Douglas McLennan: August 2008 Archives

ArtsJournal is expanding and I'm looking for a part time editor. The job involves culling stories from the publications we monitor (basically anything about the arts in English, worldwide) and choosing 10-15 stories per shift to feature on AJ. Each shift takes about two hours and we do the site in two shifts per day - once very early in the morning, the other in late afternoon/evening. Morning shifts generally pick up most of the American papers. Evening shifts usually pick up European/Australian/weekly/monthly stories. The stories are from all across the arts. It doesn't matter where you are located - there are advantages to every time zone.

I'm looking for someone who has curiosity above everything else. You have to be able to pick out the interesting stories across the arts as well as write pithy - even witty - headlines and blurbs. This is a news site, but it's also meant to be entertaining too.

The tech aspects of finding stories and choosing/posting are pretty easy. What I've found much more difficult is to find people who have interesting news judgment. I like stories that think big and attach ideas across issues. If it's a theatre story, I want readers to understand why it's important even if what they're primarily interested in is dance or music. We don't generally post reviews - they're more difficult to judge. But for important premieres or unusual performances, we do collect up reviews. I like posting contrarian pieces I disagree with - a great muddle-headed argument against arts funding, for example. I think these stories make people think.

There are 11 shifts (we don't do it Friday night or at all on Saturday, but Sunday is a big day because of the Sunday papers). I'm looking for someone who can do 2-3 shifts a week. If this sounds interesting to you, write me an email and tell me why you would be good at it, and include a resume. Also, some samples of your writing would be helpful. mclennan@artsjournal.com

UPDATE: Thanks to everyone who wrote. In 24 hours I've had more than 60 applicants, and some great ones at that. I'm sorting through them now, and I'll be in touch.