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Media Interview with Dylan Jones, editor of GQ

Today we adopt the personal approach for an interview with editor of GQ magazine Dylan Jones (coincidently, this is also the approach he advises for PRs wishing to work with the magazine). Covering “everything a man could be interested in”, GQ needs no introduction. So enough with the introducing, and on with today’s interview…

About the publication:

Who reads it and how many of them are there?
GQ is read largely by men from 16 to 66, although our largest consumer base lies in the 28 to 33 region. We are read by 378,000 men every month, and have the largest AB readership of any men’s magazine in Britain. We’re the most upmarket men’s magazine in the country, with the most pages dedicated to luxury, grooming and fashion. Our website has over five million page impressions a month.

What subjects do you cover?
We cover everything a man should be interested in, from politics and food to cars and sex, from fashion to football, from travel and music to cinema and drink, from health and fitness to art and humour.

What stories are you most interested in covering?
Stories you won’t find anywhere else. We employ the very best writers there are, and we pay them accordingly. We pay more per word than any magazine or newspaper in Britain. GQ is the best written magazine in the country.

What makes you different from the other outlets in the men’s interest sector?
We’re award winning – 38 and counting. GQ is dedicated to bringing the best in glamour, investigative journalism, comment, lifestyle and entertainment. And our fashion content is the most authoritative and extensive, with fashion coverage planned to expand even further next year.

How do you decide the content?
With great precision.

About PRs:

Do you work closely with PRs or do you keep them at arm’s length?
We work extremely closely with PRs, and them with us. They know that we deliver, and that we reach the target market that everyone wants. We like PRs.

If you could make one change to the way PRs deal with you, what would it be?
Always adopt the personal approach.

How should a PR approach you about their client?
Personally.

What information/input from PRs is most useful to you?
Exclusives.

When is the best time for PRs to contact GQ, and what is your deadline for contributions?
They can contact me anytime. We can usually turn something around in two weeks.

About you:

Describe a typical day at work:
I arrive at work between 8.30 and nine o’clock and spend forty five minutes reading the papers. Then I do the mail, have a diary meeting, and then start meetings. I like short meetings with a few people. No meeting should last longer than 30 minutes, while you can guarantee that any meeting involving more than five people will dissolve into chaos. I either have a lunch locally, or eat sushi behind my desk. I spend most of the afternoon working through proofs, subbing, or writing, and then leave the office at 6.15 to go to a function or two, and then usually on to dinner.

What do you enjoy most about working in the media/publishing industry?
Pretty much everything.

Do you find social media a useful tool?
Hugely useful. I don’t know how anyone lives without it these days.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Work hard, and be lucky.

If you could pick any actor to play you in a movie of your life, who would it be?
Andy Serkis.

[img|jpg|Dylan Jones]
[lnk|http://www.featuresexec.com/mediaoutlets/profile.php?pubid=1942|_self|GQ]