The editor is responsible for the successful running of the newspaper, hiring and firing, the broad editorial content, the balance of information, the type of stories run and the way they are written. When it comes to accountability, the buck stops with the editor.
The chief of staff is a key figure in the newsroom. He or she maintains a view of the whole paper in relation to the events of the day and assigns stories to journalists accordingly.
Journalists
are responsible for collecting stories. They either get their own stories - especially if they have a wide range of contacts - or follow up stories given to them by an editor or chief of staff. Many journalists have specific rounds. That is, they are assigned to particular areas - police, health, local government, mining, transport, courts - and are expected to develop expertise and contacts in them.
Sub-editors
- or subs - are responsible for editing a journalist's copy before it is placed in the newspaper. The chief sub works with the editor to determine page layout and then writes the headlines and sizes the articles to fit the space available. If you have ever wondered why headlines seem to be much more sensational than the stories they cover, you now know why. They are written by different people who have a vested interest in "speeding up" a page, not slowing it down with an accuracy that may be somewhat commonplace.
Most journalists start their careers as copy people. Before newsrooms became as technology-driven as they are today, the copy people would carry journalists' copy to the sub editor. These days they carry the cappuccinos in between spending time on different parts of the paper, compiling tide tables and tabulating sports results. After a year or so, copy people - if they show the talent - are given cadetships where they are gradually inducted into the business of serious news, find out where they will specialise, learn shorthand and, three years later, are graded as fully-fledged journalists.
In the television newsroom the news director is responsible for overall control. He or she determines the rundown for each news bulletin and is responsible for the successful operation of the newsroom.
The executive producer essentially carries out the news director's instructions, runs the producers' desk and assists in determining the rundown for the news bulletin each night.
The journalist is responsible for getting a news story. Most newsrooms have journalists allocated to various rounds such as politics, police, education, industrial relations and so on.
A producer then edits a journalists story and helps edit videotape to suit the story. The editing is done to suit a script written by the journalist.
In the radio newsroom the news director is responsible for the overall management of the newsroom and sets editorial policy.
There is also a shift editor who runs the radio news desk and is responsible for the line up of each bulletin. Radio journalists are the same as those in newspapers and on television. It is their responsibility to get a news story for a news bulletin. The newsreader is responsible for reading the news bulletin on air.