{"id":33413,"date":"2024-11-21T18:00:04","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T23:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/?post_type=article&p=33413"},"modified":"2025-02-15T16:25:31","modified_gmt":"2025-02-15T21:25:31","slug":"the-editors-interview-the-editors","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/publications\/the-editors-interview-the-editors","title":{"rendered":"The Editors Interview The Editors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dear Reader \u2014

A magazine is not a bundle of ideas. It\u2019s a relationship: a deep ongoing collaboration between writers, editors, and readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier we gave you a look at one part of this picture: what it means to write for a living<\/a>. Today we\u2019d like to show you another side \u2014 our side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We do have a request to make: Can you help us meet an ambitious giving goal of $150,000<\/strong> toward funding our talented staff next year? Write \u201cStaff\u201d on your donation memo and every dollar you contribute will be spent on staffing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we also want to give you something in return: A peek behind the curtain. Until you work as an editor, it\u2019s hard to know what that job means, exactly. We didn\u2019t know until we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are pleased, then, to present, if a little immodestly: the editors interviewing the editors. Enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you,
Ari Schulman, Editor<\/p>\n\n\n

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\r\n\t\tHow do you decide which views to publish and which not?\t<\/h5>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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Ari Schulman, editor:<\/strong> There are two big questions I\u2019m always asking of ideas sent our way. One is: Is this something?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not Do I agree<\/em>, Is this well-written<\/em>, or Does it need major revision<\/em> but: Is there a cohering force behind this? Is it rough because there\u2019s nothing really there? Or because it\u2019s struggling to become something?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other is: So what?<\/em> Even if you\u2019re right, what are the stakes? Why does this matter, not to eternity but to someone living in America in 2024? Are you intervening in a pressing debate or counting angels on a pin?<\/p>\n\n\n

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\r\n\t\tWho has the final say \u2014 editors or authors?\t<\/h5>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

The more years you do developmental editing, the more you learn to stop thinking about what you want a piece to be<\/em> or what the author wants the piece to be<\/em> and start grappling with what the piece wants to be<\/em>. Our role is to figure that out and to work with authors to help it become that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\r\n\t\tWhat\u2019s surprising about being an editor?\t<\/h5>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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Louise Liebeskind, assistant editor:<\/strong> Before I started this job, I didn\u2019t understand just how collaborative the working relationship between authors and editors is. Sure, sometimes we get a draft that is ready to publish with very little work from us. But that\u2019s the exception, even among our most talented writers, and even for our own work, which goes through the wringer just like everyone else\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At every stage of the editorial process, from evaluating an original pitch to finalizing a draft for publication, a good editor is on the lookout for the manifold subtle discrepancies that arise between what an author\u2019s words actually say, as written, and what the author wants to say. The more complex and original the idea, the longer and more careful the communication between author and editor has to be to bring it to clarity and light.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\r\n\t\tDo you mainly fix typos and correct grammar and punctuation, or is there more to it?\t<\/h5>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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Samuel Matlack, managing editor:<\/strong> The best way to think of our role is like the producer of a movie, shepherding something creative but rough into a polished, seamless product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you read a piece in The New Atlantis<\/em>, chances are it went through some combination of: editors discussing it, giving feedback to the author, further negotiating by email or phone or at our office or the Tabard Inn<\/a>, restructuring the piece, revising it, fact-checking everything, more revising, some more revising, proofreading for typos and little mistakes, and, occasionally, total overhaul from top to bottom. If we did our job well, when you read the published piece you won\u2019t be able to tell how much or how little of this actually happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\r\n\t\tWhat\u2019s the most common feedback you give to authors?\t<\/h5>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

Ari:<\/strong> Often what makes for an effective piece is finding the right balance between caution and righteous indignation. Half of what I tell authors is \u201cYou need to be less mad.\u201d When you\u2019re too keyed up, you\u2019re not actually intervening in a conversation, because the piece no longer offers a journey, starting at a question and moving toward a resolution. Instead, it ends up where it already began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the other half of advice is \u201cGet madder.\u201d There always has to be an answer to: So what?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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\r\n\t\tWait, you do fact-checking? Like Snopes?\t<\/h5>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

Samuel:<\/strong> Once you learn to take fact-checking seriously and have done it for a while, you realize that facts can be bottomless wells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sure, there are some claims you can definitively answer at a surface level: Thomas Edison was born on February 11, 1847. But was Edison the inventor of the light bulb? To answer that you have to know how the history of invention works, and once you dig deep enough you realize you don\u2019t even really know what a light bulb is and that different historians give you different stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the more you do this kind of work, the more you realize that a lot of what\u2019s already published in magazines and books didn\u2019t get fact-checked. Sorry to break it to you: there\u2019s a lot of garbage out there. We do what we call adversarial fact-checking: not just finding confirmation of a claim, but putting it to the test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\r\n\t\tWho owns\u00a0The New Atlantis?\t<\/h5>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

Ari:<\/strong> Nobody! The New Atlantis<\/em> is independently run by the nonprofit Center for the Study of Technology and Society<\/a>, and the magazine is its only project. The staff are not fellows at any think tank, and the magazine has no institutional parent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So in practice, we\u2019re owned by our readers. Every year, you along with a handful of private foundations get to decide whether our project is worth sustaining for one more year, and at what level.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\r\n\t\tHow much of your budget goes to staffing?\t<\/h5>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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Brady Lee, director of development:<\/strong> In 2024, our all-in cost for our full-time staff is about 60 percent of our $670,000 budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also work with a number of talented contractors who help with fact-checking and editing, which, depending on the year and number of projects we undertake, adds an additional $5,000 to $15,000.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\r\n\t\tHow much is funded by reader donations?\t<\/h5>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

About 35% of our budget. And that\u2019s a figure we\u2019re working to grow significantly every year as part of a years-long strategy to shift away from foundation grants that are restricted to specific subjects \u2014 and toward general support for our core work. That shift will let us maintain total editorial independence and ensure a stable base of funding for years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your support is essential to ensuring that The New Atlantis<\/em> can intervene with staying power in today\u2019s science and tech debates.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\r\n\t\tWhat help do you need from readers this year?\t<\/h5>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

Our public giving goal this year just to support staffing is $150,000<\/strong>. Achieving this will help us retain our talented team and expand it in the new year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is part of our broader 2024 annual giving campaign, and we welcome gifts that support our entire project. But if you\u2019d like your donation to go specifically to staffing costs, just write \u201cStaff<\/strong>\u201d on the memo line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s how you can send a donation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Give<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Donations are tax-deductible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Check<\/strong>
Payable to “The New Atlantis” and mailed to:
1730 M Street NW, Suite 910
Washington, D.C. 20036<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Credit Card or PayPal<\/strong>
Online here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Donor-Advised Fund<\/strong>
501(c)(3) name: The Center for the Study of Technology and Society
EIN: 51\u20110399261
Phone: (202) 715-3488
Contact: Brady Lee, blee@thenewatlantis.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pledges<\/strong>
Please email Brady Lee, Director of Development, at blee@thenewatlantis.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Reader \u2014 A magazine is not a bundle of ideas. It\u2019s a relationship: a deep ongoing collaboration between writers, editors, and readers. Earlier we gave you a look at one part of this picture: what it means to write for a living. Today we\u2019d like to show you another side \u2014 our side. We do have a request to make: Can you help us meet an ambitious giving goal of $150,000 toward funding our talented staff next year? Write \u201cStaff\u201d on your donation memo and every dollar you contribute will be spent on staffing. But we also want to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":33444,"template":"","article_type":[18],"noteworthy_people":[],"topics":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/33413"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/33413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34450,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/33413\/revisions\/34450"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=33413"},{"taxonomy":"noteworthy_people","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/noteworthy_people?post=33413"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thenewatlantis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=33413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}