Teaching Magazine Editing

In late 2010, Alexis C. Madrigal, senior editor at the Atlantic magazine, posted on his blog a document titled, “The 12 Timeless Rules for Making a Good Publication.” ¹ He professed not to know the origin of the document, but guessed it had been formulated sometime in the 1950s. Presumably, the sheet of paper he was looking at—tacked on an Atlantic office wall in the Watergate building in Washington, DC—had made the journey from Boston, which until 2005 had been the home of the Atlantic for 148 years (and known as the Atlantic Monthly). Among the timeless advice offered were three nuggets: “Don't over-edit”; “Follow the news. Remember that timeliness means being on time, not before the time”; and “Quick decisions—except in poetry.”