Young blood

Commonweal, Nov 5, 2004 by Maurice Timothy Reidy

People tell me I look young. It's something I've always heard, but more so since I started working at Commonweal. I guess that people think that Commonweal is--and has always been--an august journal edited by a veteran group of mature and high-profile journalists.

There's a certain truth to this perception. The magazine is what it is because of the wisdom and experience of its many excellent editors, both past and present. But not all of them were seasoned pros when they first walked in Commonweal's doors; in fact, some were as green as I was when I started here in 1999. Peter Steinfels arrived right after college, Daniel Callahan after graduate school. Wilfrid Sheed jokes in this issue that turnover at the magazine was always high because editors could no longer afford to work here after having two-and-a-half kids. I am not the first person this side of thirty to work at Commonweal, nor do I expect to be the last.

Still, my situation--and that of my colleague Grant Gallicho, who is roughly my age--differs in significant ways from those of our predecessors. Steinfels and Callahan were part of a generation of intellectually and socially engaged Catholics who came of age just before and during Vatican II. That generation was--and still is--a large part of the magazine's readership. My generation, on the other hand, does not have the same level of commitment to the church, and consequently, fewer of them read the magazine. If our recent reader survey is accurate, more than half our subscribers are sixty-five or older. I find myself in the strange position of being a committed and educated young Catholic editing a magazine whose average subscriber is slightly older than my father.

What does that mean? One: I'm lucky. I have benefited enormously from the knowledge and expertise of the people who have read and written for this magazine over the years. My job is that much easier because they have worked to make Commonweal a respected journal of opinion. Still, editing a magazine for an older audience does pose some challenges. I have to constantly remind myself that my interests may not match those of our readers. Articles on liturgical music may not thrill me, but I understand that many of our readers are deeply invested in this issue. I also know that I'm working for Commonweal and not Entertainment Weekly, so references to obscure 1980s TV sitcoms or indie pop albums should be kept to a minimum.

Still, part of my job as I see it is to attract a new generation of readers to the magazine. Occasionally, that means covering subjects that may seem frivolous (pop music) or embarking on projects that may seem of only long-term benefit at best (updating our Web site). Yet I am confident that our faithful subscribers believe, as I do, in the importance of this enterprise, and that they will bear with us as we try to find ways to reach a younger audience. Our goal is to bring the unique Commonweal perspective to subjects that interest young readers (like Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Lord of the Rings) in the hope of enticing them to discover the many riches this magazine has to offer.

And make no mistake: finding young readers must be a top priority. Considering the average age of those who responded to our survey, I can't but worry about Commonweal's future. I know this is a gloomy thought for an anniversary issue, but I want to be clear about how much is at stake. When I left the magazine a few years ago after a year as an intern, I took solace in the fact that I could still be part of the Commonweal community as a reader. When the sexual-abuse scandal broke, the magazine helped me to weather that storm. I worry about living in a world where the Commonweal perspective might not be available.

Of course, there are many reasons to be optimistic about the magazine's future. Commonweal continues to attract smart young people as writers and, occasionally, as interns (such as our current one, Eileen Arnold). The list of people who have worked here in their youth is quite impressive, including Kevin Doyle, capital defender for New York State, hospice nurse Mary Lee Freeman, and Bernard G. Prusak, a professor at Boston University. Young people are discovering the magazine. We're a must-read for young theologians, though we need to do a better job attracting young professionals--people who may never write or work for the magazine, but who will read and discuss it with their friends, families, and colleagues. These are the kind of people that have helped sustain the magazine in the past. And they are the ones that, God willing, will carry us into the future.

Maurice Timothy Reidy is an associate editor of Commonweal.