3
If by subwebs you mean the directory listings on your site, with any number of modules you could create topics to match your directory listings and then give your editors permission to manage those topics. If you hired someone to do some of the work for you, they could perhaps even convert your current "articles" into the receiving module. The problem would be deciding which module to use - there are so many that could work: AMS, the new news module (I think it's ready for production sites, but not positive), some of the section mods, etc. You would need to check out the features of each module, and especially check out the permissioning system. I have no doubt at all that XOOPS will do what you want very nicely. It's just a process of figuring out how best to accomplish that. I'd recommend you find someplace to set up a XOOPS trial run and have a go at the different modules.
Hope this helps...