January 12 Recap: Jason Zengerle

Jason Zengerle

Senior editor, The New Republic
Contributing Editor, New York Magazine, GQ

Before the meeting, we read: Sorority Row

About the story:

The Sorority Row article came about from a 10-word wire blurb.

· “There’s no such thing as an original magazine article”

· “You depend on newspaper writers and wire writers for your ideas”

· “You want to read newspaper articles where, when you’re done with them you say, “Wow I wish I knew more about that.’ Those are the good magazine articles.”

Zengerle started researching Melody Twilley, then pitched the idea to editors.

He knew a professor at University of Alabama which led him to Twilley.

· “It’s really helpful when you’re doing a story like this to know a guide—someone who knows the issue and can introduce you to people and tell you things about the story”

· “Find someone who is willing to give you the time to lead you around and take you to all the parts of the story.”

· “Just ask them what are probably the most mundane questions. These stories rise and fall on this level of detail”

· Interview and quote people who can stand for something larger, look for peripheral characters (like Robert Turner)

Structure of the story:

When you’re writing a really long piece you need to be able to hook the reader

· Create a sense of suspense, why do you care about it?

· “Does Twilley actually make it?”

What do you put in the middle?

· Wanted to talk about the history of the University of Alabama

· Wanted to get into the history of the Machine

What made the story significant:

The segregation at Alabama has more long-term power since Alabama is so insular

More about Zengerle:

· Art history/political science major at Swarthmore College

· Started a magazine in college with a friend, hoping to be like Spy Magazine and Might Magazine

· Loved The New Republic in college and high school

· Applied for internships there every year in college and never got one

· Got an internship at Newsweek after college – was a mistake, they confused his application with someone else’s.

· Then applied for an internship at the American Prospect which got him to the New Republic.

His normal day:

· Never a typical day

· Works from home with conference calls, hasn’t worked in an office since 2000

· Reading looking for stories, reading about that story. Look up people, create appointments, etc

· The stories are always best if you actually go to the place. But do a ton of phone reporting before you go to get background information.

How long does a story take?

· Usually about 2 months on average

· Over 3000-4000 words can take at least 3 months

· Sometimes a year, especially when requesting documents from federal agencies

· Magazine writers have the luxury of time.

Other:

There is always a struggle between what you know and what you can write – off the record/on the record

“The great this about this job is that you have this license to find out about what you want to find out about and people, for some reason, will tell you.”

Working with interns:

Good attitude goes a long way

Not thinking you’re above something even though you usually are

But it’s useful to see how reporters report their stories and see how they’re put together

New York Magazine and the Atlantic Magazine have the best web content – “not just an afterthought.”