Subeditor: Angie Brandt
Angie Brandt is a subeditor at the Namibian Press Agency (Nampa). Her job entails editing the news articles of journalists to ensure that they are grammatically correct, that there are no spelling mistakes and that there are no uncertainties and unanswered questions after the article has been completed.Before becoming a subeditor, the 43-year-old started out as a journalist, but soon found herself more interested in the editing part of the job.
Most people will never know the name of a subeditor, since only the journalist’s name will appear on the article. Some might have a problem with the perceived thanklessness of the job, but Brandt said she “likes the anonymity”. Although not always the case, subediting tends to attract quieter personalities, in her experience.
Her biggest challenges are that in the fast-paced media environment, deadlines can be very stressful. “You should be able to handle stress well.” She added: “The broad nature of news also requires flexibility to handle different types of content – for instance from shorter hard news stories and social media content to features and the like".
“Good communication skills are essential,” she said. This is important because liaising with journalists and newspaper editors is an important part of the job. A day often involves calling journalists again and again after they have already submitted an article to make sure that the final product is perfect. “But it is all worth it in the end,” she said.
Brandt has a bachelor of art degree from the University of Namibia. She majored in languages, including English. Despite her degree, Brandt said “I think more than a formal qualification, what helped was my love for languages and words".
According to her, in the media industry and specifically in the world of subediting, hands-on experience is more important than a formal education could ever be.