New Technology and the Writer/Editor Relationship: Shifting Electronic Realities

Abstract

This study examines the role new technology is playing in the writer/editor relationship. The study is based on responses to a mail questionnaire sent to a sample of consumer and specialized business editors. Editors reported that the new technology is affecting their relationship with writers and that free-lancers are less apt to use expensive new technology than staff writers. The magazine industry - especially the consumer segment - is moving toward the “virtual workplace.” Authors speculate about the possibility of free-lancers becoming a “technological underclass.”