewrites all the headlines that the subbing hubs get wrong? Editors and journalists at the paper the headline is going to.
    Perhaps removing headline writing capacity would have been the first step towards relocating subediting roles back to where they should be, where journalists and subs can discuss headlines.
    Instead of a fruitless batting back and forth that ends with the work being done at newspaper offices anyway.
    That’s on top of all the proofreading (including removing errors created at the hubs) which now falls to journalists and editors if they want to ensure that the copy that carries their name is stylistically, grammatically, and factually accurate.

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  • January 13, 2016 at 12:30 pm
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    >Perhaps removing headline writing capacity would have been the first step towards relocating subediting roles back to where they should be,

    Yeah, right. Even if were the case, where would the centres get experienced subs from now to fill those roles?

    >the copy that carries their name is stylistically, grammatically, and factually accurate.

    I have no wish to get into a pointless battle with anyone, but the idea that subs waste their time taking beautifully crafted copy and spoiling it by adding mistakes that weren’t already there is really very, very silly.
    I was tempted to post some examples of ‘stylistically, grammatically, and factually accurate’ copy I’ve had to turn into English this week, but I see no merit in prolonging the ‘us v them’ battle that people like Peter Olympian seem determined to enjoy.

    As for the rewritten headlines, as has been said elsewhere, they usually break all the rules subs have to stick to, but editors can break freely.

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  • January 13, 2016 at 1:46 pm
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    I have to say from experience that the problem with the highly qualified youngsters coming into hubs is that many lack basic writing skills and fluency, despite their zillion words a minute shorthand etc. They only get that from years of experience. In days of yore older reporters would train them or a least put them right now and then. Sadly most of those older guys and gals who knew what they were doing have left if they can.
    But I do agree sending the work back would just be another burden on overworked reporters, as happened in JP when young journos started filling in shapes, writing headings, slapping in pictures, loading up the web etc etc and forgot what the job was supposed to be!

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  • January 13, 2016 at 1:48 pm
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    Nice idea in theory. But the fact is that the vast majority of hub-written headlines are getting changed anyway. And all too often the standard of copy editing is pretty shoddy too. As it is, all we’re seeing is unnecessary repetition of workload. If hubs are to continue then they really need to improve dramatically.

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  • January 13, 2016 at 3:33 pm
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    No the fact is that most headlines don’t get changed – and of the ones that do, a good percentage didn’t need to be changed. Some are changed for the worse and don’t fit well, or repeat the intro word for word, or have had the box changed to more easily accommodate a headline. Sometimes the headlines are changed for the better, I had one changed yesterday that changed one word – but I’d argue it’s easier to do that when you have fresh eyes and didn’t sit there with five decks to fill on a generic man runs for charity story.

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  • January 13, 2016 at 4:35 pm
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    Can we just put an end to all these petty arguments and have a good old fashioned tug of war to sort it out?

    Whoever wins writes the headlines

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  • January 13, 2016 at 7:06 pm
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    I don’t work at a hub, or indeed for Newsquest, but know people who do, and they have told me about some of the raw copy they get sent. So instead of giving them a volley, Pete Olympian, I’d offer them thanks, because some of the grammar and spelling they have to deal with is pretty dire.

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  • January 13, 2016 at 11:22 pm
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    Subbing is an art that is only really developed from experience, in my opinion. You can have an NCTJ but that doesn’t necessarily mean you are actually good. The problem with the Newport hub is the lack of real experience. No doubt many of these graduates are adequate subs, but it takes years of experience to become a great one. Just my opinion from my own experience.

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  • January 14, 2016 at 8:51 am
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    The biggest problems are caused by the subs’ lack of time, so most of the grief I ever got from stories were misleading headlines or picture captions which had been written in haste by subs who hadn’t had time to read the story properly.

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  • January 18, 2016 at 12:18 pm
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    I’m so glad I’m out of it now….Newsquest’s incompetence never ceases to amaze me

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