The sub-editor's revenge

John Simpson of the BBC is one of my favourite writers. His books are filled with well written anecdotes and fascinating stories.

This is a short bit which amuses me from "News From No Man's Land".

Back in 1966 when I was a sub-editor in the Colditz which we called the BBC Radio Newsroom, they still talked about the revenge of one of our number who had been sacked a few years earlier for some offence. On the last evening of his final shift, he was asked to write a story about the ending of a strike in the steel industry. He put it into skillfully camouflaged anapaests, which went unnoticed by the quick-scanning chief sub-editor's eye:

There were scenes of delight in Port Talbot tonight, as news of the settlement spread. The unions were pleased that the crisis had eased, and the firm was delighted, it said.

You must read it out loud to get the best effect. Some unfortunate newsreader had to.