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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“I have to worry about being outdated,” he said.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.