Are you a Masthead Know-it-all?

When you flip through your favourite magazine, do you care about the people behind the pages? Are you curious about the editors, and their personal style? Before I made my first cold call to a fashion magazine regarding internships, I knew the masthead. I've always read them, looking for new names, hirings, firings and promotions. It seems I'm not the only one who is interested in what goes on behind the scenes. When I enrolled in Ryerson's Magazine Publishing Program, a switch in the masthead became a hot topic in class discussion. Did you hear who they hired? What happened to...? Seeing my own name on the masthead for the first time during Internship No. 2 was a moment I'll never forget. But you better believe that when I left I immediately scoured the page to find out who had replaced me. 

At an interview I had earlier this year (for a position as an editorial assistant to the fashion department of a Canadian women's magazine), I was asked what one of my favourite features was. I immediately pointed to a selection of holiday wardrobe favourites chosen by the magazines editors. It gave readers like me a glimpse into their worlds, and what they liked to wear on a daily basis. My interviewers immediately shared that I wasn't the only one with such an enthusiastic response. "Our readers feel like they know us," the editor at large told me. "And they're always looking to know more." I love that street style blogs have helped to bring each editor's personal style to the forefront of the fashion scene. They're choices are so influential that I think it only makes sense for readers to learn more about them. 

Joining Twitter became an extension of this fascination. Suddenly voices of magazines, as well as editors themselves were only a click away. Do you care to know more about your favourite editors? Or is reading your favourite glossy enough? Do you flip past the masthead , like you would an ad? If you're curious, here's a small selection of people I'm following:

@KarenKwinter - Editor at Large, Style at Canadian Living

@TheChicStorm - former Fashion & Beauty Editor at LOULOU

@TrucNguyen - former Fashion Assistant at Teen Vogue

@MrJoeZee - Creative Director at ELLE

@MoshaMosha - Assistant Fashion News Editor at FLARE

@Siofan - Assistant Editor/Research at FASHION
@LisaTant - EiC of FLARE

*Note: I've only included those who were or currently are attached to a particular publication. For a full list including the must-read freelancers, check out the full list at www.twitter.com/ericaec