Personally when I think of Editor in Chief
I picture an individual much like Jonah Jameson from the Daily Bugle; a fast
talking, cigar smoking mustachioed man always concerned about the next story. Though
some of these stereotypes might hold true in today’s internet based culture,
the standards and work involved with the title of editor have changed dramatically, especially for those controlling
content through digital forms. I was fortunate to be able to speak with
Tim Stevens, editor-in-chief of AOL’s technology publication
Engadget, to ask him about the specifics of
his job and how he handles operating in the digital / social realm.
-As editor in chief
of Engadget you have a lot of responsibilities. What all does your average day
consist of?
My average day is a lot of email. The vast majority of
coverage requests we receive and make come through my inbox, so there's a lot
to wade through to put it mildly.
While that's going on, though, I'm working with the
editorial team to decide what news is worthy of us writing about and what is
not. It's a constant process of vetting stories and discussing potential
angles. As we're a distributed team that happens in a chat room.
But, I'm also traveling quite frequently, so there's a
good chance I'll be on a plane (as I am right now) or covering some product
launch or media event.
-You're obviously
invested in Engadget and the technology that is featured on the site. How often
do you yourself contribute to the content of Engadget and what do you like to
write about?
Not as often as I'd like, with so much else going on.
But, I do cover major reviews of very important devices and chip in when I can.
I tend to enjoy writing tablet reviews the most, but my favorite topic of
coverage is the automotive space. I was formerly the Automotive Editor here at
Engadget before becoming Editor-in-Chief.
I also write a weekly editorial in our tablet magazine,
Distro,
which gives a quick refresher on the week in news as well as my take on much of
it.
-Has there ever
been any high profile or controversial content that has gone through your
website, and if so how did you handle the editing process and posting?
The most controversial content we run on a regular basis tends
to be our editorials, in which one editor puts his opinions out there for the
world to see. These I tend to be closely involved in reviewing to ensure that
the argument being made is well founded. It's important that these be
individual opinions, so I try to not change anyone's take on the story, but I'm
primarily making sure that they've made a bulletproof case.
Beyond that, we quite frequently get photos or
information through privileged sources, information that isn't supposed to be
publicly known yet. In these cases I try to work very closely with the editors
assigned and reviewing the story to ensure that the information we've received
is legitimate and, if so, that we're presenting it in such a way as to not
expose or harm our source.
-Social media
marketing has blown up within the past several years, how has Engadget answered
to the need of constant interaction in the social realm? How does the role of
Editor factor in to content of 140 characters or less?
We look at social networks as another way to connect to
our fans. Our Twitter feed acts like an RSS feed did back in the day, serving
up headlines and links as posts go live. But, recently we've been working
harder to personalize that interaction more. We now have someone on staff whose
focus is managing our social networks and interacting with the readers.
It's important to me that we're as accessible as
possible, and Twitter, Google+ and Facebook are great ways of getting out
there.
-Your website gets
thousands of hits a week if not every day, is it ever difficult to handle the
constant wave of comments and interactions with users who follow Engadget?
It is always a challenge but we have a team of moderators
who ensure our comments and discussions are clean. Honestly, though, we could
be doing better there, and I'm making some changes to improve that. But, I
personally get hundreds of emails every day, and many of them are from readers
with suggestions, questions or simply looking for jobs. It's difficult to respond
to them all but I always try to.
And thousands of hits a day is a gross understatement :)
-What is the most
exciting piece of technology that you are waiting for?
Right now it's the Galaxy S III. I'm waiting for the
Developer Edition! Beyond that…
-I have to ask, are
you a Mac or a PC?
I'm both! I was exclusively PC for a long time, but since
I started traveling a lot more with this job I needed a lightweight and powerful
laptop. At the time the MacBook Air was the best so I went with that. It's
still a great machine. So, at home I work from a PC I built years ago, but on
the road I'm a Mac.
I use an Android smartphone.
Feel free to check out Tim’s work at
Engadget.com for technology news, reviews,
and updates.
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