The Times, they are a changin’

If you’re old enough to know the song I’m referencing there, you need to check that your idea of what the newspaper or website you want to write for actually publishes isn’t from the same era.

Reading a publication regularly doesn’t mean you’re ready to pitch it. For starters, you probably read like a reader: for your own pleasure and interests. As a freelance writer, you need to break the articles and sections apart, and analyze what they do, how they do it, and where you fit in.

Even if you do read in this way, you also run the risk that your research has become outdated. This is especially true right now, with publications experimenting with different kinds of storytelling: going shorter, going longer, using local writers, using interactive media, using social stories to drive engagement, etc.

The classic indicator that a publication is about to shift its editorial direction is when a new editor comes aboard.

Amy Virshup, the new travel editor at the New York Times, published a short piece yesterday saying they’re going to be changing the way they tell stories, and asked readers about what they want to see.

That’s a must-click, must-read if you’re a travel writer.

Whatever your beat, it’s still a fascinating, real-time case study in a high-profile editorial shift.

She writes:

There were always be room for well-written pieces of discovery … But in general, I want to take the word “I” out of our coverage.

That’s already been a trend for awhile, and I’m not surprised to see it will continue.

There’s a role and a place for first person stories, both in travel and other genres. As a journalist, you really have to take a clear look at the piece. What you do is, naturally, going to be of interest to you. Does writing in the first person really bring an extra dimension to for the reader, or are you inserting your personal narrative into a story that isn’t really about you?

Ultimately you’ve got to answer that question from the point of view of the reader. Are they interested in you, as a character within the article? Or are they interested in you doing your job—providing original reporting and insight, but not necessarily in the first person?

If you’re not sure, my advice is to rewrite your pitch in the third person. Explore how to maintain authority. If the narrative you’d been following was you doing your job—“I checked Google, I drove to the interview”—push yourself to see what other options you can pursue.

I know the comfort zone is, well, comfortable. Get comfortable with changes, and you’ll be ahead of the times.