The Subbing Team

Although, as subs, we don’t get to see our names in print in pretty fonts, the sub-editing team has one of the most important jobs at any publication.

At Activate the subs meet on Wednesdays and Thursdays during paste-up weeks (every fortnight) to edit grammar and spelling, to rephrase sentences, rewrite whole paragraphs (at times the whole story!) and to argue over the most suitable synonym for “very nice”. The subs make sure that articles are written succinctly and in a style suited to Activate and to the particular article.

Essentially, the subbing team ensures the articles that go to print are without any grammatical errors and are of a quality worthy of the country’s best student newspaper.

Subbing is a fantastic way to improve your own writing as you quickly develop a critical editing-eye that can change a good story into a great one. Often members of the subbing team are some of Activate’s best writers.

We expect subs to attend either the Wednesday or the Thursday session but those who can make both are especially welcome. If you have a flair for the English language, unlimited patience, can spot a misused apostrophe and know how to use a thesaurus, the subs want you!