Editing The Economist (section)

==Tone and voice==
Although it has many individual columns, by tradition and current practice the newspaper ensures a uniform voice—aided by the anonymity of writers—throughout its pages,<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 September 2011 |title=Style Guide |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/styleguide/introduction |url-status=dead |access-date=8 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130207195439/http://www.economist.com/styleguide/introduction |archive-date=7 February 2013}}</ref> as if most articles were written by a single author, which may be perceived to display dry, understated wit, and precise use of language.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The Economist – Tone |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/research/styleGuide/index.cfm?page=673927 |url-status=live |access-date=27 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070107073442/http://www.economist.com/research/styleGuide/index.cfm?page=673927 |archive-date=7 January 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Johnson |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/research/johnson/ |url-status=dead |access-date=27 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061219221031/http://www.economist.com/research/johnson/ |archive-date=19 December 2006}}</ref> ''The Economist''{{'}}s treatment of economics presumes a working familiarity with fundamental concepts of classical economics. For instance, it does not explain terms like [[invisible hand]], [[macroeconomics]], or [[demand curve]], and may take just six or seven words to explain the theory of [[comparative advantage]]. Articles involving economics do not presume any formal training on the part of the reader and aim to be accessible to the educated layperson. It usually does not translate short French and German quotes or phrases but describes the business or nature of even well-known entities, writing, for example, "[[Goldman Sachs]], an investment bank".<ref>{{Cite news |date=21 February 2008 |title=A bank by any other name |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/britain/2008/02/21/a-bank-by-any-other-name |url-status=live |access-date=27 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190827230301/https://www.economist.com/britain/2008/02/21/a-bank-by-any-other-name |archive-date=27 August 2019 |issn=0013-0613}}</ref> ''The Economist'' is known for its extensive use of [[word play]], including puns, allusions, and metaphors, as well as alliteration and assonance, especially in its headlines and captions. This can make it difficult to understand for those who are not native English speakers.<ref>Richard J. Alexander, "Article Headlines in ''The Economist'': An Analysis of Puns, Allusions and Metaphors", ''Arbeiten aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik '''11''':2:159-177 (1986) {{JSTOR|43023400}}''</ref><!--Article uses "newspaper", "paper", "weekly" to otherwise denote The Economist –– not magazine or news magazine. See: Talk:The Economist/Archive 2.-->

''The Economist'' has traditionally and historically persisted in referring to itself as a "[[newspaper]]",<ref name="Iber-2019" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Somaiya |first=Ravi |date=4 August 2015 |title=Up for Sale, The Economist Is Unlikely to Alter Its Voice |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/05/business/media/a-sale-of-the-economist-is-unlikely-to-change-its-voice.html |url-status=live |access-date=11 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411065437/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/05/business/media/a-sale-of-the-economist-is-unlikely-to-change-its-voice.html |archive-date=11 April 2020 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jUFOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA266 |title=The Economist: A Weekly Financial, Commercial, and Real-estate Newspaper |date=1899 |publisher=Economist Publishing Company |language=en}}</ref> rather than a "[[news magazine]]", due to its mostly cosmetic switch from broadsheet to perfect-binding format and its general focus on [[Current affairs (news format)|current affairs]] as opposed to specialist subjects.<ref name="isnewspaper" /><ref name="pgazette">{{Cite web |title=Seriously popular: The Economist now claims to reach 5.3m readers a week in print and online |date=13 June 2014 |url=http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/seriously-popular-economist-now-claims-reach-53m-readers-week-print-and-online |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211072547/https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/seriously-popular-economist-now-claims-reach-53m-readers-week-print-and-online/ |archive-date=11 December 2019 |access-date=22 June 2015 |publisher=pressgazette.co.uk}}</ref> It is [[Newspaper Libel and Registration Act 1881|legally classified as a newspaper in Britain]] and the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ownership |url=https://www.economistgroup.com/results_and_governance/ownership.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426023445/https://www.economistgroup.com/results_and_governance/ownership.html |archive-date=26 April 2020 |access-date=11 April 2020 |website=www.economistgroup.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Economist Newspaper Group Inc |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/0345320D:US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411061024/https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/0345320D:US |archive-date=11 April 2020 |access-date=10 March 2020 |website=Bloomberg}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ms A Pannelay v The Economist Newspaper Ltd: 3200782/2018 |url=https://www.gov.uk/employment-tribunal-decisions/ms-a-pannelay-v-the-economist-newspaper-ltd-3200782-2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411061024/https://www.gov.uk/employment-tribunal-decisions/ms-a-pannelay-v-the-economist-newspaper-ltd-3200782-2018 |archive-date=11 April 2020 |access-date=11 April 2020 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}</ref> Most databases and [[anthologies]] catalogue the weekly as a newspaper printed in magazine- or journal-format.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1843 |title=The Economist |language=en |issn=0013-0613 |oclc=1081684}}</ref> ''The Economist'' differentiates and contrasts itself as a newspaper against their sister lifestyle magazine, ''[[1843 (magazine)|1843]]'', which does the same in turn. Editor [[Zanny Minton Beddoes]] clarified the distinction in 2016, saying that "we call it a newspaper because it was founded in 1843, 173 years ago, [when] all [perfect-bound publications] were called newspapers."<ref>{{Cite web |last=TV |first=Kidspiration |date=20 September 2016 |title=Meeting a Powerful Journalist |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCN_TLOw6hU |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/SCN_TLOw6hU |archive-date=30 October 2021 |access-date=10 March 2020 |website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

===Editorial anonymity===
''The Economist''{{'}}s articles often take a definite editorial stance and almost never carry a [[byline]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Arrese |first=Ángel |date=February 2021 |title="The evolution of Anonymity in The Economist" |journal=Media History |volume=28 |pages=111–124 |doi=10.1080/13688804.2021.1888703 |s2cid=233977282}}</ref> Not even the name of the editor is printed in the issue. It is a long-standing tradition that an editor's only signed article during their tenure is written on the occasion of their departure from the position. The author of a piece is named in certain circumstances: when notable persons are invited to contribute opinion pieces; when journalists of ''The Economist'' compile special reports (previously known as surveys); for the Year in Review special edition; and to highlight a potential [[conflict of interest]] over a book review. The names of ''The Economist'' editors and correspondents can be located on the media directory pages of the website.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Media directory |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/mediadirectory |url-status=live |access-date=25 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524223216/http://www.economist.com/mediadirectory |archive-date=24 May 2012}}</ref> Online blog pieces are signed with the initials of the writer and authors of print stories are allowed to note their authorship from their personal web sites.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 November 2008 |title=Why The Economist has no bylines |url=http://andreaskluth.org/2008/11/20/why-the-economist-has-no-bylines/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220115743/http://andreaskluth.org/2008/11/20/why-the-economist-has-no-bylines/ |archive-date=20 December 2008 |access-date=25 May 2012 |website=Andreaskluth.org}}</ref> One anonymous writer of ''The Economist'' observed: "This approach is not without its faults (we have four staff members with the initials 'J.P.', for example) but is the best compromise between total anonymity and full bylines, in our view."<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 September 2013 |title=Why are The Economist's writers anonymous? |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/09/economist-explains-itself-1/ |url-status=live |access-date=25 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927025426/http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/09/economist-explains-itself-1/ |archive-date=27 September 2016}}</ref> According to one academic study, the anonymous ethos of the weekly has contributed to strengthening three areas for ''The Economist'': collective and consistent voice, talent and newsroom management, and brand strength.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Arrese |first=Ángel |date=March 2020 |title=""It's Anonymous. It's The Economist". The Journalistic and Business Value of Anonymity" |journal=Journalism Practice |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=471–488 |doi=10.1080/17512786.2020.1735489 |s2cid=216320039}}</ref>

The editors say this is necessary because "collective voice and personality matter more than the identities of individual journalists",<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 November 2010 |title=The Economist – About us |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/help/about-us |url-status=live |access-date=11 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120611044028/http://www.economist.com/help/about-us |archive-date=11 June 2012}}</ref> and reflects "a collaborative effort".<ref>{{Cite web |date=29 April 2008 |title=Economist Editor Micklethwait brings his global perspective to the Twin Cities |url=http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2008/04/29/1659/economist_editor_micklethwait_brings_his_global_perspective_to_the_twin_cities |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705161308/http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2008/04/29/1659/economist_editor_micklethwait_brings_his_global_perspective_to_the_twin_cities |archive-date=5 July 2008 |access-date=16 September 2008 |publisher=MinnPost.com}}</ref> In most articles, authors refer to themselves as "your correspondent" or "this reviewer". The writers of the titled opinion columns tend to refer to themselves by the title (hence, a sentence in the "Lexington" column might read "Lexington was informed..."). American author and long-time reader [[Michael Lewis]] criticised the paper's editorial anonymity in 1991, labelling it a means to hide the youth and inexperience of those writing articles.<ref name="fallows">{{Cite news |date=16 October 1991 |title=The Economics of the Colonial Cringe: Pseudonomics and the Sneer on the Face of The Economist |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/1991/10/-quot-the-economics-of-the-colonial-cringe-quot-about-the-economist-magazine-washington-post-1991/7415/ |url-status=live |access-date=27 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526075502/http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/1991/10/-quot-the-economics-of-the-colonial-cringe-quot-about-the-economist-magazine-washington-post-1991/7415 |archive-date=26 May 2010}}</ref> Although individual articles are written anonymously, there is no secrecy over who the writers are, as they are listed on ''The Economist''{{'s}} website, which also provides summaries of their careers and academic qualifications.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Media directory |newspaper=The Economist |url=http://mediadirectory.economist.com/ |url-status=live |access-date=31 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424055628/http://mediadirectory.economist.com/ |archive-date=24 April 2016}}</ref> In 2009, Lewis included multiple ''Economist'' articles in his anthology about the [[2008 financial crisis]], ''[[Panic: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lewis |first=Michael M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZXUOASHVf_YC |title=Panic: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity |date=2009 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0-393-06514-5 |language=en}}</ref>

[[John Ralston Saul]] describes ''The Economist'' as a newspaper that "hides the names of the journalists who write its articles in order to create the illusion that they dispense disinterested truth rather than opinion. This sales technique, reminiscent of pre-Reformation Catholicism, is not surprising in a publication named after the social science most given to wild guesses and imaginary facts presented in the guise of inevitability and exactitude. That it is the Bible of the corporate executive indicates to what extent received wisdom is the daily bread of a managerial civilization."<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Doubter's Companion: A Dictionary of Aggressive Common Sense |id={{ASIN|0743236602|country=uk}}}}</ref>