Q: I need help with an internal squabble (question?) about journalistic titles. Is there somewhere that lists job descriptions stating differences between editor, editor in chief, executive editor, managing editor?
Kirk
A: Good question. Titles can vary from newspaper to newspaper, and some people change the title when they move into the job.
The person in charge of the editorial and op-ed pages can be called the editor, editor-in-chief or editorial page editor. Executive editor almost always is the person who runs the newsroom. If there is no one at the paper with that title, don’t assume that the newsroom is out of control (though that might be the case). It could be that the person running the newsroom is called editor and the one running the editorial pages is called editorial page editor.
In some cases, the news and opinion sides are distinct from each other and report separately and directly to the publisher — the person who is the top person at that newspaper’s location. In others, the editor of the opinion pages reports to the one who also oversees the news operations. Again, there is no set pattern for what these people should be called.
In most newspapers, the managing editor is in charge of making sure that newsroom strategies are executed. This position, a very powerful one, is usually the No. 2 person under the editor in charge of news content.
Once, when newspapers were wrestling with their organization and titles, a newspaper called its top editors, “The Managing Entity.†Now THAT is scary.
