But anyway, I can’t really pick many faults with your ideals. People forget the value of subs. In local newspapers, you can tell which ones are run with a good subs team and which ones are produced by a skeleton crew in terms of standards, style and the amount of errors.

The one thing that bugs me and I will use the Coventry Evening Telegraph as an example. Do they really need to print everything in colour? Ok it looks nice, but thats someones job gone or the chance to employ someone that can produce quality reports. It seems that the decision is to make it look pretty and the content is the afterthought.

Multi-tasking and re-training subs/reporters? I am sceptical on this one. People are unhappy because the amount of stress they get put on them. Handing out more jobs to someone can lead to a number of issues. Firstly they have less time to do their main job. This could cause a sub-standard of work because they are worried about sticking captions on videos using Adobe Premier, when they could be checking that the story for page one doesn’t have a massive spelling faux pa on it, such as ‘Grave decimated’ or the such.

I just think that standards will get worse. You need an online team as part of the news room. Let them deal with the web. Let reporters report and let subs sub.

Maybe I have been spoilt but I work in a calm newsroom. No-one gets shouty, stressed or angry. We have a strong team in which people know what their role is and what they have to do. The longer the job description, the worse the standards.

It is a shame because publications don’t see it like that.

I’d keep the subs as potentially cutting back the number of editions they’d have less to do or wouldn’t need as many of them – and could be re-trained for more web based production methods.

Agreed about keeping back ‘premiere’ content and then using it in the print edition, and then releasing it online maybe a day or two later for all those not fortunate enough to catch the print edition.

Be interested to know what else you’d do Nigel?

The most important thing in any business is to invest in people and many business’s take their eye off the ball when it comes to HR.

Keep the subs?-That seems to go in the face of what many publications are doing as they drive to lower costs reducing what they see as no essential staff.I think a sub is a sub and to justify their position by adding responsibility is not the way to go.

Def keep the print edition and lead with the online but I wouild hold back good content such as features and analysis for the print edition,it gives it some additional value added which you would lose if it is all online