Josh Quittner is a Veteran Time Inc. journalist, now Flipboards first editorial director.
Question: After spending 16 years at one of the worlds most-esteemed media properties, why did you decide to exit Time Inc. for a social-news startup?
Quittner: What Im most fascinated about at this point in my career is: What is a magazine in the context of now? Thats what Im really trying to understand.
For years, magazines followed exactly the same template with the small things at the beginning, you know, the appetizers, and then the salad course, followed by the features, the big juicy things. There were really great reasons why we did that. But those reasons had more to do with the business model: placing ads against reliable franchises and the real constraints of sending things to the printing press. But at Flipboard, we dont have to worry about any of that.
Of course at a deeper level, what really appeals to me is saving what you and I both love. Ive been a journalist all my life. I love it passionately. I think if I had not found journalism when I was 23 or 24 years old Id probably be homeless or something. A lot of us have weird, some may say, eccentric skill sets. I love journalism. I love everything about it. And, this is a way Im preserving it and creating a sustainable model. And by the way, I think that sustainable model is built almost entirely around advertising.
CNET: Flipboard editorial chief on how magazines are flipping out
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