Women’s Health editor-in-chief, Claire Sanderson has spoken about how she views the role of the modern editor and given her own take on many aspects of the job she holds.
Speaking on The Editor’s Inbox podcast to host Stephen Lepitak, Sanderson – who has held the post at the Hearst-published title for four years, talks about her experience of landing the job and the work she put into the application process as well as the continued importance of contact building, team management and how she chooses cover stars based on social media feedback.
Sanderson is also candid about the commercial responsibilities of the editor-in-chief and the need to own the brand she oversees when making decisions around partnerships and sponsorship ideas.
“It’s really important that the modern editor-in-chief… has good working relationships with the commercial team that has to go out and sell my brand. That said, it must be an authentic brand. I wouldn’t consider working with a brand that doesn’t authentically represent what Women’s Health stands for,” explains Sanderson while offering her take on the commercial responsibility of her role.
Sanderson also discusses what she is looking for when pitching story ideas for Women’s Health, how not to attempt to get a commission from her, diversity and inclusion insights on measures taken to grow representation within her newsroom and she offers advice to editors on what to avoid doing too.
The Editor’s Inbox podcast is produced in association with Newsworks, the marketing body for news brands, in an attempt to explore the role of the editor in modern media from those who hold the role.
Previous episodes have featured Alison Phillips, editor of The Mirror, and Oliver Duff, editor-in-chief of the i. The podcast can be followed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and iHeart Radio with new episodes being posted fortnightly.
