What is the task of a main editor?

Written by Adok

"... He [Soda] told me the following while an Internet Relay Chat situation: 'I don't want to fill my mag on my own. It is too boring.' Although these are by far not his exact words, it still reflects his major point. Yet then, I dare to ask: Who if not the maineditor shall fill up a Scenzine?"

This is what RokDaZone writes in his "Editorial for Editors" in the Amiga diskmag Generation #26 (online issue available at http://generation.www.de). It was an interesting opinion for me. Not only that one could argue if the main editor's task is to fill up his diskmag, it also asks a general question:

What is the task of a diskmag main editor?

In his English editorial of the PC diskmag Armor of Gods #4, the new main editor Programmer/UniVerse writes:

"Some time ago I was asked to join to the project, and after this I became a main editor here. It means not only gathering articles and on, it means also searching for gfxers and designers, musicians and other people."

In this editorial Programmer mentions that the main editor also has to write articles himself with no word (and in fact, Programmer hasn't written any article for the English part of Armor #4 apart from that editorial). What Programmer says, however, are the organizing tasks of a diskmag main editor.

Who of the two is right, RokDaZone or Programmer? Both are right. A diskmag main editor can be defined as the person who has to look for the content of a diskmag. He has to find people who do gfx, musics, code, write articles, keep contact with those people, motivate and help them, find other supporters like vote collectors and spreaders, coordinate(!) their works, advertise his diskmag to get more readers and supporters - and, of course, he has to fill the diskmag with his articles if the mag as a whole or a single section is lacking content.

A main editor is both writer, organizer, advertiser, contact-keeper and in many cases also responsible for other things, like coding or swapping. You can say a main editor is a slave for everything. Most mags wouldn't exist if their main editor were lazy and not that commited. That's why you can say that a main editor is the very most important person behind a diskmag.

If a mag turns out to be a success, its main editor is especially pleased, of course. He identifies with his mag most. That's what makes you forget all the hard work you invested in a mag issue and makes you continue the mag, re-starting the whole work from the beginning again and again.

- adok^hugi