ABSTRACT
Overall authority and decision-making are concentrated in a relatively small group of editorial executives, below which is a large and diversified middle stratum of reporters and processors. The editorial rules which appear in fewer numbers than any other category are distinct from the other rules because they play a different role in the news process. Editorial rules are out with the control of the individual journalist. They are devised by the editorial team which is directed by the editor of the paper or news director of the broadcast organisation. Journalists are inflicting an artificial code of practice onto real life situations. The editorial rules are concerned with the practical technicalities of the news process. The editorial category is used in conjunction with other rules and that this is extremely influential within the news process due to the fact that all the other rules are implemented in the work routine with a knowledge of the editorial mechanism in mind.
