Content Strategists, Not Editors

The publishing world is changing faster than you might think. Well, you knew that, but here is one of the signs that ground under our feet is cracking. “We don’t hire editors anymore,” says Meredith publishing president Jack Griffin. “We hire content strategists.” Folio reported that remark and more about Meredith in this article.

But before getting into more of the article, again look at that quote. It indicates so much in perspective. The focus is on content, not writing. That means everything - words, images, sound, graphics - is part of the mix. The "strategists" part? These people are responsible for coming up with approaches to make money for the company. Once the strategy was pretty much taken for granted. Meredith, in this case, would find a demographic, devise an appropriate publication, put it together, and sell ads while trying to build the reader base. But the new concept acknowledges that a single direction, set by the top, won't work. Strategies that work for one group may not for another. The view also says goodbye to the concept of editor: someone who is focused mostly on getting articles from writers and getting them prepared for print.

Griffin was giving a talk at Folio's annual publishing conference. As part of this new role of content strategy comes a recognition that many of the assumptions that have ruled magazine writing for decades are going out the window:

Griffin, on crutches and hobbled by a recent emergency surgery to repair a broken leg, said the change American consumer demographics—specifically, the spike in Internet usage and the emerging “white minority”—forced the Des Moines-based publisher to evaluate all aspects of its publishing business.

Meredith, Griffin said, was “founded on the social construct of Dad at work, Mom at home, Chevy in the driveway.” For a company that publishes “white-bread” magazines, he said, “the change has been quite provocative.”

Meredith has spent about $600 million in the last six years in developing its online, interactive, and integrated marketing businesses. If you're longing for the days that you could make nice money writing for major consumer print publications, then you're in danger of becoming a dinosaur. Now's the time to move in new directions.