| President’s
Letter
Got digital plans? Don’t forget the editor
by Steve Roll, National
President, ASBPE
Senior State Tax Law Editor,
BNA Tax & Accounting
 Matt
Kinsman of Folio: emailed me recently for
my opinion on a
story he was writing for the magazine’s
upcoming issue titled “From
Editor to Content Developer.”
Matt explained that at
the Folio: Publishing Summit earlier this
year, Meredith’s Jack Griffin said
he doesn’t hire editors anymore,
just content strategists.
“Many other publishers seem to be
embracing that type of
description, and we’re asking editors
on both the consumer and
B2B sides whether that’s just semantics
or is there really a difference
between ‘editor’ and ‘content
strategist’?” Kinsman said.
As an editor, I become
apprehensive when I hear people using the
term “content.” It
seems to pop up whenever someone describes
how a publishing process works.
Content is the core product
that needs to be packaged and disseminated.
The thing
I don’t like about the term is that
it assumes that the content starts out
as a commodity
that is worth paying for.
This assumption
overlooks the important work that editors
do. Business editors
immerse themselves in the details of a
given industry to create content that
is relevant to
a publication’s target audience.
It’s
a skill that’s needed to produce
quality content across
all media — whether that be a newsletter,
magazine, blog, Web site, video, or webcast.
Have we forgotten the
role of editors in the digital world?
As print and Web publishing
are giving way to other media, some publishers
seem to have
forgotten the crucial role that editors
play. I heard one story in which a publisher’s
webinar
initiative was largely developed by marketing.
With only limited involvement from the
editorial staff, the publisher quickly
ran out of webinar ideas that would generate
sufficient interest from subscribers.
The publisher’s
first webinar foray came to an abrupt
end.
Fortunately, some publishers
understand that they need editors to develop
quality content,
regardless of the medium. At a recent
ASBPE
D.C. chapter event I attended about
presenting videos on B2BWeb sites, Jeff
Langkau, creative director for 1105 Media,
publishers
of Government Computer
News and Federal
Computer Week, described how the
online version of a story, complete with
video clips, is now the primary focus
of editorial
meetings; the print magazines are secondary.
To make this transition, Jeff asked the
editorial
staff to perform new tasks, such as writing
up scripts for videos. Involving the editorial
staff in these projects revitalized their
careers and made them love coming to work.
ASBPE helps you learn
digital skills
It’s more important
than ever for editors to learn new forms
of communication technology.
How are you going to make the case for
helping your publication produce a podcast
if you’ve never listened to one?
Who will respect your opinion regarding
the merits of
starting a blog at your publication
if you’ve
never subscribed to one?
Attending ASBPE’s
National
Editorial Conference July 23–25
would be a good step to acquiring new
media skills, including hands-on tutorials
on how
to shoot a video and how to produce
a podcast. Learning
these skills will help you explain why
your editorial skills are still important.
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