Hey Everyone!
I had the opportunity to sit down with Mr. Zivan and ask him a few questions about his position and his advice for getting into a similar position. With many interns out there who may be interested in this position or have interest in this field, I thought you might enjoy the information!
1) What is your formal education?
David has a bachelors in English with a minor in Music, MFA in Creative Writing, and a MSJ in Magazine Publishing!
2) What has been your career path to Emmis?
In 1998 David worked for Chicago Magazine and wrote an article on the side for Atlanta Monthly (Atlanta is where he is from) which is an Emmis Magazine. Then the rest of the path sort of fell in his lap. Indianapolis Monthly was looking for someone to fill the position and the world of city magazines is apparently very small. The editor of Atlanta Monthly called the editorial director for Indianapolis Monthly and David was given the job. He mentioned that the time happened to be right for him and he was very excited to step up on an organization that had such a commitment to quality.
3) Do you believe that networking is crucial to career development?
David was quick to tell me that it is VERY CRUCIAL. As an example he mentioned how most of the people in his network ended up being friends. He explained that these are people you work with, may have been successful with, and trust. He then went on to explain that the networking can not be artifical though as it’s a naturally growing relationship.
4) What is are some interview Do's and Don’t's?
Do: Bring your own questions, express interest in the job, and do background research
Don’t: Be late, trash previous employers, or talk about what you cant do
5) What are some duties that go alone with your title?
Monthly-Yearly: Planning the cover of Indianapolis Monthly months in advance all the way up to a year in advance
Weekly: Editing and working on long features
Daily: Numerous small decisions ( example: where the audience may look for a text box explaing the picture)or what the audience may have experience or interests in.
6) What are some frustrations this job title may encounter?
Staffs are smaller, people are busier which makes it harder to find time to dream, develop strategy, and simmer ideas. People are moving too quickly and he wished there was more time in the day to brainstorm with his staff or individually to be more creative with the magazine.
7) What was your position at Chicago Magazine before you became editor of Indy Monthly?I was a senior editor, handling longform features and cover packages.
8)What was your first journalism/writing job out of college?
I first started down the academic path, and got an MFA in creative writing. Took a couple of years off to travel and work—and one of those jobs was as the calendar editor for an alternative weekly in Pittsburgh. I tried to go back to school after that, but being on the paper was too much fun.
9). Do you have any advice for those wanting to begin a career in
publishing? Or desire to be an editor some day? How should they get started?
A few old-school things in this business are still true.
One, you often have to give something to get something. So working for free is part of that, unfortunately. You have to try to see that as a kind of freedom to try a lot of things and make yourself useful.
Also: it’s crowded out there so try to distinguish yourself in as many ways as possible. Your supervisors and colleagues are watching even if you think they aren’t. I am always impressed when I see an intern working late or extra hard.
And in journalism, there is still a trade mentality; you should apprentice yourself and learn how to DO things. We don’t care so much about education and pedigree as we do about good writing and meeting deadlines.
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