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Subject:Re: More title questions From:Janice Gelb <Janice -dot- Gelb -at- Sun -dot- COM> To:Techwr-l <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Tue, 27 Nov 2007 09:27:55 +1100
Raj Machhan wrote:
> The idea behind discussing the designations used in newspapers and
> magazines is to examine the possibility of whether these can be
> adopted in a Tech Comm set up. Janice seems to have missed a key
> point: It is the writer who graduates to the position of an editor and
> not vice-versa. So there is no confusion of roles here. For example,
> in a newspaper, the news editor ( a position somewhat similar to
> Technical editor in Tech Comm) is expected to have the ability to
> write well. But a Staff Correspondent (comparable to a Technical
> writer for our purpose) is not required to posses any editing skills.
>
As I mentioned previously, these are separate
skills and it is emphatically not the case that
a writer who writes well will automatically be
a good editor or vice versa. I have a degree
in journalism and worked as an editor on a
newspaper, was hired as an editor, and never had
to write a word.
I am not sure where you get the notion that in
the newspaper and magazine environment, the job
ladder is such that writers "graduate" to being
editors. Certainly some writers do want to become
editors and have the skills to do so but it's not
an automatic career path.
-- Janice
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