# toimittaja



## Gavril

1.
If _toimittaja _means "reporter" and also "editor" (= the person who edits a reporter's work), is there a separate word that unambiguously means "editor"?

2.
What is the difference in meaning between _päätoimittaja_ and _toimituspäällikkö_? I notice that some _Helsingin Sanomat _writers have the former title and others have the latter. 

(Some newspapers have a managing editor who handles day-to-day decisions, and an executive editor who is higher up and less involved in day-to-day operations -- is this a similar distinction to _päätoimittaja/toimituspäällikkö_?)


K


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## jonquiliser

1. Not that I know. But I think the editor is perhaps more often spoken about with the verb (toimittaa), and the journalist toimittaja kirjoittaa. Anyway there seem to be very few cases of confusion. 

2. From Kielitoimiston sanakirja


> *toimituspäällikkö *päätoimittajaa alempi toimitushenkilökunnan esimies.


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## Gavril

jonquiliser said:


> 1. Not that I know. But I think the editor is perhaps more often spoken about with the verb (toimittaa), and the journalist toimittaja kirjoittaa.



Mitä luulette, GOM, Sakvaka ja muut?



> Anyway there seem to be very few cases of confusion.



So, for example, "One is a reporter; the other is an editor" would normally be translated _Toinen on toimittaja, toinen on toimittaja_?


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## jonquiliser

Gavril said:


> So, for example, "One is a reporter; the other is an editor" would normally be translated _Toinen on toimittaja, toinen on toimittaja_?



I think - and I repeat that I don't know - that the editor must always be an editor of something - kirjan toimittaja, for example. For a newspaper journalist, you can specify whether s/he's a sanomalehdentoimittaja or aikakauslehden toimittaja, for example. I'd venture a guess for your sentence: _Toinen on toimittaja, toinen on toimittanut [kirjan]_. I said I believe the verb to be more common in the case of an editor since being an editor is often an occasional occupation rather than a profession. But I might be mistaken.


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## Grumpy Old Man

Gavril said:


> Mitä luulette, GOM, Sakvaka ja muut?


I don't have a Finnish dictionary at my disposal, so I'll have to trust my ear. I agree that _toimittaja_ is commonly used to mean both _reporter_ and _editor._ In your first post you asked if there is a word that specifically means _editor._ If there is one, I don't know it.

However, there is a word that specifically means _reporter. _The word is a loan word from English or Swedish, _reportteri._ This word seems to have gone out of style some 30 years ago and I'm sure some under 40s don't even consider it a Finnish word at all. It was quite common when I was young, though. I can think of no reason for its demise. It doesn't sound derogatory or offensive in any way. Not to me, anyway.

Then again, I may not be the right person to judge. I see or hear nothing politically incorrect in _Negro_ and smile when I hear _African American._

GOM


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## sakvaka

jonquiliser said:


> I'd venture a guess for your sentence: _Toinen on toimittaja, toinen on toimittanut [kirjan]_.



It is quite common to hear journalists being called with a direct borrowing, _journalisti_. Jonquiliser's sentence is grammatically correct, but it's a bit too repetitive - I wouldn't use it in my writings. 

You can make the difference like this: _vastaava toimittaja_ ("editor in charge") and _tutkiva toimittaja_ ("researching reporter").

_Toinen on vastaava, toinen [taas] tutkiva toimittaja.
_


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## jonquiliser

Out of curiosity, would you Sakvaka and GOM say that there's anything to what I said about verb vs. noun? I wonder because apart from in books or other concrete works coordinated by an editor, I haven't heard "toimittaja" as a noun a lot for editors. 

I remembered another word that also means journalist, _lehtimies_; but I don't know if it's much used anymore.


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## Grumpy Old Man

jonquiliser said:


> Out of curiosity, would you Sakvaka and GOM say that there's anything to what I said about verb vs. noun?


What you said is fine with me. I wouldn't hesitate to say _kirjan on toimittanut X._ Also, _lehtimies_ is an old good word. It, too, has just become unfashionable.

GOM


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## jonquiliser

Thank you, Grumpy.


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