Hello, culture-verse! My name is Katie, and I’m pleased to introduce myself as culture‘s new editor. I’ve been working inculture‘s Boston office for a month now. I’m still in settling-in mode, but I’m thrilled to be here.
As you may have read previously in this post, my background is in daily journalism — most recently I worked at the Washington Post Express. Each week, I edited the Dining section; every other week, I wrote a column on eating out. It was a delicious introduction into the world of food journalism.
When I decided to join culture, I was excited about the chance to focus on a food that had long held a special place in my life (even if I didn’t realize it until recently). At the same time, I felt slightly intimidated about the prospect of editing a magazine for dairy devotees, since I am (not yet) a cheese geek myself. Sure, I love to linger in cheese shops (and never seem able to leave without some chunk of something new), and sure, I keep mental lists of my favorite obscure cheeses (such as Zingerman’s Creamery’s Detroit Street Brick) — but would I call myself an expert in cheese? Not quite.
Fortunately, my job doesn’t exactly require encyclopedic knowledge of the dairy world (though it’s a goal!), andculture‘s core staff is loaded with cheese gurus, including co-founders Lassa and Kate. It’s my job to care about the journalism in the magazine — the breadth of our coverage, the quality of our writing, the look and feel of our layouts — and to support our wonderful team of writers, editors and designers.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been diligently trying to absorb institutional knowledge and deadline-juggling wisdom from editor-at-large Elaine. I’ve also been busy with — what else? — editing. Since I came in at the tail end of the production cycle for our summer issue (yes, the whole magazine is finalized weeks before newsstand sales), I’ve just emerged from a whirlwind of marathon proofreading sessions, design-related email debates and last-minute revisions. It’s been invigorating, and, I daresay, a little exhausting — in the best way. Good thing I’ve had a steady supply cheese to see me through. More on that soon…
Katie Aberbach
Always hungry for a good story, editor Katie Aberbach brings an extensive journalism background to the culture team. Formerly a food writer and editor for the Washington Post Express, Katie works to ensure that culture’s print coverage is timely, accurate, and – of course – appetizing.
