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"I
am in the Conversation Business"
JennyAnn Diorio ‘04
Gerald Marzorati, editor in chief of the New York Times
Magazine and Villanova graduate class of ‘75, returned to the University
campus on Nov. 12 to give an editing workshop and talk about his job as
head of one of the nation’s most prestigious magazines.
Marzorati, who was an English/Honors Major in the College of Liberal Arts
and Sciences, started his career in journalism writing about the arts
and music for the SoHo News, Harpers, and the New Yorker, before joining
the New York Times in 1994. Marzorati decided to make the switch to editing
because the job was a better fit for his personality.
“Writing can be very lonely,” said Marzorati. “I am
the type of person who likes to work with other people. I would become
very bored being alone with my thoughts.”
Nowadays, Marzorati is busy putting together the 52 issues of a $67 million
annual budget magazine. At the workshop, Marzorati flipped through a recent
New York Times Magazine and explained to a group of Villanova students
how an issue gets put together.
“I spend the most time on the cover” he said. “It gets
the most attention.”
Marzorati went page by page through the magazine discussing the layout
and the reasoning behind each section.
“We use news as the content, but we don’t try to summarize,”
said Marzorati. “Ideas come from a lot of places, like people’s
curiosities.”
Marzorati was candid about the magazine and even revealed that the New
York Times Magazine columnist Randy Cohen, the lauded “Ethicist,”
has no ethical background. Cohen beat out a University of Pennsylvania
ethicist for the job. Marzorati explained how the articles in the magazine
need to be readable.
“I am in the conversation business,” said Marzorati. “We
have to inform each other in a way that stays with us.”
Unlike other magazines in the industry that are limiting writers with
word counts, Marzorati encourages longer pieces.
“Through a long piece you can give people a narrative,” he
said. “You can wrap people up in a story.”
As much as Marzorati loves delivering stories to people, he also discussed
the challenges of the magazine business.
“I have to worry about being outdated,” he said
.
War in Iraq presents another problem for Marzorati. The increasing dangers
of the war in Iraq and the rising cost of protecting journalist covering
the war makes it difficult to present fresh articles to the public.
“It costs about $25,000 to $30,000 to send a reporter to Baghdad
today,” he said.
According to Marzorati, more and more journalists are becoming imbedded
reporters and receiving protection from American troops. However, Marzorati
suggests that imbedded journalists have a colored point of view as a result
of being imbedded and it is problematic to have subjective stories.
Marzorati concluded the workshop by encouraging Villanova students, interested
in the journalism industry, to read.
“Four years buys you the opportunity to read,” said Marzorati.
“Reading thickens you.”
The workshop was hosted by the new concentration in writing and rhetoric,
led by Dr. Karyn Hollis.
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