Subject: [Rfced-future] The editing process and job titles

From: "Adrian Farrel" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2021 10:23:59 +0100

I don't know if I am the only one who is finding the discussion of the names
of roles (aka job titles) really frustrating.

It seems to me that the job title serves three purposes:
1. To make it clear what function a person performs within an organisation
2. To attract people to job advertisements
3. To make an employee feel comfortable with their position

Arguments about "does this person actually do any editing?" seems to me to
misconstrue the end-to-end process of production where the term "edit"
applies to many functions. I think it is unhelpful to take a limited or
specific view of the word "editing" and assume that others will share this
view. (Of course, it is in the nature of language that it evolves to the
commonly accepted meanings, but we don't have to be overly precautionarily
predictive.)

I feel that the discussion of the job title has been bashed around
considerably and yet it is probably the smallest point we have to resolve.
Does the dispute reveal an underlying dissatisfaction with the whole of the
work so far, does it show a point of serious import, or is it a group of
engineers obsessing over words because the bike shed has already been
painted?

My personal preference remains with "RFC Series Editor"

I quite like "RFC Series Consulting Editor" (although I have to point out
that many people who are freelance editors advising on content and writing
style, sell themselves as consulting editors).

"RFC Series Advising Editor" (not "Advisory") is something I could live
with.

I'd like to explore "RFC Series Expert" a bit. To me the word "expert" in
this context raises too many questions. Are they experts in the content?
Surely not. So where does their expertise lie? Perhaps deciding what
expertise we want them to have would actually allow us to reach agreement on
the title.

There is one other word to explore: "Publisher".
It is almost certain that this word will cause more disagreement. But
perhaps that will help us agree that we don't like the word!
To some it will have overtones of the "evil owner of a politically biased
newspaper".
To others it will mean the owner of the series (which is a question we have
carefully avoided since it blew up so unfortunately back in the RFC++ days).
To yet others it means the person responsible for getting everything to
happen through the copy-edit, proofing, production, and presentation phases.

Best,
Adrian