» "If even five in a hundred readers are baffled by the phrasing of a sentence, we have failed"
Or “why subeditors matter”, part the ninety-fourth. (For what it’s worth: I’ve used a similar line many times, although I set the bar at a rather less conservative “one”.)
Except, except … I read this and know I no longer feel the same fire in my belly. That saddens me — but, like he says: “Normal people, I have found, deeply do not care.” More shamefully, nor do many newspaper managers.
They’re wrong. But, ultimately, those managers are the ones who will decide subs’ fate.
