By Jessica Zemler, ASBPE Communications Chair

I recently read the e-Media Vitals post “5 new job titles for digital-first publishers” and my first instinct was to laugh. I mean, really… Director of Data Visualization? I love infographics as much as the next person, but I think B2B has a long way to go before we’ll be able to hire a person specifically for creating infographics and other data-driven storytelling tools. Right now that’s everyone’s job.

My opinion of the VP of Revenue Platforms title is equally unsatisfactory. Shouldn’t our platforms, both in B2B and consumer publishing, all be tied to revenue? Online ad platforms, as mentioned as a job responsibility in the e-Media Vitals post, sure. But your website? A revenue platform. Your mobile app? Ditto. E-newsletters? Yep, you guessed it… Revenue. Where is the line drawn?

I suppose I’ve been thinking about evolving job titles recently because my company is transitioning all our editorial titles. We’re moving away from using the word “editor” and instead now have “content specialists” (assistant/associate editors) and “content directors” (editors in chief). We don’t classify ourselves as digital-first; rather, we are platform agnostic. We create content and then distribute as appropriate to all our platforms.

So you tell me: What do you think about the future of our editorial titles? Will the word “editor” become obsolete?