The article discusses a vital lesson learned from working at a literary agency regarding the importance of editorial judgment. It highlights an initiative called Ripple at The Washington Post, led by Jeff Bezos, aimed at scaling up opinion writing and including contributions from both partner organizations and AI-generated content. This expansion is met with skepticism due to concerns about quality, reflecting the author's experience with the slush pile of underwhelming submissions in the literary world, emphasizing the delicate balance between access and quality in journalism.
Editorial gatekeepers get a bad name, but from another point of view, they are heroically holding back a tidal wave of crap while, ideally, letting the good stuff through.
This effort was not exactly news to me. Until January, I was a senior editor at the now almost completely hollowed-out Opinions section of the Post.
The New York Times reported on an effort taking shape at The Washington Post under its owner, Jeff Bezos, and its publisher, Will Lewis.
Through a project internally called Ripple, Post executives intend to dramatically expand opinion writing at the paper, creating an offering outside the paywall.
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