From The Conversation today comes an interview with the new editor of Morry Schwartz’s new newspaper, The Saturday Paper:
Businessman and publisher Morry Schwartz’s decision to appoint a 25-year-old, relatively unknown journalist to edit the first serious newspaper launched in Australia in more than four decades might be a “courageous decision” in the Yes Minister sense.
In an era that is witness to a difficult transition from print to digital media, Erik Jensen will edit Schwartz’s biggest gamble to date, The Saturday Paper, from March 1.
Jensen said the job was his until “I screw up”. He was bullish about the newspaper’s prospects despite the recent staff cuts, slashed budgets and advertising slumps experienced by most newspapers.
Things would be different at The Saturday Paper, he asserted. Journalistic quality would catalyse sales; stories would be better and longer; it would be a niche newspaper for a niche readership; sales of 60,000 would break even; and … reporters would get 80 cents a word. One downside was that the two-year search for a good conservative writer with empathy was a very difficult one (see full transcript).
Schwartz and the former chairman of Schwartz’s The Monthly, Robert Manne, would help out a stable that included David Marr, Hamish McDonald, Christos Tsiolkas and others.
I’m not going to condemn this effort. Morry Schwartz is a fine publisher with deep pockets and a singular determination to succeed whatever the cost. I’m not sure you can call that a business model exactly but it has longevity as a product so good luck to the lot ’em.
The appointment of a young editor is laudable. It will come with the caveat that the kid can be pushed around a little. But he can always push back. I can’t say the same of the senior columnists, who are the same old crew but perhaps they’ll be guiding some more young talent. One hopes so. Creating your own talent hurts in the short term but is much better for the point of difference in the long.
At The Diplomat I used to edit and publish the longer form of journalism that baby-boomers (or their information gatekeepers) seem to so adore. But I’m not much of a fan any more. It still relies upon the “he said”, “she said” method and the conduit of the interlocutor, which distorts primary sources in the absence of investigative content and potentially bores as well. The aggregated blog form of the expert is far more persuasive, informative, efficient and amusing.
The one advantage rambling prose possesses is its aesthetic superiority, which is clearly a central value in the Schwartz publishing house, and will no doubt appeal to a greying market with more time on its hands.
