Tips on Writing From Times Editor, Philip Elmer-Dewitt

Whether he is busy answering the editor- in - chief's demanding questions regarding future issues at their frequent editor meeting, having conferences with the Science department, or reviewing the articles of his writers, Philip Elmer- Dewitt is a busy man.

The meeting began, and when it was Elmer-Dewitt's turn to speak he spoke about his four-page story of the Californian fires. Unlike other publications, Elmer- Dewitt believes Time offers a new angle with more details. For example, the story includes the five-year drought of the West and last thousand years of climate changes.

Elmer- Dewitt's humble beginnings in journalism was triggered by the Watergate scandal. With an English major from Oberlin College and education from Columbia University's Graduate school of Journalism (attended but didn't graduate), he had work published in The Inside Agitator and TheVillage Voice. Then at age 30, Elmer- Dewitt took an entry job at Time as the temporary secretary and soon became a reporter and researcher. He worked his way up to become the editor of science.

Elmer- Dewitt's interest in computer and engineer father and scientist sister let him to write the Technology and Computers sections. He read a lot of Computer Journals but regarded them as "terrible writing, full of jargons." A tough part about Elmer- Dewitt's job is to make the right decision of putting which science articles in a limited amount of space that will capture the audience in his weekly magazine. He refers to it as to "skim crème out of a bucket of milk." A follower of science news for work, Elmer- Dewitt enjoys the New Yorker and fiction on his free time. Currently, he is reading Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin. During the interview, he even talked about his guesses to the ending.

The feedbacks he gets from his readers are usually positive as they generally appreciate the coverage. Elmer- Dewitt admits he only "takes negative feedbacks from the boss seriously." His proudest cover stories include: "Welcome to Cyberspace," which has been reprinted a lot in journalism and creative books, and " Mine, all Mine," an article about how "Bill Gates wants a piece of everybody's action."

When asked about other medias prioritizing the entertainment industry over the sciences Elmer- Dewitt merely said they "poison the well for the rest of us". He stressed that Time does not have much in common with the New York Post or the tabloids.

Elmer- Dewitt believes strongly that journalism is a craft and the best way to learn it is through experience. He suggests writers to write week after week and even humbly admits that he is not satisfied with his writing and wishes to write like the writers of The New Yorker. His asserts that he does not pressure someone who is reluctant to talk to him and does not push the uncomfortable, interviewing situations. One striking experience is Elmer- Dewitt's scandalous story "Cyberporn" of July 1995 that ended his career as a computer reporter. Elmer- Dewitt was hated when he used unreliable sources to write a story on the statistics of pornography on the web. He claims that people didn't get the position he was in, with the deadline constricting the details that were needed to make a fallible story. Elmer- Dewitt called "Cyberporn" a "Cyber Nightmare." Elmer- Dewitt is famous for his quote, "Some people make headlines while others make history;" however, he modestly declares the words to be of his boss Walter Issacson to describe Dr. David Ho, an Aids researcher and Time Man of the Year 1996. When asked to relate the quote to him, Elmer- Dewitt simply said, "I didn't make any history."