All eyes are on Washington, D.C. this year, and the focus isn’t just on politics. From sustainable food policy issues brought before Congress to growing rhubarb in the White House garden, Washington Post ‘Food’ and ‘Travel’ editor Joe Yonan is watching and ready to report. Yonan got his start as a copy editor at The Boston Globe and became the jack-of-all-trades, helping out when needed writing and editing weekly sections. He jumped at the chance to cover food whenever possible, eventually becoming a staff writer in the food section. After moving to The Washington Post in 2006, he overhauled one of America’s most respected food sections, adding blogs, fun columns, a social network for wine lovers, and more to breathe life into food coverage. We caught up with Yonan to discuss the path to his dream job, the importance of advertising in saving print media, and evangelizing Washington Post ‘Food’ through social media.
How did you get started as a food writer?
About 10 years ago, I was working at The Boston Globe as a copy editor, trying to get noticed. I started having a career crisis and was trying to figure out what would make me happy. I figured out what made me happiest was writing about food, talking to chefs, cooking for myself, and eating. A light went off. I decided to go to culinary school while keeping my copy editing job at the Globe. I enrolled at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, and three days a week, I was in class and in the kitchen during the day, then worked the 4 p.m. to midnight shift at the Globe. I started writing about food for the Globe as much as I could, mainly for the ‘Travel’ section, still trying to get over to the ‘Food’ section, which was competitive. My strategy at the Globe was to become indispensable at doing other things. Eventually I got to choose the section I wanted and went over to ‘Food’ as a full-time staff writer. I did that for a couple of years and came to the Post in the fall of 2006.
How did your experience at the Globe prepare you to take over editorial duties at the Post?
At the Globe, in addition to editing the ‘Travel’ section, there was a period when I edited other sections. I got the reputation for helping change entire sections, like the ‘Automotive’ and ‘Career.’ [The Globe] let me completely reinvent sections from top to bottom, which helped prepare me to tackle something as big as the ‘Food’ section at the Post. In every way this has been my dream job, to get the chance to reinvent the ‘Food’ section at one of the best papers in the country. This was something I couldn’t pass up.
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| “I tried to change the section to be an unapologetic celebration of food that will appeal to a lot of people, even if they don’t cook themselves.” |
How have you shaken up the Post ‘Food’ section since you took over?
I have a big impact on the way photography is done. It had been pretty focused on static, highly-stylized pictures of food. I added a lot more people photography, and tried to include more naturalistic shots. We started a recipe database to help people find recipes in the archives. I added a really popular spirits column with a fun writer I knew from my travel editing days. We increased the beer coverage. I tried to make the section a lot livelier and more fun. People have a tendency to apologize for food coverage, such as worrying about how much they do or don’t cook, or how much they spend on restaurant meals. I tried to change the section to be an unapologetic celebration of food that will appeal to a lot of people, even if they don’t cook themselves. We also have a lot of recipes that are breezy and casual. I’m trying to tell more stories, and covering a lot more food policy.
What is the biggest difference between covering the food scenes in Boston and D.C.? What are some similarities?
D.C. is a great place to write about food policy. Certainly food policy affects people everywhere, but in D.C., food policy is a natural perk for us. We’re able to go to cover it close-up. The restaurant scenes are a little different; in D.C. one of the big differences is that there is more variety of ethnic food than in Boston, but a lot of it is in the suburbs. Chinatown is pretty small in D.C. The chefs [in D.C.], like in Boston, are fiercely proud of what they do, and have a sense that they have something to prove to the country since they’re not in L.A., New York, San Francisco, or Chicago.
| “[Twitter] is so easy and addictive that when I have a story or edit to write, it’s much easier to procrastinate by dashing out something quick.” |
What is a normal day at the Post ‘Food’ section like?
[It] depends on the day of the week. If it’s a Tuesday, I would need to go to a story meeting, in which everyone presents what will be in their sections the next day. Back in my office, if we get product samples that we would be interested in, we’ll taste and take notes. Around noon, some of the staff might bring up lunch from a place we’re researching for our take-out column every week called “Good to Go.” We’ll taste and take notes and decide whether it meets our qualifications for coverage. If it’s a Wednesday, we have our crazy online chat that goes live from 1 to 2 [p.m.]. We’ll answer questions, typing as fast as we can for an hour. There might also be a photo shoot in the studio or offsite that I or my deputy editor will go to. Then I would come back upstairs in the afternoon and try to see where writers are with the blog, edit items for the section, try to get copy over to the copy editor, weigh in on story ideas, and have other meetings. By that point, it’s 6 or 7 o’clock and I realize I have another hour or two of editing to do. Pretty long, but fun, days.
You’ve recently begun Twittering under your own name (@JoeYonan) and under @WaPoFood. Do you think social media tools have made a noticeable difference in drawing more readers or increasing reader interaction?
I can’t tell if it’s drawing more readers, but I know people appreciate the interaction. I’ve used it for research and reaching out for ideas. People are certainly using it to connect with me about things they want to talk about in the ‘Food’ section. With my personal Twitter account, I Tweet a lot about food because it’s my passion. And under WaPoFood, I primarily Tweet about what the section is doing. I’ve only been using Twitter for a couple of months; like a lot of people, I was skeptical at first. And then a mentor of mine, Ed Levine at Serious Eats, talked me into it. He said, “Just make it useful. People are interested in what you do and what you cook, especially if you give them inspiration.” The only problem is, it’s so easy and addictive that when I have a story or edit to write, it’s much easier to procrastinate by dashing out something quick on Twitter.
| “We’re lucky to have retailers, restaurants, specialty markets, and liquor stores that still believe in the power of print advertising. Advertising is what keeps newspaper food sections going.” |
Newspapers, as we all know, are in trouble these days, including your old paper, The Boston Globe. What do you think is the future of newspaper food sections?
I didn’t hear newspapers were in trouble. Tell me more about that. (Laughs.) I think sections are certainly in trouble. This year the Association of Food Journalists, in their annual awards competition, changed the name of one of their biggest categories from “Best Newpaper Food Section” to “Newspaper Food Coverage.” That’s an acknowledgement that a lot of food sections are disappearing, but the coverage is just going over to sections like ‘Living’ or online. We’ve been fortunate at the Post. Our advertising in ‘Food’ has remained relatively stable. We’re lucky to have retailers, restaurants, specialty markets, and liquor stores that still believe in the power of print advertising. Advertising is what keeps newspaper food sections going, by saying they want to be on those pages.
So there are your plans for WaPo ‘Food’ in the few months to a year?
The whole newspaper is integrating more with the Web. It’s the first time we’re really coming together. There’ll be more integration, more online content. I’m not planning other changes, except always looking for fun ways to do big, interesting packages. There’s some food policy stuff that we’re planning, [which] will be topical. I’m adding a food policy column, by Ezra Klein of The American Prospect, to be published every other week.
What is it like to have a new food-loving First Family in town? How much coverage is being devoted to the Obamas’ favorite restaurants and the White House garden?
Right now obviously there’s a huge amount of interest in everything Barack and Michelle [Obama] do. We’ll be with them every step of the way, not only in the ‘Food’ section. Every time they go to a new restaurant, we try to do everything quickly, even if it’s just on the blog. We’ve already covered the garden, and one of our big exclusives that nobody else had was our blog coverage of their first meal that was made from the garden.
Tips for becoming a successful food writer and editor:
1. Get clips. Prove yourself as a writer. Even if you can’t get print clips, these days you can easily get noticed by blogging.
2. Find a mentor. Connect with a benevolent editor. Even if they can’t use your writing directly they might give you feedback on a blog. Listen and try to incorporate their advice in what you’re doing
3. Read, read, read. Become familiar with writers like M.F.K. Fisher, Michael Pollan, and Calvin Trillin. Figure out what makes their writing work.
4. Eat and cook. Try as many different kinds of food as possible and learn the fundamentals of cooking. Try to understand different cuisine and ask tons of questions.
Diana Kuan is a freelance writer who divides her time between China and the U.S. She often blogs on the road for AppetiteforChina.com.
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