The Penn Stater Magazine

Wise Words

April 1, 2009 at 7:36 pm Lori Shontz 1 comment

I love when a person turns out to be exactly as I’ve pictured, partly because that doesn’t happen very often. When Gerald Marzorati, editor of the New York Times Magazine, stepped to the podium last week at the CASE Editors Forum, he not only looked like the editor of a smart magazine, but he sounded like one. Which was even better. His keynote address put long-form journalism into a historic perspective, and it had all of the insight any writer or editor could want. It also had this mind-blowing nugget: An average cover story in the magazine costs $40,000.

Here at The Penn Stater, we don’t have that kind of budget. (Almost no one does.) But we share his philosophy of what makes a great magazine story.

Marzorati believes long-form journalism is a distinctly American form of writing, a result of our pragmatic culture and its constant changes. “We crave stories—all cultures do—but we also crave facts. Lots of facts. And facts are more compelling, easier to digest, when arranged narratively.” He provided some behind-the-scenes details about two pieces I especially loved: Mark Leibovich’s profile of MSNBC talking head Chris Matthews, and Dexter Filkins’ look at the situation on the Pakistan/Afghanistan border.

Like most of us who care about journalism in any form, Marzorati is worried. Is there an audience for stuff that’s probably not best consumed—dare I say enjoyed—on a Blackberry screen? Is there an economic model that will allow in-depth reporting and careful, thoughtful editing to continue?

He ended his talk on a hopeful note. You can read a transcript here.

Lori Shontz, senior editor

Entry filed under: The Penn Stater magazine. Tags: Afghanistan, Blackberry, CASE Editors Forum, Chris Matthews, Dexter Filkins, Gerald Marzorati, long-form journalism, Mark Leibovich, MSNBC, New York Times, Pakistan.